And here I go again! Another book review about an historical event I lived through in my younger days. Though the country wasn’t under threat from a foreign entity, our basic foundations as a republic based on democracy was being eroded from within by, of all people, our elected leader and the men who served under him, thus, the title of the book I speak of, All The President’s Men. I recently for the first time saw the movie based on this book, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, which made me realize I’d never read the book. Being the history buff I am that was very remiss on my part so I immediately got a copy, much to my delight!
This book relates the dramatic saga that began when five men were arrested for burglary after being arrested for breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the opulent Watergate, a residential-office-hotel complex on the banks of the Potomac River in the Foggy Bottom area of Washington, D.C. As was later learned, they had been hired by CREEP, the Committee For the Re-election of the President, and in their possession was found cameras, film and bugging devices and each one had a substantial sum of money, most of it $100 dollar bills, running in sequence. Their apparent job was to tap the phones, set up listening devices to capture conversations and photograph any relevant documents that would aid in President Richard Milhous Nixon’s run for a second term in office. But in their amateur ways, they’d taped the lock open on a door which was discovered by a security guard, and the end result of that was…BUSTED! Did I say amateur ways? Four of the five had a past association with the CIA. Some of the bugging equipment they were attempting to install was battery powered and no more sophisticated than a crystal radio set, a toy many of us know from our childhood. Apparently, they hadn’t learned their spy-craft well.
At 9:00 AM on June, 17, 1972, Bob Woodward was awakened by his phone. It was the city editor at the Washington Post who informed him that five men had been arrested for a break in at Democratic headquarters and he asked if he could come in. Always on the look out for a good Saturday assignment, this local burglary didn’t fit the bill. He’s been with the Post for nine months and this seemed like just another local crime puff piece of work, the same ol’, same ol’ kind of work he’d been doing so much of. He’d recently finished a series of stories about the attempted assassination of Alabama’s governor George Wallace and felt he’d moved up to better assignments.
Nonetheless, he got his act together and headed to the offices of the Post, little knowing he was taking the first steps of an historical investigative journalistic event that led to the Post winning the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1973 after he was teamed up with Carl Bernstein and they did the lead reporting on Watergate.
On his arrival at the offices, he saw more activity than usual at the city desk, and checking in with the city editor he learned this wasn’t just a simple local event because it wasn’t the local Democratic headquarters that had been broken into but the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. So began his adventure that very afternoon when he went to the courthouse for the booking of the five suspects. It was there that he learned of the CIA connection. The judge questioned one of the suspects, James W. McCord, Jr., when he said he was a security consultant and had just retired from government service. Which service the judge wanted to know, which got a whispered response, “CIA,” causing the judge to flinch and Woodward to curse half aloud.
After the hearing, Woodward made his way back to the Post to report what he’d heard, and he and seven other reporters wrote a piece which the managing editor determined would be on the front page of Sunday’s edition of the Post, saying, “That’s a hell of a story.” At 8:00 Pm, Woodward called it a day, not realizing his small contribution to this saga was about to multiply a thousand fold.
The following morning, after some interesting information came across the Associated Press wire, the city manager once again requested Woodward to come in, along with Carl Bernstein, to work on a follow up. The AP had reported that James W. McCord, Jr., the former CIA employee arrested for the burglary, who now ran a security firm, had been hired as the security coordinator of the Committee for the Reelection of the President (CRP), also known as CREEP (a tellingly fitting name), an indication that this act was more than a simple attempt at espionage.
Woodward and Bernstein had never worked together and were initially wary for they had already formed their opinions of each other. But they jumped in head first, putting differences aside, and began working on a daunting investigative endeavor which was later deemed by Gene Roberts, the former executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and former managing editor of The New York Times, as “… maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.”[
This book details that effort. Though it is non-fiction, as I was reading it I felt as if I was reading a suspenseful detective novel. And they were just like detectives because they followed leads they got from dozens, if not hundreds, of the people and sources they interviewed over the following months, some willing to talk, others either too scared to spill the beans about what they knew or so loyal to their party and President that they were aggressively belligerent with Woodward and Bernstein.
One source, however, was a jewel in the rough arena of D.C. political reporting, a fascinating character that came to be known as Deep Throat, the name of a well-known porno movie of that era, dubbed so by Howard Simons, the managing editor of the Post. But being an anonymous source, known as deep background, the name was fitting. Woodward had become acquainted with this individual early on, consulting on stories earlier in his career. His identity was unknown for over thirty years, until he finally came out and admitted his role, which showed what a jewel he was because he was a high-placed member of the Executive Branch, the Associate Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mark Felt.
Felt and Woodward set up an intricate system of contacting each other to set up meetings, as if they were spys. The meetings took place in the bottom level of an underground garage in the wee hours of the morning. Deep Throat seldom came right out and told Woodward what he knew but answered all his questions in a way that would steer him and Bernstein in the right direction in their search for answers. Throughout years of political history, there have been many individuals that have stood up for the right thing, risking their reputations and careers by coming forward to reveal incriminating details about those in power. Seeing that Felt was way up the ladder by virtue of his position, it’s understandable that he wished to remain anonymous. Considering his level in the administration, he could be considered the most famous whistleblower of all time.
I’ll have to admit, when this event went down, I was still politically naïve, just as I was unknowing of foreign affairs and the dangers we faced in the Cold War Era, as I spoke of in my post about the Cuban Missile Crisis. But I did faithfully follow this in the newspaper and by watching television new. And this was before the era of 24-hour news channels but it was of such importance that PBS aired the entire 250 hours of the hearings along with ABC, CBS and NBC who broadcast the hearings on a rotating basis. The reason that I was so interested, not only for an educational purpose, is that the man chosen to lead the investigative committee was Senator Sam Ervin from my home state, North Carolina, who had been born just a few miles down the road from my hometown.
He was chosen to wield the gavel on the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Campaign Practices, later known as the Watergate Committee and popularly known as the Ervin Committee. He was a tough cookie, a constitutional scholar, a strict constructionist who took no prisoners in the hearings he chaired, especially when President Nixon tried to plead executive privilege by not allowing his aides to testify before the committee, which led Ervin to declare, “That is not executive privilege. That is executive poppycock!” Then turning his attention to President Nixon, Ervin said, “The truth is very precious; use it sparingly.” Nixon, Ervin concluded, “…used it sparingly.” His opening statement was a powerful indication of what was to come in the weeks ahead. Ironically, Ervin was ending his career just as he began it, on a committee that eventually brought down a powerful political foe, the first one being the red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy who was censured by the Senate because of his overboard anti-communist search. This final committee in his career led to the eventual downfall of the President of the United States. Though not a well-known politician, Ervin came to the forefront during these hearings, the television coverage giving him national recognition, though he considered himself “…a simple country lawyer.” When Ervin died in 1985, the Washington Post wrote, “At a time when Americans were buffeted by the Vietnam War and Watergate and increasingly distrustful of their leaders, Ervin came across as a stern father figure who wasn’t confused about what was right and wrong, moral and evil, and who took for granted the moral courage to stand up for what was right.” What better definition of patriot could there be?
It was during these hearings that it came out that President had set up a tape system in the Oval Office and the rest of the story, it could be said, is history. All the rest of it, from beginning to end, is quite some story, which I’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg in telling. That’s why I’ve shared this little bit, in hope of inspiring those who want to know this history to read the book. And the movie’s not bad, either.
Several in this administration were shamed by indictments, trials and jail time. Nixon himself, made the famous statement, “…I’m not a crook.” But after a vote for impeachment passed the House, Nixon, rather than face that for only the second time in American history, the first being President Andrew Johnson, became the first president to resign, though he said in his resignation speech, “I am not a quitter.”
Woodword and Berstein went on to have distinguished careers in journalism, winning many prestigious awards with Woodward’s work on the 9/11 attacks leading to the Post winning another Pulitzer Prize. They also wrote a follow-up work to All The President’s Men detailing the end of Nixon’s presidency, The Final Days.
The title All The President’s Men borrows from the childhood nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty (“All the king’s horses and all the king’s men…), just as the book by Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men” did a quarter-century earlier which told the tale of a fictional corrupt governor loosely based on Huey Long of Louisania, known as The Kingfish. And it would have been to the good stead of ‘All the President’s Men’ to have paid attention to the rhyme, which I’ll paraphrase in closing:
All the party loyalists
And All the President’s Men
Couldn’t put President ‘Tricky’ Dick Nixon
Together again
Funny, on my blog post today I also reviewed books. Must be that time of year. This one looks good.
That sounds like a really interesting book. Based on the history of it, I really think my husband would enjoy Reading this book as well.
This sounds like a very interesting read. I’m a big fan of books revolving around history and how something ACTUALLY happened. Thanks for sharing this.
You’re welcome, Stacie. It is very interesting and if you’re a big fan of history, maybe you’ll be inspired to read it.
Oh how well that time in our history–of course to me it seems like just yesterday since I lived through it–TV–newspapers etc! Tricky Dicky certainly got his comeuptance. What really bothers me–I get the feeling that it is still happening but with Senators and Congress people this time. No-I never read the book nor saw the movie–but boy do I ever remember it!
I feel the same way, Michele. Washington has lost touch with the people. We have only a handful of congressmen who could be considered statesmen.
I always appreciate book reviews because I love to read. I am a picky reader and I like to get an idea on what books to check out so this is a wonderful review! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Sharon. I’m more than happy to share and I’m glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully, you’ll now check the book out.
I have a friend who I think would love this book. I was looking to get them something little for their birthday and this would be perfect
I was in middle school when this happened and vaguely remember parts of this. I need to grab the book and brush up on some history myself. Thanks for the reminder.
You’re welcome, Alli. I was just out of high school when this went down so I have a great memory of it.
Sounds like an interesting read about the Water gate scandal. I wasn’t born when this was going on but I love learning about history.
Oof, looks like that book is over my head. I don’t know too much about the American history, since I’m from Canada.
Stories that go into detail about political intrigue like this. We used to search the video rental stores for these types of movies too.
What a very interesting book. I used to read all the time and miss it. This is a book I think I’d like and my husband too.
Thanks so much for sharing! It wouldn’t normally be the type of book I’d pick up to read on my own. So, it was so nice to read your review here.
You’re welcome, Maria. Maybe this will prompt you to give it a read. As an aside, I checked your website out and saw the quote from Audrey and the name, Golightly. Ironically, just last night I recorded “Breakfast at TIffany’s”, one of my all-time favs.
After watching house of cards, I really started thinking if that kind of behaviour was common across all administration or if it is just good fiction.
Unfortunately, there’s most likely much truth in that fiction.
I am a history buff. I am sure I would love this book. I love your post title.
Thanks, Kristen. I try my best to make cute titles which I hope will prompt interest in reading the post.
Thank you for the excerpt. I didn’t realize the correlation to the nursery rhyme! There is so much to learn about our nation’s history and seeing what really happens “behind the curtain.”
I found that fascinating, too, the tie-in to the nursery rhyme.
After reading this I want to pick up a good book. I really miss reading!
This would be the perfect good book to get back to reading. You’d truly enjoy it.
I had a great time to read this post, I think this book is really great to read, I haven’t seen it yet.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post. You can find the book in any library or at Amazon.
This sounds like a very interesting and educational book; would love to read it!
How interesting that the story borrows from Humpty Dumpty. This sounds like something my other half would love to have a read of.
Yes, I found it interesting, how they got their title from Humpty Dumpty.
I love historical fiction. It really brings history alive and creates an interesting story. I don’t know a huge amount about Watergate so I’m eager to learn more.
Thing is, this isn’t fiction but the story of an actual true event which is more interesting than any fiction.
This sounds like an interesting book indeed. I love books that are based on a true story and I do think they should have followed the rhyme. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Rebecca. Thanks for reading. And for sure, they should have realized there was no way to get out of this fiasco other than telling the truth rather than trying to cover it up.
I hate to admit that I don’t read many books but this one certainly has my attention. This is something that would keep my interest. Thanks!
You’re welcome, Michelle.
Oh wow, my son would love this since he is fascinated with presidents and history. Sounds so interesting.
My husband was telling me about this dramatic saga. He would love to read this.
Interesting it is, and I would encourage your son to check it out. To me, it’s very important that our children learn history the right way, by reading and research and not by watching movies which don’t always tell the entire historical story, or present untrue facts. However, the movie based on this book was spot-on perfect and told the true story.
This sounds interesting! I should Check it out. I’m always so interested in US politics.
U.S. politics is not my strong point. I admit, I was never interested in history class and it was my least favorite subject. I took just enough classes to graduate. All is not lost though, I do know and understand quite a bit 😉
Although I am not a fan of non-fiction this looks like an interesting read.
This looks like an interesting book. I’ll have to check it out next time I’m at a book store!
I will have to pick up a copy of this book. I know my Dad will love it.
My dad always read books like this. He was alive during all the Nixon drama, so it was really interesting stuff for him.
Great review! I’m sure my father would love this book, he’s on to history and facts books.
Thanks, Manu. I hoped I’d be able to tell the story well.
Sounds interesting. Don’t know much since I am not from US but it still looks like a good read to me.
I, too, lived through Watergate. I remember sitting in English class when one of the teachers interrupted to tell us that President Nixon had just resigned. Of course, being a teenager it didn’t hit me how significant that really was.
This is the first time I have visited your blog, and I just have to point out that I really love how simple the layout is! The book sounds like an interesting read.
This has to be one of the most devastating presidential fiasco’s in history. The movie was spot on and the book, completely mesmerizing.
You got that right: spot on. Seeing the movies is what made me finally read the book.
It’s always amused me that a couple of ex-CIA ops could be so…bumbling. It’s almost like they were trying to get caught.
Yeah, go figure that one. They were totally inept. Another fascinating read is the book ‘Legacy of Ashes’, a history of the CIA and many of their bumbling operations throughout their history. The CIA came out of the WWII group called the OSS – Office of Strategic Services – which did outstanding work. But…later on, they became legends in their own mind thus leading to so many screwed up policies and actions. Central Intelligence Agency? Seems to me putting the word intelligence in the group’s name is a bit of an oxymoron, a misnomer, if you will because in many ways, just a Watergate proved, they could be considered a huge joke, though they have done some good work at times.
Good thing he got up and went even though it was similar to fluff work he’d been doing. Now his name is very widely recognized. Certainly a game changer.
It’s definitely book review season! I had a book review on my site too…I should recommend this to my friend who is a history teacher!
My husband is a journalist so he is fascinated by this story. I’ll pass along your review for him to read!
I would appreciate a real journalist reading my work. I’m always open to constructive critique.
Wow, this looks like an incredible book! My Husband is a history buff too. I bet he’d love this!
this book sounds great!! Ibwas a history major in college so anything talking history… Or thing related to history… Eeekkkk!!!!
I read this back in the seventies when it came out ( yeah, I am old). After this, I don’t think I ever really trusted politicians again. It was really eye opening to help me understand politics at an impressionable age.
Well, I just now read it, but I lived through it so that should tell you I’m old too…(“,) But it did help me form my beliefs in politics.