The Last of the President's Men

It's an interesting exposition of Nixon's paranoia and awkwardness in interpersonal relationships. It's not a deep study of the Nixon White House -- confirms the view that Haldeman and Nixon ran everything and lacked any human feelings.

Fascinating look at Richard Nixon through the eyes of Alexander Butterfield, the man who revealed the existence of the secret recording system in the White House. I found myself feeling sorry for Nixon and wondering how in the world someone so socially inept and emotionally stunted ended up as president.

5401 The Last of the President's Men, by Bob Woodward (read 24 Aug 2016) This book tells how Alexander Butterfield came to be in Nixon's White House and tells of his time there and that account is interesting but the book becomes super-exciting as it leads up to Butterfield being questioned by staffers of the Watergate Investigating committee. The Democratic staffer did not ask the question but the Republican staffer asked:" "Are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office?" Butterfield would not lie and answered truthfully. The entire investigation took a new turn and that question, asked on July 16, 1973, led inexorably to Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974. The book is super-interesting, even though show more we all know the story. But this book throws new light on the whole story and I found it super-exciting. show less

This is an interesting and frightening look at the Nixon White House told from the perspective of Alexander Butterfield, most famous for his disclosure of the White House taping system that helped end a presidency. Butterfield left a promising career in the military to pursue a position in Nixon’s administration through his college association with Bob Haldeman, one of Nixon’s top aides. He ended up working in an office next to the Oval Office for three years, and in such a trusted position knew many of his boss’s secrets as well as his personality quirks. Accompanying his story are the documents that verify his tales, making it an interesting walk through history.

The Last of the President's Men by Bob Woodward is a thin work that could just as well not be published. It is a hatchet job on Nixon by Woodward. Very biased against Nixon. It never mentions Nixon's triumphs of which there were many. Not worth the detour.

"The Last of the President's Men" is Bob Woodward's addendum to his earlier book "All the President's Men."

He has the hindsight of Alexander Butterfield, the man who disclosed the Whitehouse taping system, and newly unclassified documents.

This book spurred me on finally read a book on Nixon.

There were seven reviews by others that were far better than anything I might write. It is a pity that Alexander Butterfield never published his manuscript about his experience. I listened to the Audiobook version of the Bob Woodward book It took just over six hours.