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Title: Shadow : Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate by Bob Woodward ISBN: 0-684-85263-2 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 06 June, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.25 (109 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An interesting historical study
Comment: In this book, Woodward attempts to take one of the pivotal events of American politics-the resignation of Richard Nixon--and analyze how it has affected the Presidencies of those following Nixon. An ambitious assignment, to say the least, but one that Woodward does not necessarily fulfill. Woodward's biggest problem is that he does not start out with a clear thesis, which makes it difficult to follow how the phenomenal amount of information presented fits together. The only clear point that Woodward makes throughout the book is a rather obvious one: that Watergate has significantly impacted the Presidencies of Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. After reading the book, I would draw the conclusion that the enduring reason for this affect, beyond the increased skepticism of the President by members of the media, is the Independent Council provision, which Woodward suggests has caused endless scrutiny of peccadilloes by investigators who feel they have to bring charges to justify their investigation. If this was indeed Woodward's point, I think he would have been better served to make it clear in the beginning of the book and show throughout the book how his evidence supported this thesis.
However, the storytelling in the book makes it worth reading. You may forget why you're reading it, but Woodward uses his numerous high-level sources to give a fascinating retelling of many of the scandals that have lurked in the media through the last thirty years. He pays close attention to detail, trying to help readers who are unfamiliar with the events surrounding various investigations understand what was happening and who was involved. Because of this, I would still highly recommend this book, despite its occasional lack of a cohesive argument.
Rating: 4
Summary: Half A Great Book
Comment: Woodward claims to be writing about the "legacy of Watergate," and what reporter is better qualified to do so? But he has a hard time sticking to that goal, and his efforts to justify each juicy tidbit with historical significance are increasingly herniating as the book plods on. Really, this is Woodward's book about the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal and the impeachment events of 1998. He does a workmanlike job of that, but others have done better with the same information. He tries to make the book about "five presidents," but Clinton's travails get more than half the book to play around in. The first half of the book is excellent, though. There, Woodward concisely handles the scandals faced by Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush -- remember the Bert Lance Affair? me neither -- and shows how an ever-more-suspicious media and public influenced each White House's handling of the same. For the first 200 pages alone, the book is worth the read by students of the presidency. But if you're just looking for Clinton dirt, dig elsewhere.
Rating: 4
Summary: The effect the Independent Counsel had on the Presidency
Comment: I think this is a pretty good book on the Presidency of the United States since Watergate. Of course, Mr. Woodward played a significant role in reporting Watergate and has written extensively about the Presidency since then.
This book examines the various difficulties and scandals the Presidents since Nixon have had and the shadow the legacy of Watergate fell on those events and affected how they were handled and perceived. The most significant event in the way these things played out was the creation of the Independent Counsel. While I was never wild about the Independent Counsels before I read this book, I have come to the conclusion that it was an awful idea and an abuse of our Constitution. While the office was designed to not be accountable to the President to afford a credible ability to investigate the Executive Branch, it has no reasonable boundaries or limits and is not subject to any of the checks or balances that enable our government to function as reasonably as it does.
Freed from any limits of time, budget, or public accountability it is not surprising that many, but not all, of these Independent Counsels end up pursuing all kinds of things apart from what they were originally charged to pursue. My chief conclusion from reading this book is that this was a bad law with worse execution and should never be revived. Good riddance!
Half of the book is devoted to the Clinton scandals. The other large section is Iran-Contra. How you perceive Woodward's balance and objectivity will be colored by your personal politics. I have to admit that I found my own reading of the book varied at different points because of my own view of these scandals and whether or not I agreed with Woodward or felt that his own political biases were creeping in (which is impossible to avoid). But all-in-all there is a lot of good reporting here and is written in way that is easy to read. There are lots of endnotes to document the sources for the various statements, meetings, and conclusions drawn.
I recommend the book highly.
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Title: Bush at War by Bob Woodward ISBN: 0743244613 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Commanders by Bob Woodward ISBN: 0743234758 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: FINAL DAYS by Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein ISBN: 0671894404 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 June, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward ISBN: 074325547X Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 19 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward ISBN: 0671894412 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 16 June, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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