Watergate – Cannonball Read 17

Stingers

Scorpions' Dance: The President, The Spymaster, and Watergate by Jefferson Morley

August 30, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

Hmmm. This is tough. I was loving the first part of this book. It was maybe my favorite non-fiction read of the year. It almost read like a thriller. It traces the early political careers of Dick Helms and Richard Nixon respectively, along with the trajectory that would lead them to Watergate and the close of their careers. Then it got to the Kennedy stuff. And I realized Jefferson Morley is a Kennedy conspiracy theorist. Not a hardcore one. He doesn’t seem to believe anything […]

Persisted

The Watergate Girl by Jill Wine-Banks

July 27, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

Watergate has become a later-in-life hobby of mine. I’ve devoured books on the subject, though I missed the news of last year’s release of Jill Wine-Banks’ account, likely due to covid related distractions. Banks was the only female on the Watergate special counsel’s prosecution team at a time when things were changing for women in the workforce. Her experience not only is critical for progress in America but occurs at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history, where the well-being of institutions are criticized and […]

To Play the King

King Richard: Nixon and Watergate, An American Tragedy by Michael Dobbs

July 20, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

The Trump era made me a Watergate junkie. It’s as simple as that. If there’s a new book on Watergate, I’m reading it. I’ve become fascinated with the twisted story of Nixon and his cronies, especially how power can imbue one with a sense of dignity and grace, at least in the public eye. Most of us need to go to bed at night assuming our leaders are competent adults who wouldn’t hurt a fly unless it was absolutely necessary and who have it all […]

Keep A Diary

Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon's Downfall by Elizabeth Drew

July 10, 2019 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR11 bingo: History Elizabeth Drew’s Washington Journal is making me wish I had kept a diary about the Trump era to document these last few years. I often talk about how the Trump Era is the “lol nothing matters” times of nihilism and obstinance. Seems like a lot of that was going on in 1973-1974. Drew covers the last year of Nixon’s presidency from the perspective of an insider journalist living in the hermetically sealed bubble of Washington, DC. She did a great […]

Founded on a tautological proposition that no one challenges.

December 9, 2015 by ingres77 Leave a Comment

It’s easy to pick on Richard Nixon. The list of his crimes, aspersions against his character, and embarrassments he forced on this country is long enough that it could take up this entire review. He was a blight on the office he felt so entitled to. He is the avatar for nefarious public officials limited by a base cunning and furtive guile. His promise was ambrosia; his delivery: brinksmanship. Richard Nixon savored attention, but skulked in the darkness of public derision. Every friend was an […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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