Washington Journal

Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon's Downfall

By: Elizabeth Drew

Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin

Length: 22 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

Unfolding over the course of a single year, from September 1973 to August 1974, Washington Journal is the record of the near-dissolution of a nation's political conscience - told from within. In this book, we see corruption in its most prosaic and grandest forms, along with occasional flashes of decency, ethics, and humanity, and other sights rarely witnessed in the wilds of the capital.

Cool and understated - and all the more devastating for its understatement - Washington Journal was hailed upon its publication as a landmark work of journalism. With an introduction that brings this all-too-relevant book squarely into the present, Washington Journal is ready for its place in the pantheon of great writing about American politics.

©1974 Elizabeth Drew (P)2014 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Forty years after the greatest scandal of the American presidency, Elizabeth Drew's account in Washington Journal remains fresh and riveting, instructive and evocative. Her afterword on Nixon's post-Watergate life is equally compelling." (Tom Brokaw)

Brilliant reporting

Elizabeth Drew has written a wonderful book about the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon. That the proceedings ended with his resignation rather than an actual impeachment and trial is only one of the many surprising turns taken by events in that dark time. It all looks so straightforward now, in retrospect, but Drew reminds us how full of twists and turns the story was at the time.

The great advantage of the book, and the source of its immediacy, is that it was written and published as a series of weekly dispatches as the events unfolded. When Drew described the opening speeches of the Judiciary Committee, she had no idea that Nixon's team was about to release the transcript of a conversation that would make his conviction by the Senate inevitable. It was as much a surprise to her as to the rest of us - and her account, far more than any other reporting on Watergate I'm aware of, helps us feel that surprise again.

Her typical method for a week's dispatch is to summarize the week's key events as reported in other sources. Sometimes - for a press conference or speech or committee meeting - she's able to describe the events first hand. Then she makes her rounds of Congressional sources, some of them named and some anonymous, and reports her conversations with them (they rarely feel like interviews) and distills their insights into the events of the week and their predictions for the future.

One of the surprises is the way the impeachment process had to be made up as the committee went along. The constitution is surprisingly vague about what constitutes an impeachable offense. "High crimes" seems straightforward, although it's unclear what differentiates a "high" crime from any other kind of crime; and what on earth is a "high misdemeanor"? The conclusion of the committee was that "high crimes and misdemeanors" meant whatever a majority of the House said it meant at that point in time.

My only regret about the book - really, my ONLY regret - is that she didn't start her assignment four or five months earlier. Had she done so, she would have been able to use her considerable talents to capture, for all time, that magnificent circus known as the Senate Watergate Committee. But no one gave her that assignment, and no one knew at the time where things would lead.

The narrator is OK: I found her pacing somewhat staccato in the beginning, but it grew on me, and by the end I felt like I was listening to Drew herself.

Fascinating first hand view!!

Excellent book on this critical, confusing time. And a reminder that what the outcome was by no means foreordained. Very thoughtful, insightful descriptions of how people in power behave, how they make their choices, and the nexus of politics in constitutional procedures. Also, the narrator sounds so much like the author that it's as if you're hearing Drew herself.

Fascinating history

Any additional comments?

I lived through the Watergate era and read Ms. Drew's writings at the time. Reading it again is even more fascinating and revealing. Never a dull moment in the entire book. It brings it all back, but with the changed perspective of knowing what has happened since then.

I have to say, looking back at that time from the present, I am appalled almost to the point of despair, seeing the erosion of constitutional protections in our society in our current time. The level of spying perpetrated by the Nixon administration looks absolutely childlike compared with the universal blanket surveillance practices by the NSA. Not to mention the erosion of due process and rule of law that we now accept. And above all the limitless oceans of money that are now accepted as part of the political process.

All of this makes the Watergate era look almost like a golden age of innocence, even though Ms. Drew has a very sharp eye for the deep significance of those events. Highly recommended.

History repeats

If only dumb Republicans would dare pick a book they’d learned about being conned.

Democrats have to grow a pair and save our democracy.

I know, I know, it’s too much to ask for the dumb right-wingers to read.

“Don’t tread on me!” “My Second Amendment rights”. It is all they can utter while picking their noses and taking a bite.

Primer tor Trump’s Impeachment?

Substitute tapes for tweets and this excellent literary work, with its plots, twists and political intrigue sheds light on what it will take to dethrone Donald. With the radicalization of the alt-right are there enough clear headed and unsullied Congressional members to carry off the effort?

A lucid reflection on reporting Watergate.

Where does Washington Journal rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Elizabeth Drew's Washington Journal is among the finest of the books that came out of the Watergate experience. It is a masterpiece of long-form journalism, revealing the culture of the capital and providing excellent portraits of the major players. She is at her best in her reporting on and analysis of the House Judiciary Committee Hearings, centering those deliberations and the leadership of Peter Rodino in her narrative.
This isn't the best introduction to Watergate. The ideal reader or listener would already be familiar with the principal details of Watergate. For those who know something of that history and for those who lived through those years, Drew captures the experience of that heady, confusing, dangerous time as well as any other author.

What does Jo Anna Perrin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jo Anna Perrin does a magnificent job reading Drew's book. She projects the contemporaneity of the narrative as it was unfolding from week to week in 1973 and 1974.

Your pillow will need a pillow."

Rather difficult to make one of the more dramatic political scandals in American history dull, but the author succeeds admirably. /The narrator reminds me of being in a public speaking course in college, where some students would memorize their presentations and bore us to tears. In fairness, even a great narrator could not save this book "Your pillow will need a pillow."

compelling and frightening

very good read. compelling in its revelations. frightening in its relevance to today's political climate.

History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes

This work of history has given me a new way to look at events I thought I knew very well, as I was becoming aware of politics when they were happening. In particular, Elizabeth DRew captures the feelings of doubt and fear that were in the air, concerning the ability of American political institutions to survive the acts of the Nixon administration. More than just a detailed ticktock account of the year of Watergate investigation, this book provides a window into the thinking of the time from a thoughtful observer of events.
It's eerie reading this book now, in the midst of another investigation of another administration. I recommend reading this book to people on all sides of the current political division for the parallels one can find between the current political uncertainty and the events of 1974. There are many possible cautionary tales to be gathered from Drew's excellent book that would be well for partisans on all sides, and for thoughtful readers of this book.

What a great read!

I can’t say enough of how well this book was both written and narrated. It felt like I was right there listening to a news broadcaster summarizing the days events. Want to know what it felt like to be right there in Washington as the Watergate events unfolded? Listen to this book!