Luke Nichter, doctoral alum of the Graduate Program in Policy History, presented a discussion of his research journey as part of the BGSU College of Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s Lecture Series on Tuesday, September 30 in Bowen-Thompson Student Union Room 206. Nichter discussed the process of listening to the tapes of President Richard Nixon’s conversations, most importantly with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, as he discussed a variety of issues. Nichter was introduced by Dr. Douglas Forsyth, faculty member in the BGSU Department of History and the chair of Nichter’s dissertation committee, as well as Dr. Gary Hess, professor emeritus.

The Nixon Tapes, co-authored by Douglas Brinkley, “offers a selection of fascinating scenes from the year Nixon opened relations with China, negotiated the SALT I arms agreement with the Soviet Union, and won a landslide reelection victory. All the while, the growing shadow of Watergate and Nixon’s political downfall crept ever closer. The Nixon Tapes provides a never-before-seen glimpse into a flawed president’s hubris, paranoia, and political genius.”

Nichter currently serves as an Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University – Central Texas. He is a noted expert on the Nixon tapes as a result of his efforts to digitize the nearly 4,000 hours of recordings he makes available online as a public service, and he is the author of an ongoing petition before the District Court for the District of Columbia to open Watergate-related government records still sealed in the National Archives.

For more on Dr. Douglas Forsyth, please visit his faculty page here.

For more on Professor Emeritus Gary Hess, please visit his faculty page here.

For more on Luke Nichter, please see previous posts in our department blog.