THOMPSON, Hunter S.

£17,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Watergate research materials. A significant trove of contemporary materials relating to the Watergate scandal, collected by Hunter S. Thompson, one of Richard Nixon's most scathing and high-profile critics. This working collection, with handwritten notes and annotations by Thompson, is a time capsule of the biggest scandal of 20th-century American politics from the perspective of a gleeful observer.The collection shows Thompson grappling with the unfolding crisis in real time. The scandal, which first made headlines in June 1972, was significantly escalated in July 1974 when Nixon was forced to hand over his White House tapes to the prosecution. Thompson's documents mostly date to this dramatic period, just prior to Nixon's resignation on 9 August 1974. In addition to extensive photocopied reports and transcripts relating to the unfolding of Watergate and the impeachment committee's investigation of Nixon, this collection includes two (of three) volumes of the first published appearance of the eyewitness testimonies. Of particular interest are Thompson's lengthy manuscript notes across four sheets of Rolling Stones and Hilton Hotel-headed notepaper, capturing the "madness - too complex to describe", his bafflement ("Can Nixon suspend congress?"), and his certainty that Nixon was facing "The End - (liar, quitter)". They include notes such as: "to go or not to go?", "back to hearings - down the tube", and "my own depression". One sheet comprises a hasty schedule of writing, swi

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