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calarco 's review for:
All the President's Men
by Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein
Watergate may have occurred several decades ago, but in 2018 with many of the current President's men receiving indictments and criminal sentencings, All the President's Men could not be more relevant.
Trailing events from the initial failed break-in, all the way to uncovering President Nixon's involvement, it was surreally impressive to read Bernstein and Woodward's investigative journey. Especially since their reporting did no follow a simple trail of breadcrumbs, so much as a bizarre series of twists and turns, including Woodward's crazy meetings with the infamous Deep Throat.
What was somewhat chilling given the current state of affairs, was reading in depth about the then President's reaction, "The White House had decided that the conduct of the press, not the conduct of the President's men, was the issue" (162). Empowered by the First Amendment, freedom of the press is essential as they are the front-line of speaking truth to power. Nixon was not firing away on twitter, but his messaging was eerily similar to the current dude.
That said, to read of the White House's flipping the narrative to be a war of credibility between them and the Washington Post was not shocking. Also not surprising was how Nixon would then conflate attacks on the press with other perceived enemies including the anti-war movement, Democrats, the justice system, and even historical perception later on down the road.
What I did not realize was that Woodward was a registered Republican who, "...couldn't decide whether he was more uneasy with the disorganization and naive idealism of McGovern's campaign or with Nixon's conduct" (200). Both ideologically and on paper the man was a Republican, yet he chose to abstain from voting and remain an objective investigator. Choosing factual reality over tribal identity-politics is an especially refreshing concept in this day and age.
Overall, I definitely recommend this one, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum. Nixon got re-elected while all of this was happening, so it is more important than ever that we learn from history, else we be doomed to repeat it.
Trailing events from the initial failed break-in, all the way to uncovering President Nixon's involvement, it was surreally impressive to read Bernstein and Woodward's investigative journey. Especially since their reporting did no follow a simple trail of breadcrumbs, so much as a bizarre series of twists and turns, including Woodward's crazy meetings with the infamous Deep Throat.
What was somewhat chilling given the current state of affairs, was reading in depth about the then President's reaction, "The White House had decided that the conduct of the press, not the conduct of the President's men, was the issue" (162). Empowered by the First Amendment, freedom of the press is essential as they are the front-line of speaking truth to power. Nixon was not firing away on twitter, but his messaging was eerily similar to the current dude.
That said, to read of the White House's flipping the narrative to be a war of credibility between them and the Washington Post was not shocking. Also not surprising was how Nixon would then conflate attacks on the press with other perceived enemies including the anti-war movement, Democrats, the justice system, and even historical perception later on down the road.
What I did not realize was that Woodward was a registered Republican who, "...couldn't decide whether he was more uneasy with the disorganization and naive idealism of McGovern's campaign or with Nixon's conduct" (200). Both ideologically and on paper the man was a Republican, yet he chose to abstain from voting and remain an objective investigator. Choosing factual reality over tribal identity-politics is an especially refreshing concept in this day and age.
Overall, I definitely recommend this one, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum. Nixon got re-elected while all of this was happening, so it is more important than ever that we learn from history, else we be doomed to repeat it.