31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today (Hardcover)

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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.

From The Washington Post

In the 1970s, this newspaper sold classified ads with a publicity campaign declaring, "I got my job through The Washington Post." In the paper's main conference room hangs one such advertisement -- featuring President Gerald R. Ford. Not only did Ford go along with this Watergate-era joke, he signed the thing -- a gesture of characteristic good-natured class and humor.

This affable man has attracted strikingly little interest from students of the postwar presidency -- perhaps because of his genial blandness, perhaps because of the brevity of his term, perhaps because of the black-hole gravitational pull exerted by his glowering predecessor. There are shelves of stuff on JFK, LBJ and Reagan, but perhaps the most memorable book about the president who declared our long constitutional nightmare over is Memoirs of the Ford Administration -- a John Updike novel.

The most interesting question about Ford is almost certainly why he pardoned Richard M. Nixon -- a bold move from a usually careful pol that probably doomed Ford's chances for election in his own right in 1976. Barry Werth dances around that question in his new 31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, $26), a look at the fledgling administration's rocky first month, but he never fully answers it. Werth, who's written several other books, portrays the decision as largely the president's; in an Oval Office meeting on Aug. 30, 1974, Ford worried about "the degrading spectacle of a former President . . . in the prisoner's dock," about reviving the press's appetite for digging into Watergate and about the chance that Nixon might be acquitted. But Werth, who here prefers detail to illumination, never really explains why Ford didn't let Nixon take his chances with the courts -- or force the disgraced ex-president at least to admit his guilt before letting him off the criminal hook. Werth also offers few insights on what the Ford ascendancy meant for GOP politics. Nor does he do much to explain two up-and-comers who got big career boosts out of the brief Ford years, Donald Rumsfeld (who used a slot on Ford's transition team to propel himself to the majors) and Dick Cheney (then Rumsfeld's deputy, now his boss); readers wanting insightful portraits of the duo would do better to look at richer books, such as James Mann's Rise of the Vulcans and George Packer's The Assassins' Gate.

All of which leaves poor neglected Gerald Ford still sitting neglected. Ford is an honestly interesting figure -- or at least an interestingly honest one. Any takers?

Memoirs of the Ford Administration
Copyright 2006, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese; First edition first printing. edition (April 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385513801
• ISBN-13: 978-0385513807
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #834,693 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific on many levels, April 21, 2006

By	Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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, April 28, 2006

By	Karen Spencer (Granite Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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, April 26, 2006

By	Richard Donovan "Richard J. Donovan, Jr." (Kendallville, IN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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?