Why Nixon Wanted to Blackmail LBJ | John Jenkins

Get John’s book, Summer of ’71: https://link.amazon/B0b9svNrV

Richard Nixon had already won the presidency. Why did he still want to blackmail Lyndon B. Johnson? Journalist John A. Jenkins explains Nixon’s fixation on the 1968 election and the Vietnam bombing halt, and how the Pentagon Papers intensified his war with the press. Drawing on archival research and White House recordings, Jenkins explores the gap between Nixon’s public achievements and the paranoia and schemes taking shape before Watergate.

Jenkins joins Tim to discuss Summer of ’71: Five Months That Changed America and his experiences as a young Washington reporter. They follow Daniel Ellsberg’s effort to expose the Vietnam War record, Neil Sheehan’s secret copying operation and the New York Times’ battle to publish. The conversation also examines Henry Kissinger’s China diplomacy and madman theory, Robert McNamara’s regrets, and the stories of Sarah Weddington, Angela Davis and Attica.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Nixon’s plan to blackmail LBJ
00:33 John Jenkins and Summer of ’71
02:00 Washington in 1971 and the May Day protests
06:12 Henry Kissinger, Frank Sinatra and China
10:14 Richard Nixon’s public and private sides
13:38 Reconstructing Nixon’s White House tapes
19:35 Nixon’s paranoia and enemies list
24:25 Why Nixon wanted to blackmail LBJ
28:17 Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
35:51 Neil Sheehan and the secret copying operation
41:17 Nixon learns about the Pentagon Papers leak
44:23 Robert McNamara’s Vietnam regrets
48:00 Kissinger and Nixon’s madman theory
50:33 The newspapers’ fight for press freedom
54:30 Roe v. Wade, Angela Davis and Attica

Facts Verse is currently accepting sponsorships. Contact partnerships@factsverse.com for more details.