Challenging the Secret Government

“Perceptive and gracefully written history.” — Journal of American History

“This is a fascinating study of how, just months after Watergate, both press and Congress quietly retreated to the same silk-gloved handling of the CIA and FBI in the name of national security.” — Publishers Weekly

“Olmsted successfully confronts and refutes the heroic myths surrounding post-Watergate journalism.” — Nation

"Kathryn Olmsted has provided a useful summary of the Frank Church and Otis Pike investigations. . . . Her conclusions are devastating: Congressional leadership had little interest in pursuing the charges; Gerald Ford’s White House, recognizing the complicity of the executive branch, fought skillfully to limit and discredit the inquiries; and the media proved to be a useful, compliant accomplice of both.'-Nation

“This important book is timely as the future of the CIA is debated in both the scholarly and government communities.” — CHOICE

“Olmsted . . . takes us back to the mid-1970s, when the spooks were on the run. . . . She ably chronicles the fall from high expectation to Washington handwringing. . . . Olmsted explodes the myth that this era was a time of journalistic courage and a heyday of investigative reporting.” — Washington Monthly

“A timely and outstanding contribution to a debate of central concern to observers of U.S. political culture and international relations. Olmsted boldly articulates her sympathies, and she provides abundant evidence and cogent arguments to support them. Many readers will disagree with her judgments; none can ignore them.” — Richard H. Immerman, Temple University