This episode of Investigative Reports examines the use of recording devices by several American presidents. It chronicles the use of recording devices from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's primitive prototype to Richard Nixon's voice activated system that utimately led to his downfall and a "cancer on the presidency." Highlights of The Secret White House Tapes include recordings of John F. Kennedy's meetings with his advisors during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Lyndon B. Johnson's anguish over the Vietnam War, and Ronald Reagan's foreign policy. The Secret White House Tapes would be useful for classes on American History, Civics, Cultural History, Legal History and the History of Science and Technology. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

The Secret White House Tapes

• appease
• clandestine
• covertly
• dilemma
• duplicity
• espionage
• implicit
• inadvertently
• ominous
• paternalism
• prophetic
• sanctimonious
• sanctum
• thwart
• usurpation
• vagaries

1. Several American presidents have used recording devices in the Oval office and other areas of the White House. Why would a president, or any other person in a postiion of authority or power, want to record his or her conversations?

2. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to use the new technology of recording devices. What were F. D. R.'s reasons for beginning the practice?

3. One of the few recordings made by F. D. R. was his conversation with civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph. How does this tape recording illustrate the difficulties faced by Randolph, and other civil rights advocates, in furthering the cause of equality for African Americans in the United States?

4. Although Harry S. Truman experimented with F. D. R.'s recording device in the Oval office, he eventually ordered the device dismantled. Why did Truman do this? Why was he hesitiant to continue the practice started by F. D. R.?

5. The existence of taped recordings of presidential conversations can add a dramatic understanding to an historical moment. How do John F. Kennedy's tapes of his advisory council during the Cuban Missile Crisis add to our knowledge of the event? How did these recordings affect J. F. K.'s eventual decision?

6. Why and how do these recordings contribute to our knowledge of history?

7. A few days after the assination of J. F. K., Lyndon B. Johnson taped his conversation with J. Edgar Hoover, head of the F. B. I., regarding the investigation of the assassination. How do these tapes add to the confusion and conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination?

8. What do L. B. J.'s tapes reveal about the quagmire of Vietnam?

9. How did changing technology alter the way in which presidents used recording devices?

10. The taping of presidential conversations and phone calls were done without the knowledge or consent of those being taped (except for the president). Is this ethical? Is it an abuse of power? Should a president's conversations and phone calls be recorded?

11. How and when did the existence of presidential tape recodings become public knowledge?

12. Richard Nixon is the only president in American history to resign the office of the presidency. How did the existence of Richard Nixon's White House tapes lead to his downfall and disgrace?

13. Richard Nixon's downfall was caused directly by the existence of his tape recodings. Did the Supreme Court have the right to subpoena Nixon's tapes?

14. Why didn't Nixon destroy his tapes before the Supreme Court demanded they be turned over?

15. How did Nixon's tape create a Consitutional crisis in the United States? How did the new president, Gerald Ford, and the people of the United States deal with this crisis?

16. What is the political legacy of the Watergate crisis?

1. Imagine that recording devices were available to to President Abraham Lincoln. Create a transcript of the recording of Lincoln and his advisors making decisions about the start of the Civil War.

2. Write an essay on the ethical implications of presidential tape recordings. Be sure to defend your position with reasons for your stance.

3. Divide the class into two sections and moderate a debate on the pros and cons of presidential recordings.

4. Create a front page of a newspaper that announces Nixon's resignation. How would you emphasize the historical significance of the event?

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