Rating: 
Summary: Woodward & Bernstein missed the boat
Review: I first read this book years ago and at that time thought that
they had essentially uncovered and understood all of what happened
in Nixon's WH during Watergate. However, after reading Colodny's
Silent Coup, I came to regard W&B as rather sloppy and tunnel-
visioned in their quest to assign blame. The critical point in changing my opinion was the
goings on the morning after the breakin in the Pacific, where Dean and Mitchell were on assignment. Colodny shows conclusively that what John Dean testified to with respect to Mitchell's involvement was absolutely and incontrovertibly false. I figured that 1) Mitchell should never have gone to jail,
2) Magruder was a little liar, and
3) If John dean could falsely testify against someone he didn't even dislike in order to reduce his sentence, he would lie about absolutely Anything. Colodny and his partner's investigative
effort to fully understand Watergate makes B&W's efforts look
innocent and almost amateurish. Deep Throat was far from being an insider who knew the whole story, or even a large part of it.
Rating: 
Summary: An absolute must to any political library
Review: It has been 31 years since a small group of men entered the Watergate office building on the banks of the Potomac River for the purpose of gathering intelligence to be used against the Democrats in the 1972 election. There are many young adults who were not around then, and this is all the more reason to give a very high recommendation. This is the story of two young reporters at the Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose reportage of the Watergate break-in and the subsequent cover up led to the resignation of President Nixon on August 9, 1974. These two journalists, so dissimilar in may ways, forged a trusting and cooperative relationship born out of initial competitiveness (and disrespect for each other). The book is written in the "third person" which, from a standpoint of style, was probably the best way to proceed instead of bouncing back and forth from one person to the other. We know quite a bit more about Watergate today than we knew three decades ago, but this is the book that really brought the main story into focus. The people who inhabit the book are all memorable: The two reporters; Hugh Sloan, a man whose integrity made him leave the Committee to Re-Elect the President rather than be a party to what was going on; the female accountant (whose name is not mentioned in the book but who has since gone public) who reluctantly helps Bernsetin while he drinks numerous cups of coffee; the men and women who were too frightened to help. And, of course, there is "Deep Throat," the mysterious source who helped keep Woodward on track and whose identity is speculated about even today, so many years after these events. If you haven't read this book, please do before you read any other book on the Watergate affair (the movie of the same name is also wonderful -- with the cinematographer choosing shots which emphasized the massive government buildings as a backdrop against the insignificant looking figures of Woodward and Bernstein -- played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, respectively).
Rating: 
Summary: Effective political warfare
Review: I once believed that every word of this book was true. Written by a fellow Wheatonite (Woodward) it pushed me solidly into voting democrat for the next 20 years. Now, the likelihood is that this book is almost as fictional as the John erhlickman book. For the story that is more likely to be the truth read Silent Coupe. For many, this book remains the bible for the anti-Nixon zeolots, who membership used to include me.
Rating:
Summary: The mother of all White House scandals
Review: It says a lot about the character of Richard Nixon - his suspicion bordering on paranoia, his bitterness, his self-pity, and his intransigent resentment toward everybody who he perceives as an enemy (which was probably almost everybody), that he had to rubber-stamp the commitment of a crime in order to win an election he could never have lost anyway, by approving the break-in of the Democratic national headquarters in Washington in the summer of 1972. A black night-watchman finds a door lock suspiciously taped over and calls the police. The police notify the press. And two young reporters from the Washington Post begin to investigate what looks like a third-class, amateurish crime and end up ripping the lid off the biggest can of worms in American history. We watch in fascination as Woodward and Bernstein follow their mentor Ben Bradlee's precept of "If you can't find a woman in the story, look for the dough". We follow them as they chase the trail of laundered "dough" all the way into the White House. And along with them, we peel off the outer leaves of the artichoke one by one - the underlings who committed the crime, their superiors who planned it, the higher-ups who authorized it, until the ugly center stands exposed: the Chief Executive as Thief in Chief. Whether or not Nixon knew about the break-in in advance is irrelevant. What matters is that once the news was out, he did everything possible to cover it up, and by doing so, sank himself irreversibly in a morass of crime and deception. The book reads like a classic detective novel, with the intangible presence of Deep Throat looming over all. Did he really exist, and if so, who was he? The question still puzzles us. Woodward and Bernstein have been playing cat-and-mouse with us over his identity for the last three decades. It's just one of the threads in this story that will be left dangling for years to come. Woodward and Bernstein emerged from the Watergate scandal as American heroes. To say they brought down the Nixon administration may be overdoing it; but they certainly tore the cover off a malodorous snake pit and brought it kicking and screaming into daylight.
Rating:
Summary: uncovering the president
Review: a must for the journalist to read
great read that shows the insecurities of woodward and bernstein throughout their investigation where they often doubted themselves and got themselves into trouble trying to uncover the truth. perserverance pays off in a story of two men who sought justice and a great story at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: The Presidency Redefined
Review: The detective sleuthing aside, "All the President's Men" is the definitive scholastic study of why the Watergate break-in spilled beyond its coverup to redefine the modern Presidency and why the Constitutional safeguards against a criminal Administration worked. This masterful work should be read twice: first, for its sheer detective intrigue and, second, for its immeasureable scholarship. More than giving us a front-row seat at a newsroom editorial desk, Woodward and Bernstein impress the mandate as private citizens to demand the due process of democracy.
Rating: 
Summary: The adventures of "Tricky Dick." Now that's incredible!
Review: Woodward and Bernstein have done a masterful job of telling how they unraveled the twisted story of the Nixon Administration's capers and illegal activities. What struck me as quite strange was how Nixon, the strident anti-communist, did things that served to undermine the US Constitution which he claimed to love and swore to uphold. It appears that he did more to harm the country than Communist leaders like Kruschev, Brezhnev, Castro and Ho Chi Minh could ever have done. Watergate and the activities of the so-called Plumbers worked to undermine the basic system of democracy by taking away the people's right and ability to have the candidates run a fair and honest campaign. To me, this is the biggest threat to our country and the biggest shame about Watergate.
Having lived through the Watergate years, I still find it incredible that such intelligent men could be so stupid. Why did the Republicans need to break in to Democratice headquarters any way? After all, McGovern was a far out, weak candidate whom Nixon was going to destroy in the election, why take the risks?
Woodward and Bernstein hold one's attention as they go about proving that there was much more to Watergate than the "third rate burglary which was nothing the President would be interested in" according to Ron Zieglar. Good book!
Rating:
Summary: An important book in contemporary American history
Review: I am not an American, and I often find that I come short when discussing political history with my American friends. Therefore, I am always looking for books that can fill gaps in my knowledge. "All the President's men" is such a book. The beginning of this book contains a "Cast of Characters", a detailed description of persons and their involvement in the case. If you are a like me, you make sure to dog-ear this page for your reference, as you work your way through the flurry of different names and places. Fear not, the struggle of keeping track of everyone involved is worth it! This book provides us with two distinct "different" story-lines. First, a fascinating description of investigative journalism. We learn how newspapers work, the fights over cover-page stories, the importance of getting your name under the story line, and arguments and discussions in the editor's office. I particularly came to admire the owner of the Washington Post, Cathrine Graham, for her tremendous courage during this period. The newspaper received threats, directed to specific people, as well as with regards to possible lawsuits. The case could have brought the paper down and destroyed it completely. Second, the very detailed and interesting guide to the collapse of Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States. The Watergate Scandal started innocently enough, with a simple break-in in the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. The "Washington Post" had Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward covering the case. The two inexperienced reporters would soon see that the more they kept digging, the more obscure and unbelievable the story got. In the end, they had a list of people involved including the top level of government, the US intelligence community and ultimately, the White House itself. What most people don't think of is that, back in the summer of 1972, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were two young and enthusiastic, but complete "nobodies" in the world of journalism. What they had in common was that they both worked in the Washington Post's "Metro section", but not much more. They disliked each other, and were not keen on working together. So, after spending the first months using a lot of energy mistrusting each other, they learned how to trust each other and work together. These two young men set in motion a powerful legacy, which extends well beyond their first set of writings for the Washington Post. They covered the case that stands as a milestone in US history. The Watergate Scandal won Woodward and Bernstein fame and fortune, including the Pulitzer Price. Their book "All the President's men" details all the events of one of the greatest political scandal in US history, which in the end, brought down a President. "All the President's men" is fast-paced, and easy to read. It gives a very good summary of the Watergate Scandal (and American history) to the lay reader. Comparing the Watergate Scandal with the election in Florida a couple of years back, or Clinton's Lewinsky affair and Travelgate, I think that "All the President's men" puts things in perspective for us, and highlights a REAL political scandal. I couldn't recommend it more. A page-turner!
Rating:
Summary: ...Couldn't put Nixon together again
Review: Time has not dulled the impact of "All the President's Men". It's been thirty years, now, since the thwarted break-in at the Watergate. Most of the higher-ups in President Nixon's administration have passed away, and subsequent generations reared on Iran-Contra and Whitewater may not even remember what the fuss was about. But from the very first page of this book, history becomes life and events rush forward to the inevitable conclusion that still seems impossible today. Woodward and Bernstein's reporting is the major thrust of the first half of "President's". We watch both reporters work late into the night, interviewing reluctant and/or anonymous witnesses in an attempt to find out just why the Watergate burglars had connections with the White House, and how far up the political chain of command those men were connected. Along the way, mistakes are made and a reputations are wrongfully derailed. But the story -- the crimes and the subsequent cover-ups may have indeed been directed by the President of the United States himself! -- takes on a life of its own, and Woodward and Bernstein become witness to the defining story of an era. Much of "All the President's Men" has passed into legend, especially the unrevealed identity of Woodward's executive branch contact known only as "Deep Throat". The Watergate players to this day still debate just who Deep Throat was -- John Dean seems to publish a book on the subject every five years. Time has proven most of the accusations correct -- for an interesting exercise, try comparing Woodward's and Bernstein's discoveries with the corresponding daily entries in "The Haldeman Diaries"). The book gives so few clues as to make the exercise nearly impossible, even to those of us who've read all there is to read about Watergate and Nixon. Was it John Dean? Alexander Haig? Perpetual Nixon apologist Bill Safire? The answer will be made known in my lifetime, but I would like to think sooner rather than later. Although 30 years is a short time in American history, in politics it can be a lifetime. The meticulous triple and quadruple-checking of the Washington Post staff has given way to the unfounded accusations that support a half-dozen instant political bestsellers. Certainly no-one uses the passive voice quite as monotonously as do Woodward and Bernstein. These defects, however, are minor: the antics of Colson and Liddy and Haldeman and even the amusing capers of Donald Segretti remain fascinating in print even today. When you're done with "All the President's Men", I recommend "The Final Days" (by Woodward and Bernstein) and "The Haldeman Diaries", and then the rebuttal books put out by Nixon staffers such as Haig and Erlichman.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling book - incredible story
Review: I had to stay up well into the night to finish this one. This is the kind of book that I would recommend to most anyone - it is history, mystery, politics, espionage, journalism, comedy, and tragedy all rolled into one. The Watergate break-in was literally the tip of the iceberg - the full extent of what went on is mind-blowing. The idea that Nixon wouldn't have been impeached for these crimes is ludicrous - whether or not he should have been - that is up to each individual.
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