Aide says Nixon wanted to bomb think tank

Dean, who served four months in prison for his role in the Watergate cover-up, spun the story casually at a two-day conference on the effect of White House taping systems on seven 20th Century Presidents.

The practice began in 1940 with Franklin D. Roosevelt. White House taping ended in 1974, after thousands of tapes exposed illegal and unethical activities that led to the demise of Richard Nixon’s presidency. About 3,700 hours of tapes from the Nixon White House have been transcribed and made public.

The two-day discussion attracted scholars, journalists and two grown White House ‘‘children’’: University of Pennsylvania Prof David Eisenhower, grandson of President Eisenhower, and Lynda Johnson Robb, elder daughter of President Lyndon Johnson.

On Monday, Dean captivated the audience with story after story about Nixon, his tapes and aides.

As for the proposed bombing of the Brookings Institution, Dean said Colson floated the idea to retrieve documents Nixon wanted that were housed in the research centre not far from the White House. Dean said he has heard Nixon ‘‘literally pounding on his desk, saying ‘I want that break-in at the Brookings (Institution).’’’ (LATWP)