A Book of Politics

In the run up to the November election, I am reading “Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate” by Bob Woodward.

Obviously, since it ends with Clinton (his first term), it’s an older book, however, since I turned 18 during Carter’s reign, it’s all pretty new to me!

It tells of the various scandals of the presidencies, beginning with the end of Nixon, his resignation, and his pardon by Gerald Ford. That was very controversial and seemed to guarantee Ford would be a One and Done president.

It also brought about the ethics bill and the creation of independent councils and special prosecutors. This was due to Nixon firing his appointee to investigate Watergate. Of course the first time it was used was to investigate Hamilton Jordan, Carter’s chief of staff for his “alleged use of cocaine” at Studio 54 in New York! This was based on testimony by the 2 owners of the club who were charged with skimming millions of dollars off the top of the club’s profits and it was requested by Carter’s Attorney General. So odd and such a waste of time and energy to come to a No Probable Cause decision by a grand jury.

I read a biography a year or so ago on Jimmy Carter, “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life” by Jonathan Alter. It was very interesting and gave me a greater appreciation for him. He was out of his league in Washington and I think he could have done so much greater good if he hadn’t wasted his time there. Of course, he’s nearly 100 and had many, many fruitful years after 1980!

I was in college during the uprising in Tehran and the taking of hostages and my school was big on, and made most of their money with, their English as a Second Language program so we had many rich South American, Asian, and Middle East students there. I remember long nights of them watching the news in the recreation room. I remember hating that the hostages were freed after the exchange of the presidency between Carter and Reagan. I was not a fan of Reagan.

I’m currently on the Reagan Era, the Iran Arms Deals, the Contras, and Ollie North. There were a lot of powerful men hiding a lot of crazy shit – or were they really hiding it?

It’s a heavy book of 517 pages but close to 80 of those pages are notes and an index. I may have to have a few palate cleansers nearby because I fear some sections I may slam the book in aggravation!

Have you read it or anything similar? Do you enjoy non-fiction books?