31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today
by Barry Werth
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barry WerthEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-04-11
ISBN: 0385513801
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Book Reviews of 31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today
Book Review: EXCELLENT ACCOUNT -- EXCEPT FOR EPILOGUE
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an account of the maneuvering within the Ford Administration between his inauguration on 8 Aug 1974 and the controversial pardon of his predecessor 31 days later. I felt Mr. Werth presented a balance and non-judgmental synopsis on a daily basis - for the first 31 chapters.
The main characters of this drama were President Ford, his staff, deposed President Nixon, his staff who went with him to California (primarily Ron Ziegler), his staff that stayed behind at the White House to participate in the transition (primarily Alexander Haig), and the lawyers -- both those representing Nixon and the special prosecutor. It becomes obvious to the reader the complexities surrounding Nixon's case. But prosecuting a former president and the impact that would have had on the country were issues that all sides were concerned about. Would it be fair to the Nixon aides who were to stand trial for following the orders of their boss who would stand trial? Was the nation prepared for additional months and maybe years of Watergate or should the nation just move on and put that unhappy event behind them?
President Ford had a difficult decision to make and the members of his administration were pulling him in different directions. I think for him -- and the book indicates the special prosecutor as well -- the issue was never really in doubt. At some point President Nixon would be spared. The bigger questions were when and how. Although the main scene was within the new Ford Administration, Mr. Werth also showed the actions going on within the former president's compound in California.
I remember well the outrage when President Ford made the announcement. Before the announcement things were looking up for the Republican Party in the November elections -- not that they would have picked up seats but they could have minimized their losses. Once the pardon was official whatever hopes the GOP had to minimize their losses were dashed. But I personally felt at the time -- and I was in the minority doing so -- that President Ford did the right thing. Now many historians concur that his ability to govern was being negatively affected until the fate of his predecessor was resolved once and for all.
The first 31 chapters -- each representing a day between Nixon's resignation and Nixon's pardon -- were straight forward without passing judgment. The Epilogue, however, was editorial. Mr. Werth sub-title of "The Crisis That Gave Us The Government We Have Today" overstates the significance of those 31 days. It is true that some of the power brokers of the George W. Bush Administration had roles in the early Ford Administration - mainly Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Cheney. But Werth tries to draw a parallel that their roles in the Ford Administration somehow twisted and turned into the Bush Administration's policy toward the Mid-East - primarily Iraq - that Werth makes little effort to hide his disagreement with. To me, to equate the policies of George W. Bush in Iraq to something that happened thirty years earlier - granted some of the individuals were the same - is a stretch. After 31 chapters of solid reporting of the events of 1974 Werth's summation drifted too much into an editorial that was inconsistent with the rest of the book.
Another problem - and I had the same issue with another book I reviewed, Strange Bedfellows, an account of the less than optimum relationship between President Nixon and Vice President Agnew - is the lack of photos. Photos could add so much to the book and give a better feeling for the environment the players were operating in and, for that matter, who the players were. As with Strange Bedfellows, there were certainly many photo opportunities to supplement this book but Mr. Werth did not take advantage of them.
Werth's editorializing in the Epilogue, in my opinion, detracts from the book. But overlooking that and the absence of pictures, this is still an excellent book - for the first 31 chapters.
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