All the Presidents MenAll the presidents men begins on June 17 1972 when five burglars broke into the Democratic National headquarters, which was located at the Watergate Hotel. Most of the Newspapers disregarded the story as just another break in but Two reporters for the Washington post stuck with the story till the End.
The two reporters named Carl Bernstien and Bob Woodward realized that this break in was some how involved in the up coming election but they did not know how. Their first move was to follow where the money for the break in came from. The Money led them to find a safe full of money that was to go to the Re-election of President Nixon. This Money came From the Committee to re-elect the president or CRP for sort.
Woodward and Bernstien found out that CRP was performing illegal activities to re-elect the president and high white house officials were involved in the planning of there activities. Woodward and Bernstein talked to Hugh Sloan. Hugh Sloan had control over the money in the safe at CRP. Woodward and Bernstien found Sloan by tracing a check that one of the buglers had in their possession.
Sloan told them that Five High-ranking officials in the White House had control over the money in the safe but he would not give names. He also told them that the money went to political sabotage. Woodward and Bernstein next move was to interview CRP sectaries and find out whatever Information they could on the officials at CRP. One Secretary mentioned the Name of Donald Segretti.
She said there were many Checks written out to Segretti. So their next goal was to contact Segretti and figure out how he got the money and where he spent it. Woodward and Bernstien could not get a hold of Segretti very easily but when they did they found a wealth of information on CRP. Segretti told Woodward and Bernstien that CRP paid him to hire men to sabotage the McGovern Campaign.
He told them some of the Tactics CRP would use was the Handing out of Campaign literature written by CRP that made the Democrats look like racists. CRP would also give Democrat supporters wrong information about Rallys for the Democratic nominee and order pizzas and liquor to democratic campaign rallies. Woodward and Bernstien would later find there had been political sabotage tracing back to JFK. Woodward and Bernstein were then contacted by a reliable source named Deep Throat. Deep Throat gave them information on who had control of the money in Sloans safe.
He pointed them to two high ranking official that were thought to be the masterminds of the break in and of other CRP actions of political sabotage. Their names were Bob Hadleman and John Ehrlichman. Deep throat also said the attorney general John Mitchell was also some how involved. As Woodward and Bernstien were having there articles published about Watergate the White House was denying any involvement in the Watergate break in and denying the CRP safe which held money that went to political sabotage. The White House also claimed that the post was only publishing storys that helped Democrats and never published stories about political sabotage on the republican campaign. They also claimed the post was sabotaging the republican campaign by writing these stories.
An investigation into Watergate was starting and in the beginning Woodward and Bernstien had their doubts that the whole truth would not be revealed. They were right the investigation was a joke. None of the names in one of the burglars phone book were check. No leads followed up and many questions were left unanswered by the FBIs investigation.
That is when Woodward and Bernstein began meeting with Deep throat again and continuing to write articles about White House involvement in Watergate. The 1972 approached and ended with Richard Nixon the victor with one of the biggest political landslides in US History. It showed that the posts articles about the Break in at the Watergate and supposed government involvement didnt have any impact on the republican campaign. Woodward and Bernstien were questioning themselves if they should continue writing these articles after the president became re-elected. In May of 1973 it was announced that senate grand jury investigations would take place to investigate any cover up of the Watergate investigation and it was to begin of the 18th .
It was then Woodward and Bernstien contacted Deep throat and Asked how high up Watergate was and how this would affect the nation. Their worst fears would come true when they got their answer from deep throat. Deep throat said the cover up of government involvement went all the way up to the top of the FBI and to the Top of the White House and he said the whole truth would come out in the investigations. The senate investigation called on John Dean. He told Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon and his top official John Ehrlichman and Bob Hadleman at least 35 times.
The senate investigators also found a memo discussing other break ins and wire taps of news personalities and other people in the government who were talking to the news reporters. When the senate investigators called Alexander Butterfield a former presidential appointment secretary he revealed president Nixon recorded everything that went on at the White House. Soon after these revelations came out Bob Hadleman and John Ehrlichman resign. After that President Nixon goes on national T. V and professes he is not a crook.
The book ends with Nixon Giving his annual state of the Union address and he says that one year of Watergate is enough and urges the nation to go on to other more urgent matters. Woodward and Bernstien then quote Nixon saying, I want you all to know that I have no intention whatever of ever walking away from the job the American people elected me to do for the people of the United States. All the presidents men takes place during the time period of the 1970s. During this time the U. S. was involved in the Vietnam War.
In America at the time there were many Anti-war protests and formations of groups like the New Left. In 1970 the draft was replaced by the lottery and many young collage students were angry with the U. S. Government because they would not back out of Vietnam.
The condition of the American Economy during this time was Horrible. The U. S. economy was in a recession and unemployment rates were going up. For the first time in almost one hundred years the U.
S. was faced by an unfavorable balance of trade. Also during this time president Nixon called for cuts in welfare and education. On top of all this the U. S.
was going through a gas crisis due to cut backs in OPEC. The recession hit all over the U. s. hitting its peek with the Auto industry.
In the early 1970s President Nixon visited Russia. He was the first U. S. president to visit Russia since it became communist. While in Russia president Nixon signed the Salt I treaty, which showed a cooling down of tensions between the U. S.
and Russia. Another big change during this time was the replacing of Taiwan in the U. S. with communist china. .
Also during this time the U. S. continued to support Israel even though this annoyed the OPEC nations and was causing a big crisis on the U. S.
home front. The American culture was portrayed very well in this novel. It shows how everyone in the U. S. trusted and supported theyre elected officials and very rarely doubted them.
It also portrays how political figures can get away with sabotaging a national election and get any with it without having criminal charges filed against them. The novel also portrays how people can lie to the American people and get away with it. It also portrays the American political culture as willing to do anything to win. It also shows political figures dedication to the president by doing anything to protect his reputation even going as far as to take the blame for a crime they had nothing to do with. Woodward and Bernstien accurately portray American culture at the height of the Watergate scandal.
