Kennedy Book, Nixon Tapes

In the Nov. 9 edition of The Times, which featured a front-page article about Seymour Hersh’s book on the late President John F. Kennedy, a book debunking the confident and capable image of Kennedy and attacking him for fatal character flaws, there is a Robert Scheer review of “Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes.” While Hersh relies on hearsay, conjecture and secondhand accounts that would never withstand evidentiary scrutiny in a court of law, the Nixon tapes are self-authenticating. Nixon’s own voice reveals him to be a raving anti-Semite, paranoid, obsessed with attacking the Kennedys and eager to abuse his power at any opportunity. Ironically, the tapes have the very same Seymour Hersh being praised by Nixon for digging into the finances of Watergate whistle-blower John Dean.

The rumors about President Kennedy remain just that: rumors. The truth about Nixon is undeniable. The American people made the right choice in 1960 when they elected Kennedy over Nixon.

MICHAEL T. CREIGHTON

Claremont