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Title details for 31 Days by Barry Werth - Available

31 Days

Gerald Ford, the Nixon Pardon and a Government in Crisis

by Barry Werth
Robertson Dean
Audiobook
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In 31 Days, Barry Werth takes readers inside the White House during the tumultuous days following Nixon’s resignation and the swearing-in of America’s “accidental president,” Gerald Ford. The congressional hearings, Nixon’s increasing paranoia, and, finally, the devastating revelations of the White House tapes had torn the country apart. Within the White House and the Republican Party, Nixon’s resignation produced new fissures and battle lines—and new opportunities for political advancement.
Ford had to reassure the nation and the world that he would attend to the pressing issues of the day, from resolving the legal questions surrounding Nixon’s role in Watergate, to dealing with the wind down of the Vietnam War, the precarious state of détente with the Soviet Union, and the ongoing attempts to stabilize the Middle East. Within hours of Nixon’s departure from Washington, Ford began the all-important task of forming an inner circle of trusted advisers.
In richly detailed scenes, Werth describes the often vicious sparring among two mutually distrustful staffs—Nixon’s and Ford’s vice presidential holdovers—and a transition team that included Donald Rumsfeld (then Nixon’s ambassador to NATO) and Rumsfeld’s former deputy, the thirty-three-year-old coolly efficient Richard Cheney. The first detailed account of the ruthless maneuvering and day-to-day politicking behind everything from the pardon of Nixon to why George H. W. Bush was passed over for the vice presidency, to the rise of a new cadre of Republican movers and shakers, 31 Days offers a compelling perspective on a fascinating but relatively unexamined period in American history and its impact on the present.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 11, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780739305089
      • File size: 349043 KB
      • Duration: 12:07:10

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The President of the United States has resigned in disgrace, and the government that takes over is shaky and unsure of itself in the face of severe foreign and domestic crises. This is not fiction, but a snapshot of America from August 8 to September 8, 1974, between Nixon's resignation and Ford's pardon. Robertson Dean does a masterful job of reading this story of political intrigue and establishes himself as a major voice in narration. His earthy, measured tone and succinct pacing make this book as taut as any political thriller, even though we know what happens in the end. Dean knows just where to pause, move forward, and emphasize keywords in order to make this story a fascinating study of its time and for ours. R.I.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Barry Werth details the 31 days between Gerald Ford's appointment to the presidency and his pardoning of disgraced Richard Nixon. That seems so long ago, until the names Donald Rumsfeld, then ambassador to NATO, and Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld's deputy, come up. Horne's got that "network newsman" voice, which is well suited for reading nonfiction books, but at times he sounds bored with the minutia of political sausage-making that thrills political junkies. Random House missed an opportunity to enhance Werth's work. Instead of Horne's sometimes dry readings, the production could have included actual audio of Nixon and Ford where Werth quotes them at some length. D.J.M. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 20, 2006
      Two heavy hitters in the current administration—Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney—played roles of minor importance in the vital 31 days separating Richard Nixon's resignation and Gerald Ford's decision to pardon the disgraced leader. Rumsfeld served as ambassador to NATO and worked on the transition; Cheney was his deputy. Both were already well positioned for stellar careers, so it's hard to buy the argument proposed by Werth, author of the acclaimed The Scarlet Professor
      , that Ford's first month in office was the tumultuous staging area for power for these two power players. This quibble aside, Werth provides a balanced fly-on-the-wall account of the byzantine intrigues that defined the first weeks of Ford's accidental presidency. Such Nixon partisans as Al Haig, Ron Ziegler and Henry Kissinger engage in petty turf battles with Ford press secretary Jerry terHorst, Nelson Rockefeller and other Ford loyalists. Meanwhile, Bush Sr.—then chair of the National Republican Committee—shuttles in and out of the picture, somewhat confused as to which side of the fight he should join. Werth has talked to many of the players to build a well-crafted book. It's a story that has been told more than once—but rarely so well or in such depth as it is here.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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