Rating: 
Summary: The Diminished Presidency
Review: Bob Woodward who wrote "All the President's Men" and "The Final Days" has taken another stab at chronicling the importance of the Watergate Scandal in "Shadow". This book looks at the importance of Watergate in the context of subsequent presidencies.There is alot of detailed recitation of scandals in different Presidential administrations here. They range from the absolutely silly (the investigation of whether Hamilton Jordan, Jimmy Carter's Chief of Staff, snorted cocaine) to important ones (such as Iran-Contra under President Reagan and recently the Monica Lewinsky affair under Bill Clinton's Administration) Watergate created a new climate for Presidents that is both good and bad. The good part is that Presidents have to take into account the fact that failure to behave ethically in office may result in resignation or impeachment. The bad part is that much of the modern presidency is now focused on "damage control" and avoiding scandals rather than simply governing. Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton all learned that media scrutiny is much greater and the Independent Counsel Law could be used to conduct witch hunts rather than investigate wrongdoing. In essence, Woodward sees good in what has occurred, but also argues that the American Presidency is now a diminished office because of all the scrutiny from the press and legal profession that is a direct result of Watergate and the enactment of the Independent Counsel Law. My greatest complaint about Woodward's book is that he could spend more time analyzing and less time simply regurgitating history. He tells us what happened, but fails to suggest alternatives or ways that we could have both ethics in government, yet avoid diminishing the powers of the Presidency. Admittedly, this might be difficult. However, Woodward doesn't even make the effort. His failure to really make an attempt to do so a serious disappointment to me as a reader. The redeeming feature of the book is that it is good, solid reporting and accurate contemporaneous history. Those who are interested in a behind the scenes look at modern presidential scandals should read this book. Mark
Rating: 
Summary: The effect the Independent Counsel had on the Presidency
Review: I think this is a pretty good book on the Presidency of the United States since Watergate. Of course, Mr. Woodward played a significant role in reporting Watergate and has written extensively about the Presidency since then. This book examines the various difficulties and scandals the Presidents since Nixon have had and the shadow the legacy of Watergate fell on those events and affected how they were handled and perceived. The most significant event in the way these things played out was the creation of the Independent Counsel. While I was never wild about the Independent Counsels before I read this book, I have come to the conclusion that it was an awful idea and an abuse of our Constitution. While the office was designed to not be accountable to the President to afford a credible ability to investigate the Executive Branch, it has no reasonable boundaries or limits and is not subject to any of the checks or balances that enable our government to function as reasonably as it does. Freed from any limits of time, budget, or public accountability it is not surprising that many, but not all, of these Independent Counsels end up pursuing all kinds of things apart from what they were originally charged to pursue. My chief conclusion from reading this book is that this was a bad law with worse execution and should never be revived. Good riddance! Half of the book is devoted to the Clinton scandals. The other large section is Iran-Contra. How you perceive Woodward's balance and objectivity will be colored by your personal politics. I have to admit that I found my own reading of the book varied at different points because of my own view of these scandals and whether or not I agreed with Woodward or felt that his own political biases were creeping in (which is impossible to avoid). But all-in-all there is a lot of good reporting here and is written in way that is easy to read. There are lots of endnotes to document the sources for the various statements, meetings, and conclusions drawn. I recommend the book highly.
Rating:
Summary: Great Detailed Info
Review: Ok, I admit it; I am a big fan of Woodward. I will read everything he puts out and probably enjoy it. With that being said here is another book of his that I will profess to really enjoying. For my money he is the best political writer in the business today. He has so many contacts that many times in reading the book you could swear he has the White House bugged. This book tries to tie in the Presidents sense "Tricky Dick" and draw a parallel to how they have all had some form of a "scandal" during there terms. With my professed admiration for Woodward it pains me to say this, but the premise does not really work in the book. He details the issues each of the Presidents have faced but he really does not tie them together in the way I think he wanted to, which is that the power and complexity of the President almost assures a problem. Where I think he could have tied the theory together is that the press is all after the next "issue gate", and they more then anyone drive this issue of scandal journalism. With this being said, you get all the standard Woodward items with the book, great details, wonderful he said - she said conversations that really make you feel like a fly on the wall, an easy to follow and well laid out book. The real gems of the book are the details of how the Reagan and Bush Presidencies handled Iran - Contra and what is probably the best record of the last two years of the Clinton scandal Fest and "Monica-gate". This is an interesting book that I really enjoyed. If you like Woodward you will like this book, if you are interested in Iran - Contra or the last two years of the Clinton presidency then this is also a good source of information.
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious Entertainment written by the best
Review: This non-fiction book will give you a relief from biographies that feel like textbook. Shadw refers to the last five presidents of our nation: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George bush, and Bill Clinton. It talks about the scandals each had to face and how they coped with them. After Nixon resigned from office, Ford had to pull the ountry back from he Watergate scandal which was agreat challenge for him, and this book shows what lengths he went to. Woodward talks about how carter worked to end the Iran hostage crisis and how he would win the peoples' acceptance, Reagan's scandal with the Iran-contra cover-up and how he coped with that, George Bush's Gulf War, and the most famous scandal of all from the last decade: Clinton's scandal with Monica Lewinsky. But don't let that turn you away if you think you know everything. Woodward writes this nonfiction book as if it were fiction. It's entertaining and amusing to see what each president wen through, and it never feels like a straightforward textbook. Just remember that this is definitely not a history book; Woodward even says that this is an examination of the most important moments of the last five presidents.
Rating:
Summary: Magazine article with a hard cover
Review: This moderately interesting book should have been kept as a magazine article. The author makes some good observations (with a decidedly liberal bend) but they did not warrant an entire book. Sunday New York Times would have been a better placement.
Rating:
Summary: Great Investigative Work
Review: Another solid investigative work by Bob Woodward. Well researched and documented, and strongly written. Really shows how the acts of Richard Nixon nearly 30 years ago impacted the administrations of the next five Presidents. Great read for any political junkies.
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