Crazy Rhythm: My Journey from Brooklyn, Jazz, and Wall Street, to Nixon's White House, Watergate, and Beyond...

A self-described ""birthright Democrat and lifelong liberal"" born in Brooklyn to immigrant Eastern European Jews, Garment never really satisfactorily explains how or why he became Richard Nixon's friend, campaign strategist and political crony, serving as the President's special consultant and counsel. They met in 1963 as partners in Garment's Wall Street law firm, after Nixon, having lost his bid to become governor of California, moved east to make a fresh political start. Garment, who acted as Nixon's informal liaison to the American Jewish community and to Israel, also defused Native American protests and worked on federal arts programs and school desegregation. He lamely defends his attempt to help the President ride out the Watergate scandal. He offers valuable close-ups of Nixon's rise to power and White House maneuvers. His candid life story includes moments of high drama, such as a 1969 diplomatic mission to Moscow during which he fed his KGB hosts hours of disinformation; as well as personal tragedies, notably the 1976 suicide of his first wife, depressive soap-opera scriptwriter Grace Albert. Currently a Washington, D.C., lawyer, Garment writes with an open mind and a fine-tuned sense of humor. His biography is a moving testimony to a remarkable career. Photos. (Mar.)