Category: History: U.S.: 20th Century

Copyright/published Year: 2006 by Doubleday

ISBN: 0385513801

Binding: Cloth

Description: In 31 Days, Barry Werth takes readers inside the White ì House during the tumultuous days following Nixon's resignation ì and the swearing-in of America's "accidental president," Gerald ì Ford. The congressional hearings, Nixon's increasing paranoia, ì and, finally, the devastating revelations of the White House ì tapes had torn the country apart. Within the White House and the ì Republican Party, Nixon's resignation produced new fissures and ì battle lines--and new opportunities for political advancement.

Ford had to reassure the nation and the world that he would ì attend to the pressing issues of the day, from resolving the ì legal questions surrounding Nixon's role in Watergate, to dealing ì with the wind down of the Vietnam War, the precarious state of ì détente with the Soviet Union, and the ongoing attempts to ì stabilize the Middle East. Within hours of Nixon's departure from ì Washington, Ford began the all-important task of forming an inner ì circle of trusted advisers.

In richly detailed scenes, Werth describes the often vicious ì sparring among two mutually distrustful staffs--Nixon's and ì Ford's vice presidential holdovers--and a transition team that ì included Donald Rumsfeld (then Nixon's ambassador to NATO) and ì Rumsfeld's former deputy, the thirty-three-year-old coolly ì efficient Richard Cheney. The first detailed account of the ì ruthless maneuvering and day-to-day politicking behind everything ì from the pardon of Nixon to why George H. W. Bush was passed over ì for the vice presidency, to the rise of a new cadre of Republican ì movers and shakers, 31 Days offers a compelling ì perspective on a fascinating but relatively unexamined period in ì American history and its impact on the present.

Condition Information

This book is new.