Who's driving the bus?

This was the first book I've read by these authors, and the biggest shock to me was something that a more experienced student of the presidency is probably well aware of: The people who surround the president of the United States have more influence on the American government than any other half dozen elected officials.

It's no surprise that this book is amazingly well-researched, with Woodward and Bernstein taking full advantage of a high level of access to White House personnel. The book tracks the final days of Nixon's presidency, as he flits from indignation to desperation to resignation, in every sense of the word.

Nixon himself is shown to be a sympathetic, if unsettlingly hapless, character whose complexity makes him impossible to read at times. As the situation builds to its inevitable conclusion, it's really fascinating to see one person after another come to the conclusion that the President of the United States must resign from his post. The last person to come to that conclusion seems to be the President himself, and his slowness to realize this is a very sad, tragic aspect of the story.

Clocking in at around 500 pages, this is not a quick read, especially when you consider that the book doesn't really go into any of the events that surround the limited scope of the final days. The level of detail is sometimes fascinating, but sometimes pretty boring. I know that there's a great deal of historical value to be had in publishing this detailed document, but I wish that there had been a shorter version for the laymen like me. I want that intimate look into the White House without needing to hear details about each and every meeting and conversation that took place there.

That being said, you don't have to be a Nixon buff or a political buff to enjoy this book. You just have to care about your citizenry to appreciate the sometimes-arbitrary, and very human, decisions that take place in the highest office of the land.

the fact that Woodward was a briefer to Alexander Haig when Woodward was serving in the Navy. Tons of documents have come out disproving the allegations of Bernstein and Woodward in All the President's Men and Final Days. The authors downplay the relationship between Haig and Woodward dramatically, hiding the fact that Haig was Deep Throat. Look at this logically: why would a high up guy in the executive branch named "Deep Throat" come out of nowhere to reveal what he knew about Watergate? Deep Throat MUST have had a previous relationship with Woodward, and the only man with a connection to Woodward who knew so much about Watergate was Alexander Haig. Why isn't this mentioned in ANY of the Woodward/Bernstein books?

Quite a good book all in all as a gripping insider's look into the clandestine goings on of the Nixon presidency in reaction to the watergate scandal. However if you're a Nixon fan, you may come away from it hating him, as the authors tend to portray him as incapable, noting that he can't even open medicine bottles without assistance. As noted, they interviewed nearly 400 people before writing this book. However they could not have known everything that was truely said. Therefore, don't take the book as gospel truth. Nixon was just misunderstood.

"The Final Days" is a far different novel from the preceeding work by Woodward and Bernstein, "All the President's Men." The latter is more a work concerning the efforts of the journalists in gradually uncovering the secrets of the Watergate break-in up to when the Nixon tapes were revealed. The sequel picks up where the first book left off, as Nixon fights to keep his taped conversations hidden under the argument of executive priviledge. Eventually, however, the Supreme Court orders the president to hand over the tapes, and thus unfolds the final chapter of Nixon the politician.

Reading this book is essential to understand modern American politics for two main reasons. First of all, Richard Nixon was one of the most brilliant and important figures that has ever been involved in the American political system. "The Final Days" provides a unique insight into the dichotomy of Nixon's persona: to the US and the world, he was a bright, articulate figure who took big steps to achieve his accomplishments; on the tapes, however, he was a bitter, insecure and paranoid person. One can argue that Secretary Kissinger's and his foreign peace accomplishments were considerably massive, and yet it's hard to believe that the side of Nixon revealed on the tapes can be a part of the president behind so many meaningful endeavors.

Second, "The Final Days" displayed the proceedings of the American legal system in dealing with a presidential impeachment. Though Andrew Johnson had been impeached one hundred years earlier, the character of the office had changed considerably since then and therefore the procedure was very painful for the politicians involved in the process. By the end of the book, it is obvious that the vast majority of Congress decided that it was important to impeach and remove the president from office, demonstrating that every citizen in the country was on the same legal standing (though, as we all know, Nixon resigned before he was impeached).

In short, Woodward and Bernstein did good to shift the perspective of the Watergate story from their own journalistic hardships to that of Nixon and the government. In doing so, they contribute to the study of the personality of one of the most important members of American history and his fall from grace in the context of the progress of US democracy.

I once believed every word of All the presidents men was true. Written for a fellow Wheatonite (Woodward) it pushed me solidly into voting democrat for the next 20 years. final Days gets 3 stars from because Bob is from wheaton, and his dad was my assigned Draft status advisor.

Now, the likelihood is that this book is almost as fictional as the John erhlickman book. For the story that is more likely to be the truth read Silent Coupe.