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The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today
Nan A. Talese
April 2006
Featuring: Gerald Ford; Richard Cheney; Donald Rumsfeld
416 pages ISBN: 0385513801 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Political | Non-Fiction Biography
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 d�tente 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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