Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon
by Fred Emery
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"On August 9, 1974, the greatest political scandal of our times reached its climax with the resignation of Richard Nixon from the presidency of the United States. Never before had a president been forced to give up his office. It was a stunning conclusion to a series of events that for drama, fatefulness, and sheer improbability cannot be rivaled by fiction." "In Watergate, Fred Emery tells the whole story as it could never be told before. The book incorporates material drawn from show more unprecedented interviews with virtually all of the still-surviving participants, plus tapes and documents not available before. In fact, only now - as Watergate makes brilliantly clear - are we able to see exactly how and why Richard Nixon fell from power." "Elected by a tiny margin in 1968, Nixon was obsessed with the fear that he would be a one-term president. This, combined with the president's willingness - and that of his staff - to countenance "intelligence" operations against his opponents, gradually and inevitably led to "dirty tricks," bugging of telephones, and "Watergate" itself - a bungled attempt to plant bugs and copy documents in the offices of the Democratic National Committee in Washington's huge Watergate complex. But the trail led straight back to the Oval Office." "Just how the cover-up began, started to unravel, and finally broke wide open is a fascinating tale, especially when - as here - we see it from the inside. Dodging and floundering, trying one expedient after another, Nixon watches as his own men fall away under pressure, betray him, and, finally, leave him no choice but to resign or face impeachment." "Told as a narrative history, Watergate is a tale of extraordinary characters, from the unlikely undercover man G. Gordon Liddy (who specialized in demonstrating his willpower by charring his finger in a candle flame) to Sam Ervin, the determinedly old-fashioned senator whose televised committee hearings ultimately brought the whole mess before the public. There are dozens of minor figures - petty criminals, lawyers disdainful of the law, loyal followers and opportunists. And, at the center, Richard Nixon himself." "As Washington bureau chief for The Times of London during the entire Watergate period, Fred Emery covered every aspect of the story. Now, with the passage of two decades and access to many new facts, he is in a unique position to bring it to us whole - mysteries solved, gaps filled, the drama complete."--Jacket. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Well, I don't know why the whole Watergate kerflufle fascinates me so.
Maybe it's because it was the history that I lived through, not just the history I read about.
Anyway Fred Emery had himself a good idea. Sit down in a comfortable chair with ALL the books that came out of Watergate, Nixon's book and John Dean's book and Erlichmann's book and all of them.
And the transcripts of the tapes.
And put the whole story together end to end correlating this one's memory with that one's memory with the tapes and the testimony. When there are conflicting stories, he tells you.
It's an amazing achievement. I think Emery is very fair about the run-up to Watergate and the (sometimes reality-based) paranoia of the Nixon team.
But when someone is lying, show more he's not shy about saying so.
Everybody in the Nixon White House thought this was nothing to waste time on when they were working on peace in the Middle East and Arms talks with Russia and a sputtering economy.
And Nixon - not a foolish man politically - thought that the Watergate thing would come to nothing because other presidents before him had done the same and worse. Well maybe.
A fair and balanced book and a new look at a fascinating story.
This is the one that will last as long as Watergate and corruption in Government are talked about. show less
Maybe it's because it was the history that I lived through, not just the history I read about.
Anyway Fred Emery had himself a good idea. Sit down in a comfortable chair with ALL the books that came out of Watergate, Nixon's book and John Dean's book and Erlichmann's book and all of them.
And the transcripts of the tapes.
And put the whole story together end to end correlating this one's memory with that one's memory with the tapes and the testimony. When there are conflicting stories, he tells you.
It's an amazing achievement. I think Emery is very fair about the run-up to Watergate and the (sometimes reality-based) paranoia of the Nixon team.
But when someone is lying, show more he's not shy about saying so.
Everybody in the Nixon White House thought this was nothing to waste time on when they were working on peace in the Middle East and Arms talks with Russia and a sputtering economy.
And Nixon - not a foolish man politically - thought that the Watergate thing would come to nothing because other presidents before him had done the same and worse. Well maybe.
A fair and balanced book and a new look at a fascinating story.
This is the one that will last as long as Watergate and corruption in Government are talked about. show less
This book is a thorough and in-depth history of the Watergate Scandal. If you're looking for all the facts, this is your source; if you're looking for the juicy stories, better turn to the (auto)biographies of the main players.
A really fine book on this scandal and, next to reading the tape transcripts, the best reminder I know of what the Nixon administration was actually like.
About as comprehensive book as you can find about Watergate. Over 500 pages long, and includes a very large amount of quotes from the tapes. I was in my 30s when all of this happened, and I was interested in reading this book as a memory refresher. It did the job.
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2 Works 201 Members
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon
- Important events
- Watergate Scandal
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government
- DDC/MDS
- 973.924 — History & geography History of North America United States 1901- Cold War, Vietnam War, Digital Age (1953-2001) Richard Nixon (1969-1974) Watergate Scandal, U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam
- LCC
- E860 .E47 — History of the United States United States Later twentieth century, 1961-2000 Nixon's administrations, 1969-August 9, 1974 Watergate Affair. Resignation
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 200
- Popularity
- 162,941
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (4.14)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 2
