country. This letter is much more difficult because of the gratitude I will always have for you. If
you do leave office history will properly record your achievements with a lasting respect. [fn 56]During Bush's confirmation hearings for the post of CIA Director in December, 1976,
when it became important to show how independent Bush had been, Senator Barry
Goldwater volunteered that Bush had been "the first man to my knowledge to let the
President know he should go." That presumably meant, the first among cabinet and White
House officials.
The next day, August 8, 1974, Nixon delivered his resignation to Henry Kissinger.
Kissinger could now look forward to exercising the powers of the presidency at least until
January, 1977, and perhaps well beyond.
For a final evaluation of Bush in Watergate, we may refer to a sketch of his role during
those times provided by Bush's friend Maurice Stans, the finance director of the CREEP.
This is how Stans sizes up Bush as a Watergate player:
George Bush, former member of Congress and former Ambassador to the United Nations. Bush,
who proved he was one of the bravest men in Washington in agreeing to head the Republican
National Committee during the 1973-74 phase of Watergate, kept the party organization together
and its morale high, despite massive difficulties of press criticism and growing public disaffection
with the administration. Totally without information as to what had gone on in Watergate behind
the scenes, he was unable to respond knowledgeably to questions and because of that unjustly
became the personal target of continuing sarcasm and cynicism from the media." [fn 57]But there are many indications that Bush was in reality someone who, while taking part
in the fray, actually helped to steer Watergate towards the strategic outcome desired by
the dominant financier faction, the one associated with Brown Brother, Harriman and
with London. As with so much in the life of this personage, much of Bush's real role in
Watergate remains to be unearthed. To borrow a phrase from James McCord's defense of
his boss, Richard Helms, we must see to it that "every tree in the forest will fall."
NOTES:
- Fitzhugh Green, George Bush, p. 137.
- Bush and Gold, pp. 120-121.
- Bush and Gold, p. 121.
- Fitzhugh Green, p. 129.
- Harry Hurt III, "George Bush, Plucky Lad," in Texas Monthly, June 1983.
- Dallas Morning News, November 25, 1971.
- Washington Post, December 12, 1972.