Description
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Do we need still another Watergate book The answer turns out to be yesthis one The Washington Post Dazzling The New York Times Book Review
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky comes the first definitive narrative history of Watergatethe best and fullest account of the crisis one unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon Kirkus Reviews starred reviewexploring the full scope of the scandal through the politicians investigators journalists and informants who made it the most influential political event of the modern era
In the early hours of June 17 1972 a security guard named Frank Wills enters six words into the log book of the Watergate office complex that will change the course of history 147 AM Found tape on doors call police
The subsequent arrests of five men seeking to bug and burgle the Democratic National Committee officesthree of them Cuban exiles two of them former intelligence operativesquickly unravels a web of scandal that ultimately ends a presidency and forever alters views of moral authority and leadership Watergate as the event is called becomes a shorthand for corruption deceit and unanswered questions
Now awardwinning journalist and bestselling author Garrett M Graff explores the full scope of this unprecedented moment from start to finish in the first comprehensive singlevolume account in decades
The story begins in 1971 with the publication of thousands of military and government documents known as the Pentagon Papers which reveal dishonesty about the decadeslong American presence in Vietnam and spark public outrage Furious that the leak might expose his administrations own duplicity during a crucial reelection season President Richard M Nixon gathers his closest advisors and gives them implicit instructions Win by any means necessary
Within a few months an unsteady line of political dominoes are positioned from the creation of a series of covert operations codenamed GEMSTONE to campaigntrail dirty tricks possible hostage situations and questionable fundraising effortsmuch of it caught on the White Houses own taping system One by one they fall until the thwarted June burglary attracts the attention of intrepid journalists congressional investigators and embattled intelligence officers one of whom will spend decades concealing his identity behind the alias Deep Throat As each faction slowly begins to uncover the truth a conspiracy deeper and more corrupt than anyone thought possible emerges and the nation is thrown into a state of crisis as its governmentand its leaderunravels
Using newly public documents transcripts and revelations Graff recounts every twist with remarkable detail and pageturning drama bringing readers into the backrooms of Washington chaotic daily newsrooms crowded Senate hearings and even the Oval Office itself during one of the darkest chapters in American history
Grippingly told and meticulously researched Watergate is the defining account of the moment that has haunted our nations pastand still holds the power to shape its present and future
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