Nixon's War at Home
The FBI, Leftist Guerrillas, and the Origins of Counterterrorism
Published on 1. February 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-1-4696-9610-2 (ISBN)
Description
During the presidency of Richard Nixon, homegrown leftist guerrilla groups like the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army carried out hundreds of attacks in the United States. The FBI had a long history of infiltrating activist groups, but this type of clandestine action posed a unique challenge. Drawing on thousands of pages of declassified FBI documents, Daniel S. Chard shows how America's war with domestic guerrillas prompted a host of new policing measures as the FBI revived illegal spy techniques previously used against communists in the name of fighting terrorism. These efforts did little to stop the guerrillas-instead, they led to a bureaucratic struggle between the Nixon administration and the FBI that fueled the Watergate Scandal and brought down Nixon. Yet despite their internal conflicts, FBI and White House officials developed preemptive surveillance practices that would inform U.S. counterterrorism strategies into the twenty-first century, entrenching mass surveillance as a cornerstone of the national security state.
Connecting the dots between political violence and "law and order" politics, Chard reveals how American counterterrorism emerged in the 1970s from violent conflicts over racism, imperialism, and policing that remain unresolved today.
Connecting the dots between political violence and "law and order" politics, Chard reveals how American counterterrorism emerged in the 1970s from violent conflicts over racism, imperialism, and policing that remain unresolved today.
Reviews / Votes
"An immersive and eye-opening account of how the Nixon administration's fight against the Weather Underground, the Black Liberation Army, and other insurgent groups gave rise to counterterrorism tactics and philosophies of 'punitive policing' that reshaped American politics. . . . Making excellent use of declassified FBI documents, Nixon's White House tapes, and other sources, Chard shines a light on this turbulent era."-Publishers Weekly"An impressive first book by a young historian. . . . Nixon's War at Home offers genuine contributions to the continuing examination of the Long Sixties."-CHOICE
"Besides being a well-documented research project supported by a robust amount of references, the book is successful in explaining the conceptual development of counterterrorism."-The Society for U.S. Intellectual History
"An ambitious book that engages with several disciplines and historical subfields. Scholars of counterterrorism will benefit from Chard's analysis of the escalating cycles of violence, and he adds important nuance and clarity to the history of Watergate. . . . Nixon's War at Home will serve as a critical foundation for further research on the counterintelligence operations that succeeded the COINTELPROs."-H-War
"An immersive and eye-opening account of how the Nixon administration's fight against the Weather Underground, the Black Liberation Army, and other insurgent groups gave rise to counterterrorism tactics and philosophies of 'punitive policing' that reshaped American politics. . . . Making excellent use of declassified FBI documents, Nixon's White House tapes, and other sources, Chard shines a light on this turbulent era."-Publishers Weekly
"Outside of seemingly paranoid circles, counterterrorism was a little-discussed part of the American state long before 9/11. In this incredibly researched and well-written book, Daniel S. Chard guides us into the multiple forms that the efforts to counter insurgencies in the 1960s and 1970s took. Anyone concerned about our freedoms needs to read this, and now."-Susan M. Reverby, author of Co-conspirator for Justice: The Revolutionary Life of Dr. Alan Berkman
"Daniel Chard is the first historian to show how the FBI's war on antiracist, anti-imperialist radicals led to the downfall of the Nixon presidency while also establishing a template for the broad-brush, inhumane, and ineffective counterterrorism policies of the United States after 9/11. Nixon's War at Home is original, fascinating, and as relevant as ever."-Christian G. Appy, author of American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Chapel Hill
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
14 illustrations - 14 halftones - 14 Halftones, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
656 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4696-9610-2 (9781469696102)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2021
The University of North Carolina Press
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Daniel S. Chard is assistant professor of history at Western Washington University.