Secret Agenda

by Jim Hougan

The author presents startling discoveries that indicate that the American public has been seriously misinformed about the Watergate Scandal and reveals the actual culprits, sexual scandals, and malicious interagency spying

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Conspiracy Theories, Crime

440 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1984

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read, as of this review, 119 books about Richard Nixon, his complex, tormented life and scandalous presidency. This pile of trash might be the worst. Hougan frames Watergate as a Deep State coup against Nixon for reasons that he struggles to articulate: perhaps resentment against Nixon for concentrating power in the White House? Perhaps anger over his detente policies towards China and Russia? Trying to keep secrets about Castro and Operation Mongoose? Maybe because the CIA is just Evil? It's hard to tell, as Hougan shifts between different explanations without ever becoming convincing. Even if one was conspiratorially inclined, Hougan is too ready to traffic in inference and insinuation without facts; Bob Woodward serving in Naval intelligence proves, somehow, that he was a military-industrial pawn to destroy Nixon via adverse media coverage. Or Alexander Butterfield was a CIA plant in the White House because...he served in the Air Force and revealed the White House tapes to the Senate? Hougan spends practically no time on Nixon himself, refusing to consider how the man's self-destructive personality could have played some role. Much easier for him to believe in massive, intractable conspiracies than that one flawed man and his cronies can endanger the System.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

With excellent citations, an impressively thorough investigation and logical analysis, Hougan paints a convincing portrait of the "secret agenda" behind the Watergate break-ins, a political scandal the accepted narrative of which makes less and less sense the more one looks into it.

From the ineptitude of the burglars to the deep CIA connections running throughout the planning team's personnel, it's not a stretch to say that the break-in was perpetrated not by the Nixon White House but by the CIA. The immediately ensuing question, of course, is "Why?"

Personally I was hoping for a more sinister explanation than the lurid, rather banal cause that Hougan eventually reveals: the CIA was using the DNC break-in as a cover for their alternative, secret domestic spying/blackmail/prostitution operation against prominent politicians and judges. I'm still not sure I totally understand what Hougan was getting at -- he tends to focus more on the trees than the forest -- but the big takeaway is that the CIA's gonna do what it wants where it wants, and it's not gonna let no stinkin' constitution get in its way.

There are lots of names and dates which can be complicated to keep straight, and connoisseurs of the JFK assassination will recognize guys like Howard Hunt, James McCord, Gordon Liddy and Frank Sturgis from conspiracies around JFK. That they show up again with Watergate and the CIA makes them more suspicious regarding the affair a decade before, but then again I also don't believe a single bullet can change direction seven times in mid-flight -- what do I know?

To sum up, there was a footnote that gave me a chuckle because it basically epitomizes the book in a nutshell:

Fensterwald was one of two attorneys who represented McCord during the Watergate inquiry. . . Regarded by some as a bit of a mystery figure in hus own right, Fensterwald is an independently wealthy graduate of Harvard Law School and Cambridge University. He worked for the State Department in the early 1950s, and in the 1960s was chief counsel and staff director of subcommittees of the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Edward V. Long. The founder of the Committee to Investigate Assassinations (CtIA), he has a consuming interest in uncovering the truth behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Well-connected in intelligence circles, Fensterwald was a friend of the Plumbers' CIA liaison, the (probably) late John Paisley. His clients have included Marianne Paisley, bug-designer Martin Kaiser, James Earl Ray (Dr. Martin Luther King's assassin), the arms-dealer Mitch WerBell and a contingent of Task Force 157 agents (who successfully sued the government for retirement benefits). 205

That "(probably)" is by far my favorite phrase in the book. If you read the above and it sounds compelling, highly suspicious and even frightening, then you'll like this book. If it just sounds ridiculous and nutwing-y, with all the bizarre connections and tangents (not to mention its parenthetically fake death), you should give the book a hard pass. I happen to believe most of this stuff, but the presentation here is not the most accessible so I can't blame those who don't really dig it.


Not Bad Reviews

@pointblaek

[Ryan Nary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly hard to follow at times--which may have been a function of when I read it, i.e. as I was falling asleep--but a nevertheless fascinating reexamination of Watergate. Hougan is spot on in asking why, in all the tellings and retellings of the affair, no one ever focuses on the break-in itself.

The section on Deep Throat is obviously dated, as Mark Felt revealed himself some time ago, and Hougan goofs when he asserts that no one in the FBI's top echelon could have been Deep Throat. However, I don't think this small section detracts from the book's overall impact. After all, Hougan was basing his analysis on Woodward's description, to which Woodward may have added red herrings to throw would-be sleuths off Deep Throat's trail.

It will be hard to view "All the President's Men" in the same light after this, thought I still believe Woodstein's book has its place in Watergate lore.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having only read the famous book 'All the President's Men' from Bernstein & Woodward (1974), + the subsequent Hollywood movie, I found a recommendation from Jim DiEugenio for Hougan's work.
'Sercret Agenda' (1984) is a superb probe full of documented notes, very intelligent investigative research that uncovers, as the title of the book indicates, the secret agenda behind the series of Watergate break-ins of 1972.
Since this publication date the identity of Mark Felt as 'Deep Throat' has come into the public domain in 2005. It is interesting that in Hougan's assumptions on the identity of 'Throat', who he strongly suspected was Alexander Haig, he writes, 'the FBI's top echelon and many of it's agents can be eliminated from consideration, since it was they who first developed the lines of investigation leading to Baldwin. Their reports, including interviews with Baldwin, were disseminated throughout the bureau. Contrary to what Woodward says, therefore, 'Throat' did not have sources in the FBI-or if he did, their reports to him were perfunctory at best. For the same reason that L. Patrick Gray, Mark Felt and other FBI officials can be forgotten, so also can we exclude from consideration those whose job it was to prosecute the burglars.'
Disturbingly, it was Felt who supervised the FBI's notorious 'Cointelpro' operations during the 1960's.
However, apart from the bureau, it is CIA that was mired in the conspiracies of Watergate.

[Robert A. Stansbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought and read this book in the late 80s, and I must say it informs my judgment every time a 'gate' is appended to any Govt scandal; real or imagined. What Hougan reveals is the "Deep State" [fact] that today's Derp State fiction is often accused of mimicking. Let's just call that 'Derpgate '...

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asks many questions that were never asked during the trial and Senate Hearings . Revealing loose ends that weren’t tied up. With all the evidence that was burned, shredded & purposely ignored,, an analysis of speculation & conjecture based on circumstantial evidence is discussed. Describes the Contagious Paranoid aura permeating the Nixon WH Staff during the reelection campaign, culminating in the formation of “The Plumbers “ ( to stop the leaks). Besides discussing all the well known characters , Hougan discusses the more important characters behind the scenes & their supporting roles.& their history of association with the main cast of characters. Contemplates reasoning behind individual actions & what purpose/s they served. (the double cross sabotage, the September Bug) . Also details all the overlooked mistakes & ironies that ( coulda, woulda, shoulda) changed history. ( besides the most infamous; if Nixon had just burned the tapes) Fascinating chapter on his ideas about “Deep Throat’s “ identity also discusses Woodward’s employment history before becoming a reporter at 28-29yo. This book was published 21 years before Deep Throat’s identity was revealed. Since the reader knows his true identity now , reading Hougan’s reasoning for mentioning & discounting the person by name as a candidate for Deep Throat, antiquated as it is, leads this reader to contemplate Hougan’s other revelation about Woodward’s admitting he & deep throat were old friends , which tied into Woodward’s prior employment history. The appendices on CIA operatives & memoranda should not be skipped over.

[Allen Bolinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watergate Secrets Revealed

I was ten years old when the Watergate break-in occurred. I remember the hearings being constantly on TV. I recall the names of the principals; but, I never understood what exactly happened or why. This book goes a long way toward explaining what ended the Nixon presidency. Much like the Kennedy assassination, the passage of time has rendered some questions unanswerable. However, the author proposes excellent theories that seem likely to at least border on the lost truths of the affair.

[Rob Pruden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an extremely interesting book which adds so many elements to the political crimes that today we know as Watergate. It is especially interesting in the realization that the media and Deep State were just as corrupt back in the 1970's as they are today with the CIA in particular violating their guidance to only be focused on foreign enemies rather than the domestic ones on the Watergate scandal

[Alex Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provocative theories supposing that there was more behind the Watergate scandals than has been revealed, specifically the break-ins were, unbeknownst to Nixon, covert CIA operations. This book is 40 years old so some new information has come to light than have made a few passages outdated (his speculation on Deep Throat’s identity is noteworthy for being wrong) so it would be interesting to see a revised edition.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very important and informative. I did have a hard time following at times considering all the details and moving parts.

[Josh Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

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