Product Description

Watergate is a story of high drama and low skulduggery, of lies and bribes, of greed and lust for power. With access to the central characters, the public papers, and the trials transcripts, Ambrose explains how Nixon destroyed himself through a combination of arrogance and indecision, allowing a "third-rate burglary" to escalate into a scandal that overwhelmed his presidency. Within a decade and a half however, Nixon had become one of America's elder statesmen, respected internationally and at home even by those who had earlier clamoured loudest for his head. This is the story of Nixon's final fall from grace and astonishing recovery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #655305 in Books
• Published on: 1992-10-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Customer Reviews

Ruin,not sure about recovery
The final volume of Ambrose's trilogy kicks off in November 1972,when,as Hunter S.Thompson puts it,Nixon "was like Zeus himself" calling down hails of B-52 raids against Hanoi when the Vietnamese had the effrontery to refuse to renegotiate the Paris peace deal that had just gotten Nixon reelected.
It all went downhill from then on,not just for Dick Nixon,but for Ambrose's biography.Firstly,like everything about the later Nixon,it's dominated by Watergate.It may be fascinating to Americans,but it isn't to me,and yet another rendition of it is so dull and repetetive.
Second,as Nixon's power drained away,he became capable of less and less,rendering much of his postitions essentially moot,and so not very interesting.
Lastly,Nixon post-1974 was basically an embarrasment to Americans of all stripes,and his attempts to manufacture a cuddlier image and to manufacture history were just about comical on a good day.It is true to say that,in John Dean's words,Americans would eventually achieve "a more balanced view" of the Nixon administration,but Nixon's(and Kissinger's)attempts at rewriting history would have little to assisst this process.
If you've already read the first two volumes-both highly recommended,by the by-you may as well finish off the trilogy,but I can't honestly recommend this in itself.