OVER FIFTY years ago, the existence of government records on magnetic tape brought down a president. In 1971 the secret service installed Sony open-reel tape recorders throughout the White House, to guarantee that Richard Nixon’s presidency would be “the best chronicled” in American history. Three years later the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that the tapes of 42 conversations had to be handed over to Congress, after Nixon himself had refused. His failure to co-operate was one part of the articles of impeachment prepared against him. The contents of one tape, the so-called “smoking gun”, showing Nixon’s attempt to cover-up the Watergate scandal, led to his resignation.