Richard Nixon's Evangelical Quaker Heritage -- Quaker Upbringing, to 1934 -- A Pivotal Decision: Nixon and the Military -- Two Friends and a friend -- First Quaker Vice President -- A Quaker and a Roman Catholic for President, Again -- The Wilderness Years, 1962-1968 -- Power Corrupts Gradually -- Withdrawal from Vietnam -- Nixon's Need for Religion -- Watergate: The White House Warp -- Nixon in Retirement, 1974-1994.

Nixon's unique and personally tailored brand of evangelical Quakerism stayed hidden when he wanted it to, but was on display whenever he felt it might help him advance his career in some way. Ingle's unparalleled knowledge of Quakerism enables him to deftly point out how Nixon bent the traditional rules of the religion to suit his needs or, in some cases, simply ignored them entirely. This theme of the constant contradiction between Nixon's actions and his apparent religious beliefs makes Nixon's First Cover-up truly a groundbreaking study both in the field of Nixon research as well as the field of the influence of religion on the U.S. presidency. Forty years after Nixon's resignation from office, Ingle's work proves there remains much about the thirty-seventh president that the American public does not yet know.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-266) and index.