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.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
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. (On sale Apr. 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Barry Werth has written a crackling and instructive account of the tumultuous time when Gerald Ford moved into the Oval Office following the resignation of President Nixon. The power struggles, legal maneuvers, personality conflicts, and big stakes all add up to a whodunit on a grand scale. I was there -- and I was thrilled to make the trip again."
—Tom Brokaw
"A riveting, minute-by-minute account of 31 days that affected our nation, with relevance to everything that has happened since -- Rumsfeld and Cheney were shaped by those days, and their importance to us today is clear."
—Richard Holbrooke
"In this fast-paced narrative, Barry Werth has captured the excitement of the scary days just after Nixon resigned. It's a great inside glimpse at how government works, plus it reveals how some of today's power players including Cheney and Rumsfeld got their start."
—Walter Isaacson
"A painstaking reconstruction of the period between Richard Nixon's resignation, in August of 1974, and his pardon a month later. Never has the Ford administration seemed so gripping."
—The Atlantic Monthly
—Tom Brokaw
"A riveting, minute-by-minute account of 31 days that affected our nation, with relevance to everything that has happened since -- Rumsfeld and Cheney were shaped by those days, and their importance to us today is clear."
—Richard Holbrooke
"In this fast-paced narrative, Barry Werth has captured the excitement of the scary days just after Nixon resigned. It's a great inside glimpse at how government works, plus it reveals how some of today's power players including Cheney and Rumsfeld got their start."
—Walter Isaacson
"A painstaking reconstruction of the period between Richard Nixon's resignation, in August of 1974, and his pardon a month later. Never has the Ford administration seemed so gripping."
—The Atlantic Monthly
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific on many levels,
By Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: 31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today (Hardcover)
For those of us old enough to remember the summer of 1974 when the House Judiciary Committee voted articles of impeachment which ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, Barry Werth's new book, "31 Days" is a wonderful chronicle of that time. Although the book begins with the Nixon resignation (after the House vote) and ends essentially with Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon, Werth presents a fascinating view of 1974....not only regarding the political scene but related areas which affected President Ford during his first month in office.
Needless to say, Ford entered the presidency as no one before him had. He needed to make decisions about the soaring inflation the United States was facing as well as growing unemployment on the homefront. In international policy Ford had to address not only the beleaguered American presence in Vietnam, the continuing problems in the Middle East but also a coup and subsequent Turkish invasion of Cyprus. On top of that Ford needed to find a vice-president.... to replace himself. However, the largest piece of the picture was what would Ford do with Nixon? "31 Days" centers around this aspect and it's a fascinating walk down memory lane. How it was that Gerald Ford decided how and when to pardon the disgraced former president makes "31 Days" riveting. No one had a clue that Ford would use his power of pardon and Werth accurately describes the aftermath of that early September announcement. The honeymoon Ford enjoyed was over in a flash. Yet it is also a good connection that the author makes about how Ford might have decided things with regard to Nixon....he was contemplating a concurrent, limited amnesty for Vietnam draft dodgers and as he wanted them to "work their way back" into American society, so, too, had Ford wished to get a deeper sense of "mea culpa" from Nixon....something he really never got. As Werth points out, Ford's own relationship with his natural father and his peacemaking abilities he demonstrated between his father and mother almost certainly played a role in Ford's pardon. He simply wanted to do what was right for the good of the country and move on with life. However, as Werth points out in his epilogue, Ford's actions made things worse....it cost the Republicans massively in the midterm elections that fall and without a doubt contributed to Ford's narrow loss to Jimmy Carter in 1976. There are one or two things which reminded me of how long ago 1974 seems, sometimes. One cannot even fathom today a Republican president choosing a moderate to liberal Republican like Nelson Rockefeller as his vice-president. To think as well that Democrats controlled the Congress in large numbers...many of their ranks coming from southern states. Werth makes some good parallels to the current administration, noting that Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney were instrumental characters during the Ford years. And as if the author weren't prescient enough.... how alike the Bush White House is to Nixon's......two secretive administrations dealing with unpopular wars. "31 Days" is a book I highly recommend....not only for the revelations of the behind-the-scenes White House activities of August, 1974, but the analogies to the current political climate in Washington today....analogies which seem to unfold on a weekly basis. Werth's book is a good lesson in history.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating on many levels,
By
This review is from: 31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today (Hardcover)
My first political job was in President Ford's White House in 1975. I went in at a very low level, and on my second day all the Nixon people quit. I had no idea what I was doing, however, people who did were brought in did, it was an open environment, and we did what we had to do. Fortunately, I wasn't in charge of national security.
This book is excellent. I have worked in many political jobs and around many politicians since President Ford. What he did for our country needs to recognized. It's time to do that. This book is an excellent start. It reads like the show "24." I think then people around President Ford are written well. And it is like reading people's mind. I do believe that if President Ford's first 31 days were dealing with the Nixon papers, the Nixon people, and the Nixon pardon --- among running the nation, run away inflation, and foreign policy. Thank you, Mr Werth, for reminding us that President Ford is responsible for Alan Greenspan.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting to Look at Three Plus Decades Later,
By
This review is from: 31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today (Hardcover)
I can remember the sigh of relief that everyone breathed when President Nixon resigned. Even jaded talk show hosts--here I'm thinking of WBZ's late Jerry Williams--called Jerry Ford, "a breath of fresh air" when he assumed office.
The book offers a fascinating look into the behind the scenes maneuvering that went on between the (relatively) Boy Scout-like Ford staff and the Nixon White House holdovers. Yes, it is true that Ford made things much more difficult for himself when he pardoned Nixon. Still, it was a matter of putting his own political career and Republican aspirations aside for a larger consideration, that being the welfare of the country. Can you imagine someone doing that today with this being the age of Delay et al?
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