As part of a release of archival tapes and documents Monday, the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum revealed fresh records that reflect the 37th president's heated campaign to investigate, intimidate and smear political rivals and opponents of the Vietnam War.
Among the documents is a handwritten note from Nixon's top aide, H.R. Haldeman, on June 23, 1971, which may shed light on the origins of Nixon's infamous "enemies list." In the note, Haldeman records Nixon's order to bring the weight of the IRS down on attorney and former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford, who had been critical of Nixon's Vietnam policy, and on the antiwar movement.
"Pull Clark Clifford & top supporters of doves," Haldeman writes. "Full list . . . full field audit."
In the next paragraph, Haldeman reminds himself to take action against "TK," believed to be Sen. Ted Kennedy. Haldeman writes: "Get him -- compromising situation . . . Get evidence -- use another Dem as front."
The documents, along with hundreds of hours of tape recordings, mark the largest release of Nixon's presidential papers and recordings since the Yorba Linda library shifted from a privately run facility -- controlled by Nixon loyalists -- to a National Archives institution last year.
From the White House, the documents show, Nixon was directing aggressive investigations of his rivals soon after taking office in January 1969. Central to the effort was Clark R. Mollenhoff, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who had come to work for Nixon.
In an April 1, 1970, memo, Mollenhoff reported to Haldeman that he was "probably involved in something over 100 investigations." They included probes of "the political opposition," "potential problem areas," and "areas of corruption or mismanagement."
Among the key targets of Mollenhoff's investigations were political rivals such as Sens. Kennedy and Edmund Muskie, former Alabama Governor George Wallace, Democratic chairman Lawrence O'Brien and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
The newly released documents also illustrate Nixon's interest in the "across-the-board loyalty" of White House staff. In a memo to Nixon on Jan. 16, 1970, presidential staffer Alexander Butterfield reported on the progress of Nixon's order to remove all pictures of past presidents from White House walls. Butterfield noted that of 35 offices occupied by White House support staff, six had displayed one or more former presidents.
