Dividing lines

Perlstein may make too much of that. Not all conflict is between the camps of "Nixonland," and there are plenty of evils in modern America that have nothing to do with Nixon; indeed, our current president has managed to invent more than most. But for those inclined to minimize Nixon's demerits, to insist that he only got caught at what all presidents do, Perlstein reminds us who Nixon was and what he wrought.

Here's one small but telling anecdote, in which Nixon is taped berating Haldeman and other top aides to use the Internal Revenue Service to punish administration critics: "We have the power, but are we using it? To investigate contributors to Hubert Humphrey, contributors to Muskie, the Jews, you know, that are stealing everybody. . . . Bob, please get me the names of the Jews, you know, the big Jewish contributors of the Democrats. . . . Could we please investigate some of these [expletive deleted]?"

Nixon may not have invented a divisive America, and today's divisions may not all be his fault, but it's hard to read those words and not acknowledge that he was in a class of his own. And yes, as Perlstein concludes, we all have paid a price for it. *