What’s since become known as the Watergate Scandal all began one early morning 50 years ago.
On June 17, 1972, there was a break-in at the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in Washington, DC’s Watergate building complex. Five people were subsequently arrested—but it soon became clear that this was no ordinary robbery. All of the individuals apprehended were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they were wiretapping phones and stealing documents.
Nixon attempted to distance himself from the crimes and cover up information throughout the investigation, but Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were able to help reveal the president's involvement in the conspiracy. As a result of this major scandal, Nixon resigned from the presidency on August 9, 1974.
Watergate's significant and lasting effects on American politics cannot be denied. While there were kernels of distrust in the government before this time, the Watergate Scandal drove American citizens to become even more critical and distrusting of the government and people in positions of power. The scandal also shed light on the power of investigative reporting and the journalistic responsibility to check political leaders, their legal representatives, and other top influencers.
To encourage you to pause and reflect upon the 50th anniversary of the Watergate Scandal, here are 12 essential listens about the break-in, the investigation, the informants, and everything else you need to know about that fateful day in American politics and its ongoing impact.
From the author of the Audie Award-winning, New York Times best-selling The Only Plane in the Sky comes a freshly released, meticulously researched, and richly detailed chronicle of one of the most infamous moments in US history. Drawing from newly public documents and transcripts, Garrett M. Graff brings listeners into the backrooms of Washington, chaotic newsrooms, crowded Senate hearings, and even the Oval Office itself as the intrigue unravels and revelations come to light. Narrated by Jacques Roy, Watergate: A New History is an impressively comprehensive and utterly riveting listen.
All the President's Men is the definitive account of the Watergate Scandal from the perspective of the definitive experts: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning duo of Washington Post journalists who broke the story. Unfolding a dramatic political detective case with world-shaking consequences, this listen, narrated expertly by Richard Poe, is a can’t-miss for history and news buffs alike.
Released to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Watergate Scandal, this audiobook gathers together the original, groundbreaking, jaw-dropping stories that ran in The Washington Post, starting on June 18, 1972, with a page one article: 5 Held in Plot to Bug Democrats' Offices Here.
Narrated by David Marantz, this Audible exclusive listen features a foreword by legendary journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, assessing the impact of their landmark reporting four decades later.
Another recent release on the Watergate Scandal, The President's Man is the memoir of Dwight Chapin, Richard Nixon's personal aide and deputy assistant in the White House. Chapin was by Nixon's side from his You-won't-have-Nixon-to-kick-around-anymore
1962 gubernatorial campaign through his world-transforming trips to China and the Soviet Union to his epic downfall. Here, Chapin tells his story in his own words, voiced by Will Damron, presenting an insider's view of the most enigmatic POTUS (at least, until Trump).
Drawing on thousands of hours of newly released tape recordings, King Richard is work of nonfiction with all the elements of a classical tragedy. In his acclaimed account of the ambition, power, and betrayal behind the Watergate Scandal, author Michael Dobbs focuses on the story's complex and tortured central character: Richard M. Nixon. Performed by Mark Bramhall, this listen offers an intimate portrait of a leader at his most critical moments, shining a spotlight on the strengths that became Nixon's fatal flaws, particularly his determination to win at all costs.
What was it really like inside the White House during the post-Watergate months of Richard Nixon's presidency? How did Nixon, his family, his closest advisors, and many members of Congress desperately try to prevent his ultimate disgrace? From Bernstein and Woodward, the aforementioned legendary journalists and Watergate experts, The Final Days takes listeners through the dramatic last months of the Nixon presidency, moment by tense moment, capturing the personal toll as well as political gravity of his historic resignation.
The Watergate Scandal might never have come to light if hadn't been for Deep Throat, the pseudonym given to Woodward and Bernstein's trusted source in 1972 for valuable information about the break-in, the cover-up, and Nixon's role. Deep Throat's true identity remained hidden for 33 years. In The Secret Man, Bob Woodward at last discloses the details of his long, complex relationship with his informant, W. Mark Felt, the enigmatic FBI agent who helped end Nixon's presidency. Narrated by Boyd Gaines, this story of trust, deception, pressures, and explosive secrets starts with Woodward's initial encounter with Felt in the Nixon White House and culminates decades later when, at age 91, Felt finally stepped forward to reveal himself as the man behind the famous moniker.
Blind Ambition is the autobiography of John W. Dean, the former attorney who served as White House Counsel for President Richard Nixon from July 1970 to April 1973. Dean was only 30 years old when he first became Counsel to the President, but his meteoric rise to the top came with a sobering discovery: he had touched the bottom. Dean's honest account of what he witnessed in the Nixon White House spares no one—not even himself. George Newbern narrates, capturing Dean's remarkable ability to speak (and remember) the truth.
In 1974, Jill Wine-Volner was a young and ambitious attorney, barely 30, and the only woman on the team tasked with prosecuting the highest-ranking officials in the White House. Dubbed the mini-skirted lawyer
by the press, she fought to get the same respect as her male counterparts. Now Jill Wine-Banks, she looks back at her trial by fire in The Watergate Girl. Along with sharing her personal struggles—battling sexist preconceptions, feeling trapped in a failing marriage, and dealing with harassments such as having her phones tapped and her house burgled—Wine-Banks takes a critical look at the flaws in our country's politics, system of justice, and society at large.
To understand the Watergate Scandal, you have to understand the president behind it. In this sweeping, deeply researched work, journalist and historian Rick Perlstein recaptures the turbulent political climate of the 1960s and early 1970s, and reveals how the seemingly safe and steady Richard Milhous Nixon seized the presidency. With sharp political insight, Nixonland shows how the rise and fall of America's most disgraced president paved the way for a completely unexpected comeback of conservative politics.
From award-winning biographer John A. Farrell, this comprehensive listen covers the life of Richard Nixon, from his youth on a lemon farm to his notorious downfall, with striking balance. His political career opens with "Nick" Nixon, a young navy lieutenant returning from the Pacific with his eyes on Congress, dreaming of helping to create a better America. Following his legendary 1946 campaign, however, Nixon became more driven, cynical, and ruthless. As Farrell explores in depth, Nixon is also deemed the president largely responsible for the stark political divide in America today. And of course, Richard Nixon delves into the Watergate Scandal. Dan Woren narrates this substantial biography—clocking in at nearly 29 hours—in a way that's "brisk," to quote one listener, "maintaining the pace and engagement throughout."
You'll have to hold out a bit for this listen, as it's not set to debut until December. But trust us: it'll be well worth the wait. The White House Plumbers reveals the true story behind the Special Investigations Unit in Nixon's White House, later known as “The Plumbers.” According to Nixon, The Plumbers were a critical part of national security, investigating leaks of top-secret government documents, including the Pentagon Papers, to the press. Driven by trust and loyalty, The Plumbers had no idea that their work would lead to one of the most infamous conspiracies in US history and the president's resignation. This insider's look at the Nixon White House is told from the perspective of members of The Plumbers who were imprisoned for their role in the Watergate Scandal. And it's soon to be a five-part HBO series, starring Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux.
