Blind Ambition Review

The Senator rose to new heights during the perjury asking John Dean, “…do you feel better now that you’ve told the truth instead of hiding it?” Dean replies, “Indeed I do…it’s a very difficult thing to hide” (318). John Dean, in his mid-thirties was the first and only person, to this day, who has testified against the president of the United States. In the midst of money laundering and a false report, Dean was one of the leads to covering up arguably one of the largest controversies within the White House.

The book Blind Ambition was less about the Watergate Scandal than it was about the man behind the cover up, John Dean. As counsel to the president, Dean struggled with his commitment to his self rather than the public. Within the doors of the White House, “no” was never a viable option since individuality was not a quality rewarded by higher ups such as Nixon. John Dean left the Department of Justice at the young age of 30 with the ambition and goals to make his way upward into a “position of confidence and influence” (30). Very quickly he learned that in order to do this he had to give in to crime and corruption that plays in the White House. The thesis of Blind Ambition is that people, such as John Dean, lose sight of their ethical grounds by doing what it takes to reach the point of success they wish to be at.

In more than 300 pages, readers of John Dean’s novel saw his highs and lows as counsel, husband, and person. Despite being advised against taking the position as counsel based on the rigorous schedule and high demands, he took the position anyway based on his lifelong dream becoming one of the “elite” and to eventually reach the inside of the president’s circle of advisors. Dean’s first hurdle introducing him into the foul play in the Whitehouse happened when he wrote his first memorandum for the president. Nixon asked for Dean to instruct the IRS to conduct a field investigation, something Dean thought was “dangerous, unnecessary and wrong.” Advice...