cover image Nixon’s War at Home: The FBI, Leftist Guerillas, and the Origins of Counterterrorism

Nixon’s War at Home: The FBI, Leftist Guerillas, and the Origins of Counterterrorism

Daniel S. Chard. Univ. of North Carolina, $32.95 (384p) ISBN 978-1-4696-6450-7

Historian Chard debuts with an immersive and eye-opening account of how the Nixon administration’s fight against the Weather Underground, the Black Liberation Army, and other insurgent groups gave rise to counterterrorism tactics and philosophies of “punitive policing” that reshaped American politics. Chard excels at taking an isolated incident, such as the 1970 takeover of a Marin County, Calif., courtroom by “Black radical prisoners,” and exploring how its ripple effects resulted in the implementation of “extralegal” and morally dubious investigative practices, including warrantless wiretaps and the mailing of “anonymous, inflammatory materials intended to sow distrust and discord within organizations.” Chard also tracks how increasing pressure exerted by the “celebrity status” of these leftist guerilla organizations led to tensions between the White House and the FBI, and contributed to FBI associate director Mark Felt’s decision to leak information about the Watergate break-in to the press. Making excellent use of declassified FBI documents, Nixon’s White House tapes, and other sources, Chard shines a light on this turbulent era, though the links he draws to the “war on terror,” mass incarceration, and other contemporary issues are somewhat undeveloped. Still, this is an incisive and well-informed survey of the political struggles of the 1960s and ’70s. (Sept.)