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The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President
Former Watergate prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks's THE WATERGATE GIRL, a memoir of her years as a young lawyer on the staff of the Watergate special prosecutor, recounting her key role in breaking open the legal case against Richard Nixon and the particular stresses and pressures she faced as a young woman in a male-dominated world who had secrets of her own to protect, to Paul Golob at Holt.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published February 25, 2020
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April 15, 2020
Wine-Banks was one of the pioneer women in the legal field. In her career she had been Illinois Solicitor General and was a deputy attorney general. In 1973 she was working for the Department of Justice when she was picked to join a task force to investigate the Nixon administration’s burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building.
The memoir is well written and researched. It is an exciting read of the Watergate Investigation. She also tells of the sexism she faced as the only female on the taskforce. The book does reveal how far women have come toward equality since the early 1970s. I found the behind the scenes look most fascinating. I found myself comparing Nixon and Trump as I was reading. I began to feel that Trump is the more dangerous of the two men because he does not believe in a federal government and the constitution; whereas, Nixon did.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is eight hours. Cassandra Campbell does an excellent job narrating the book. Campbell has won four Audie Awards and many Earphone Awards. She was a 2018 inductee in Audibles’ inaugural Narrator Hall of Fame.
The memoir is well written and researched. It is an exciting read of the Watergate Investigation. She also tells of the sexism she faced as the only female on the taskforce. The book does reveal how far women have come toward equality since the early 1970s. I found the behind the scenes look most fascinating. I found myself comparing Nixon and Trump as I was reading. I began to feel that Trump is the more dangerous of the two men because he does not believe in a federal government and the constitution; whereas, Nixon did.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is eight hours. Cassandra Campbell does an excellent job narrating the book. Campbell has won four Audie Awards and many Earphone Awards. She was a 2018 inductee in Audibles’ inaugural Narrator Hall of Fame.
May 22, 2021
Last night I turned on MSNBC, delighted to see her again. There she was, sharp as a tack, with her ready smile, rich contralto, and unmistakable Chicago accent, wearing a stylish scales-of-justice pin, and summing up Barr’s firing of Geoffrey Berman so succinctly that all the other legal analysts were reduced to ancillary commentary. And—yes, I know it sounds sexist, and probably ageist too, but … she’s the prettiest 77-year-old lawyer I’ve ever seen.
Okay, I’m biased. But I’m also someone who prides himself on writing objective reviews, and I can unequivocally recommend Jill Wine-Banks Watergate Girl as an enjoyable and informative look, not only at the inside of the Watergate prosecution, but also at what it was like to be that rare thing, an attractive and successful “mini-skirted lawyer,” in the sexist world of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.
Wine-Banks is not a great writer, but she is a very good one, able to paint a vivid scene and write clearly and concisely. She is particularly good at brief comparison / contrasts, and using them to illuminate issues that matter to her. For example, if you wish to get a good idea of what she thought of the people and personalities of Watergate affair, read the following set pieces: McGruder/Dean, Cox/Jaworski, and—most revealing of all—Rosemary Woods/Jill Wine-Banks. Wine-Banks is perceptive enough to see Woods—whom she grilled fiercely about the Watergate tapes—as an ambitious woman, much like herself, but of an earlier age, when becoming the secretary to an important political figure would have been the height of what a woman could achieve.
Those who seek a comprehensive treatment of the Watergate affair will not find it here, though they will learn quite a lot about the subject. This is a memoir, after all, and covers not only her Watergate experiences, but her childhood, her disastrous first marriage, her first great affair, her happy second marriage (to an old high-school flame), and the highlights of her professional career, including assistant Watergate prosecutor, private litigator, first female General Counsel to the U.S. Army, first female National Director of the American Bar association, and vice president at Motorola and Maytag. Throughout, Wine-Banks concentrates on important facts and vivid anecdotes, and has produced a book that is short, interesting and to the point.
One of the best things about this book is that Wine-Banks catalogs many of the sexist challenges and petty humiliations that came with the “lady-lawyer” territory throughout her career. There are at least three memorable anecdotes concerning Watergate, but the one I prefer to share here happened after Wine-Banks had been appointed General Counsel to the Army. She was not aware of how traditional Army social occasions could be, so traditional they even adhered to long-abandoned Victorian customs:
[After] a dinner for top Pentagon officials and their spouses at the beautiful home of General Rogers and his wife Ann … I walked into the living room with another guest, General Max Thurman, who years later would go on to lead the US invasion of Panama …. We were in middle of a lively conversation when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Ann Rogers. “We’re in there,” she whispered, pointing to another room where the wives had gathered. No one had warned me that cigars and cognac in the living room were for men only. I looked at General Thurman and spoke firmly. “If you get in trouble, I said, “I’ll talk to someone else, or stand in the corner, but I’m not leaving.”
General Thurman smiled as he signaled the server and gave a command: “Bring this woman a cognac and a cigar!”
December 5, 2019
Wonderful memoir by Jill Wine-Banks, former special prosecutor in the Watergate case and current MSNBC legal analyst. Starting with her examination on the stand of Rose Mary Woods and the 18 1/2 minute gap to her personal life and highlights of her professional life since Watergate, the book shines with her voice. She needs to write a second volume though.
March 11, 2020
I've seen Jill Wine-Banks as a legal analyst on MSNBC talking about her upcoming book, and was really looking forward to reading it. That said, I was disappointed. The Watergate part of the story was interesting and there were a few new tidbits of information, but there was nothing really new there and not enough depth or insight. For me, her personal life and drama got in the way. At times I wanted to yell TMI...too much information. I didn't need to know that she was in a loveless marriage, that she had a lover, that they almost got caught, that she reconnected with her high school prom date and married him, even that she had a nose job. I wanted to know more about her job as a Watergate prosecutor and how she navigated the mine field of being a young woman in what was considered a man's domain. This was touched on anecdotally, but she could have done so much more with it. And I wanted to hear more of her analysis of the Trump impeachment and the parallels with Nixon and Watergate. Her work and personal life after Watergate just felt like filler to lengthen the book. I was hoping for a home run. Ended up with more of a base hit.
March 14, 2020
Lively memoir of the Watergate scandal from one of its secondary prosecutors. At age 30, Jill Wine-Volner accepted the chance to work for Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Already a seasoned government attorney who cut her teeth prosecuting mobsters, Wine-Volner found the task of investigating President Nixon and his henchmen much tougher, facing government harassment, political pressure, endless media scrutiny and bitter courtroom battles. Wine-Banks recounts her own experiences with key Watergate players like Jeb Magruder (whom she paints, persuasively, as a near-pathological liar), John Dean (whom she views with more sympathy than many historians) and Nixon’s devoted, ill-used secretary Rose Mary Woods; it was Wine-Banks who exposed Woods’ claim to have erased the eighteen-and-a-half minute gap on the White House tapes as obviously false. She folds into her account the travails of a woman in the early ‘70s: reporters over her appearance, her colleagues (except Richard Ben-Veniste, portrayed as her friendly, quick-witted sparring partner) treat her with condescension; opposing counsel, hostile witnesses and even Judge Sirica offer outright misogyny. All this while her first marriage unraveled behind-the-scenes, along with mysterious break-ins and surveillance of her home by parties unknown, but easily guessed at. Nonetheless she endured, going on to a long and successful career (including stints as Army General Counsel and Director of the ABA), a happy second marriage to a high school sweetheart and a unique place in history. Wine-Banks has emerged in recent years as a go-to Watergate expert, invited by cable news hosts and documentaries to compare the current administration to Richard Nixon’s misdeeds; fortunately, here she restricts these parallels to her epilogue. Watergate buffs won’t find much fresh information about the scandal itself, but there’s plenty to savor in its portrait of a tough, determined woman struggling to do right in a corrupt world.
May 21, 2020
This was a really good book about the experience of the only woman who worked in the Watergate Special Prosecutor's office. Wine-Banks was employed by the Special Prosecutor from the inception through to the conviction of the Haldeman, Erlichman, Mitchell, et al and was the main person who questioned Rose Mary Woods, President Nixon's personal secretary, about the 18 1/2 minute gap in one of the crucial Oval Office tapes that Nixon resisted releasing until the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against him. I lived through that time, so this brought back memories for me. It's very well written (and she gives profuse thanks in the acknowledgements for the people who helped make it that way).
Her epilogue is also somewhat chilling; she compares the way things are now with how they were in in 1973. Today the country is so divided that only one Republican, Mitt Romney, voted to uphold any of the House articles of impeachment in January 2020, and she feels that Trump is much more dangerous than Nixon ever was.
Whether you remember Watergate or not, it's an enjoyable read that held my interest throughout even though I knew how it ended.
Her epilogue is also somewhat chilling; she compares the way things are now with how they were in in 1973. Today the country is so divided that only one Republican, Mitt Romney, voted to uphold any of the House articles of impeachment in January 2020, and she feels that Trump is much more dangerous than Nixon ever was.
Whether you remember Watergate or not, it's an enjoyable read that held my interest throughout even though I knew how it ended.
April 6, 2020
It was a time, much like today, when Americans feared for the future of their democracy, and women stood up for equal treatment. At the crossroads of the Watergate scandal and the women’s movement was a young lawyer named Jill Wine Volner (as she was then known), barely thirty years old and the only woman on the team that prosecuted the highest-ranking White House officials. Called “the mini-skirted lawyer” by the press, she fought to receive the respect accorded her male counterparts―and prevailed.
In The Watergate Girl, Jill Wine-Banks opens a window on this troubled time in American history. It is impossible to read about the crimes of Richard Nixon and the people around him without drawing parallels to today’s headlines. The book is also the story of a young woman who sought to make her professional mark while trapped in a failing marriage, buffeted by sexist preconceptions, and harboring secrets of her own. Her house was burgled, her phones were tapped, and even her office garbage was rifled through.
At once a cautionary tale and an inspiration for those who believe in the power of justice and the rule of law, The Watergate Girl is a revelation about our country, our politics, and who we are as a society.
My Thoughts: My memories of Watergate are quite vivid, as I experienced them in adulthood. I was a thirty-year-old social worker with a husband and three children as the scandal began playing out. I was opposed to many of the actions taken by then-President Nixon, but despite these feelings, I was appalled by how events unfolded during those Watergate years. The author of The Watergate Girl was part of the prosecution team that tried the Watergate burglars and those that were part of the cover-up, including Nixon himself.
In view of recent political scandals and the Impeachment of President Trump, I completely agree with the author who has drawn parallels between then and now, but concludes with the assessment that our current situation presents even greater dangers. She writes:
“Today we are up against a deeper existential threat to democracy than we faced during Watergate, a peril exacerbated by a more complicated political, social, and cultural landscape than existed in the 1970s. The country is more divided now, and today’s media is a minefield of fake news and shrill voices from a multiplicity of sources.”
I thoroughly enjoyed the detailed account of the Watergate investigation and hearings, and also liked reading about the author herself, then and now. A brilliant 5 star read.
In The Watergate Girl, Jill Wine-Banks opens a window on this troubled time in American history. It is impossible to read about the crimes of Richard Nixon and the people around him without drawing parallels to today’s headlines. The book is also the story of a young woman who sought to make her professional mark while trapped in a failing marriage, buffeted by sexist preconceptions, and harboring secrets of her own. Her house was burgled, her phones were tapped, and even her office garbage was rifled through.
At once a cautionary tale and an inspiration for those who believe in the power of justice and the rule of law, The Watergate Girl is a revelation about our country, our politics, and who we are as a society.
My Thoughts: My memories of Watergate are quite vivid, as I experienced them in adulthood. I was a thirty-year-old social worker with a husband and three children as the scandal began playing out. I was opposed to many of the actions taken by then-President Nixon, but despite these feelings, I was appalled by how events unfolded during those Watergate years. The author of The Watergate Girl was part of the prosecution team that tried the Watergate burglars and those that were part of the cover-up, including Nixon himself.
In view of recent political scandals and the Impeachment of President Trump, I completely agree with the author who has drawn parallels between then and now, but concludes with the assessment that our current situation presents even greater dangers. She writes:
“Today we are up against a deeper existential threat to democracy than we faced during Watergate, a peril exacerbated by a more complicated political, social, and cultural landscape than existed in the 1970s. The country is more divided now, and today’s media is a minefield of fake news and shrill voices from a multiplicity of sources.”
I thoroughly enjoyed the detailed account of the Watergate investigation and hearings, and also liked reading about the author herself, then and now. A brilliant 5 star read.
March 19, 2020
I am fascinated by politics, particularly American politics, so as soon as this book came out I had to pick it up. I chose to listen to the audiobook as that is the way I prefer to experience non-fiction and I'm glad that I did. I have seen Jill Wine-Banks on MSNBC and although she doesn't narrate the bulk of the audiobook herself, just the prologue and epilogue, I was interested in her story and her involvement in Watergate.
Watergate is something that I knew almost nothing about before the Trump presidency but now it is impossible to ignore the parallels. This book is interesting as it tells the story of Jill's life as well as the investigation and it put the myth of Watergate into much more real terms.
I found this to be interesting but there were moments that the timeline seemed a bit jumbled. There were also several moments where I felt information was repeated unnecessarily.
Overall I liked this book but it's not something that I feel I will remember going forwards. I definitely want to learn more about this era of American politics and this has inspired me to learn more about the American legal system. On the whole this book was good but I think that there will be other books out there about a similar topic that may be more engaging.
3 out of 5 stars!
Watergate is something that I knew almost nothing about before the Trump presidency but now it is impossible to ignore the parallels. This book is interesting as it tells the story of Jill's life as well as the investigation and it put the myth of Watergate into much more real terms.
I found this to be interesting but there were moments that the timeline seemed a bit jumbled. There were also several moments where I felt information was repeated unnecessarily.
Overall I liked this book but it's not something that I feel I will remember going forwards. I definitely want to learn more about this era of American politics and this has inspired me to learn more about the American legal system. On the whole this book was good but I think that there will be other books out there about a similar topic that may be more engaging.
3 out of 5 stars!
May 20, 2020
I always enjoy Jill Wine-Banks' comments on MSNBC, and this book very much reflected her usual insightfulness and upbeat presentation. Most interesting to me were her experiences being young, female and in the spotlight in the 1970s. She did a good job of weaving together personal details with commentary on the Watergate prosecution. I really enjoyed reading the book.
A couple things struck me as odd. First, she kept referring to her shyness, which seemed a most unlikely personality characteristic for her, and all the examples seemed to be of her overcoming shyness, never of actual shy behavior. Second, I was bothered that she kept calling Rose Mary Woods "Rose" when others she examined (men) were referred to by their last name. It felt a bit strange to me, and yet in some ways it was humanizing. Curious.
A couple things struck me as odd. First, she kept referring to her shyness, which seemed a most unlikely personality characteristic for her, and all the examples seemed to be of her overcoming shyness, never of actual shy behavior. Second, I was bothered that she kept calling Rose Mary Woods "Rose" when others she examined (men) were referred to by their last name. It felt a bit strange to me, and yet in some ways it was humanizing. Curious.
July 25, 2020
If you have seen Ms. Wine-Banks doing commentary on MSNBC and elsewhere, you know that she is level-headed, smart, witty, and mindful of history when she speaks of the present. Thanks to this elegantly-written book, we can see behind the Watergate inquiry, learning about the backstage personalities, agreements, research, squabbles, and victories through the eyes of the sole woman on the prosecution team.
Ms. Wine-Banks had to fight for every position, fend off sexist comments without getting herself removed from jobs, and work with/around the strong personalities who influenced the investigations - including Nixon himself, through his words on the tapes. Her tale is thrilling, infuriating, and satisfying. I hope she will write more.
Ms. Wine-Banks had to fight for every position, fend off sexist comments without getting herself removed from jobs, and work with/around the strong personalities who influenced the investigations - including Nixon himself, through his words on the tapes. Her tale is thrilling, infuriating, and satisfying. I hope she will write more.
June 13, 2021
This is a memoir of Jill Wine-Banks, focused mostly on her time as a prosecutor during Watergate. I have *not* watched her on MSNBC, but I do have an active interest in history. This book summarized the facts and feelings of that era in an excellent way.
The manipulation and maneuvering that Nixon and staff did to avoid prosecution is legendary. I for one would love to know what was on those 18½ minutes of tape, "accidentally" erased between 5 and 9 times. Even without that likely damning evidence, Nixon's casual disregard for the law is evident here, and reminiscent of a more recent president - touched on by the author in the epilogue.
I say memoir, because there is more than Watergate here. The author's marital troubles and affair are teased early on as a possible lever against her - but nothing came of it later in the book. An equally interesting history of this time could have left this part out. If those troubles behind the scenes colored her judgement, I didn't see it in the text. Later portions detail her pioneering work with the Army and then MSNBC - both very interesting.
Coming back to the point, this is a really good history of what happened, and how the checks and balances worked at that time. My hope (and the author's) is that they continue to work into the future. This book was also a fairly quick read. The audiobook has the introduction and epilogue read by the author herself.
The manipulation and maneuvering that Nixon and staff did to avoid prosecution is legendary. I for one would love to know what was on those 18½ minutes of tape, "accidentally" erased between 5 and 9 times. Even without that likely damning evidence, Nixon's casual disregard for the law is evident here, and reminiscent of a more recent president - touched on by the author in the epilogue.
I say memoir, because there is more than Watergate here. The author's marital troubles and affair are teased early on as a possible lever against her - but nothing came of it later in the book. An equally interesting history of this time could have left this part out. If those troubles behind the scenes colored her judgement, I didn't see it in the text. Later portions detail her pioneering work with the Army and then MSNBC - both very interesting.
Coming back to the point, this is a really good history of what happened, and how the checks and balances worked at that time. My hope (and the author's) is that they continue to work into the future. This book was also a fairly quick read. The audiobook has the introduction and epilogue read by the author herself.
March 10, 2021
Jill Wine-Banks writes a memoir on her time as the only woman lawyer on the team that prosecuted the highest White House officials relating to watergate. Her tale includes raw emotions of work exhaustion’s, sexism, imposter syndrome, a shitty husband, the presidency, national security, and living in dc. The book ends with explaining her vibrant career post-Watergate. Highly recommend to all women interested in law, politics, and journalism.
(She was 22 years old when this happened)
(She was 22 years old when this happened)
March 15, 2022
I didn't know many details of Watergate before this, so I learned a lot and enjoyed the way the story was told.
March 12, 2024
In general, I enjoyed this book. She was a hero for her work on Watergate but her Trump hate gives the reader a sour taste.
October 30, 2024
A wonderfully written memoir about Jill’s experience as the only woman prosecutor on the Watergate Trials. It’s disappointing and heartbreaking to know the measures a President went in corruption and his cowardly behavior to avoid consequences by pushing everyone else in front of him to take all the blame. This book brings hope as how justice was fought through hard work and perseverance. With the uneasy feeling I have about our country’s future, this brings hope that there are people who fight for the better good of our country.
March 3, 2020
4.5 stars, rounding up to 5.
This is a very well-written memoir! While the main focus of the book is on the Watergate trial and the men she took on (the same men made famous by the Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward book, “All The President’s Men”), she also talks about her personal life in juicy detail and the rest of her professional work since Watergate - and she never lost my interest at any point throughout the entire book. I think this is partly due to the fact that she doesn’t start her memoir from the very beginning of her life, like most people (because let’s be honest, those parts are usually the slowest), but instead starts right off with Watergate. She does occasionally delve into her pre-Watergate life, but only when it helps explain or progress her narrative.
Jill Wine-Banks is one helluva woman. She was an amazing prosecutor that took on many powerful people throughout her career in a legal world dominated by men. After Watergate, she took amazing jobs at top law firms and Fortune 500 companies, but quit them all after experiencing and witnessing discrimination against her and others because of gender, religious beliefs, and race.
Wine-Banks is an inspiration to women of all ages. She was often times the only woman in the room when it came to interviewing Nixon’s men. Because of this, she was inevitably dealt daily misogynistic comments and was often sidelined by a lot of her colleagues and the judges. Yet, she persisted!
Throughout this book, you can see the many terrifying parallels between the Watergate scandal and the scandals of our current administration. However, as Wine-Banks perfectly puts it: “Today the peril is worse than in the 1970s because Trump is more dangerous than Nixon. Trump’s stonewalling surpasses Nixon’s and he challenges the authority of Congress in unparalleled ways. He has obliterated civil discourse and unleashed racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and disrespect for the rule of law and the separation of powers. He puts in peril the fundamental principles on which our nation was founded.”
Overall, a very quick read that I learned a lot from. Highly suggest this book for everyone interested in politics. Thank you to Henry Holt & Co., Jill Wine-Banks, and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a very well-written memoir! While the main focus of the book is on the Watergate trial and the men she took on (the same men made famous by the Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward book, “All The President’s Men”), she also talks about her personal life in juicy detail and the rest of her professional work since Watergate - and she never lost my interest at any point throughout the entire book. I think this is partly due to the fact that she doesn’t start her memoir from the very beginning of her life, like most people (because let’s be honest, those parts are usually the slowest), but instead starts right off with Watergate. She does occasionally delve into her pre-Watergate life, but only when it helps explain or progress her narrative.
Jill Wine-Banks is one helluva woman. She was an amazing prosecutor that took on many powerful people throughout her career in a legal world dominated by men. After Watergate, she took amazing jobs at top law firms and Fortune 500 companies, but quit them all after experiencing and witnessing discrimination against her and others because of gender, religious beliefs, and race.
Wine-Banks is an inspiration to women of all ages. She was often times the only woman in the room when it came to interviewing Nixon’s men. Because of this, she was inevitably dealt daily misogynistic comments and was often sidelined by a lot of her colleagues and the judges. Yet, she persisted!
Throughout this book, you can see the many terrifying parallels between the Watergate scandal and the scandals of our current administration. However, as Wine-Banks perfectly puts it: “Today the peril is worse than in the 1970s because Trump is more dangerous than Nixon. Trump’s stonewalling surpasses Nixon’s and he challenges the authority of Congress in unparalleled ways. He has obliterated civil discourse and unleashed racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and disrespect for the rule of law and the separation of powers. He puts in peril the fundamental principles on which our nation was founded.”
Overall, a very quick read that I learned a lot from. Highly suggest this book for everyone interested in politics. Thank you to Henry Holt & Co., Jill Wine-Banks, and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 31, 2020
Jill Wine-Volner was barely thirty when she found herself on the team that prosecuted high-ranking White House officials in the scandal called "Watergate." Now known as Jill Wine-Banks, she explains that the press dubbed her the "the miniskirted lawyer" while she worked with a team of (mostly white) men to prosecute the cover up by the Nixon administration. She draws on parallels to today's political drama--times when Americans have feared for the future of democracy. She reveals her own secrets such as how she struggled in a failing marriage which led to a long-term secret affair. Her Washington D.C. home was burglarized, and she was sometimes treated as an oddity and not given the respect she felt she deserved. Ms. Wine-Banks shares an important story about the history of our country and the struggles of professional women to achieve here.
April 26, 2020
I often see Jill Wine Banks on MSNBC. It was interesting to read about her experience as a prosecuting attorney during Watergate. It is sad to read this knowing this could never happen during today's political climate since there is no longer any accountability.
February 21, 2024
3.5/5. Loved a first hand account of being one of the only women involved in the Watergate trial, and the author offers poignant insight into the sexism she experienced throughout her legal career. As someone who didn’t know much about the Watergate scandal I would have appreciated a bit of insight before jumping right in to the prosecution but a good read nonetheless.
January 22, 2021
Entorno a The Watergate Girl de la abogada Jill Wine-Banks, quien a los 30 años aceptó la oportunidad de trabaja para el Fiscal Especial de Watergate, Archibald Cox, escribe su memoria de vida en el ejercicio del derecho, y mas relacionada al escandalo de Watergate. La escritora recuerda sus experiencias como una joven abogada que participó en la que entonces era el mayor escandalo politico en la historia de los Estados Unidos.
En el libro nos va describiendo cada uno de los procesos realizado para ir llevando a la guarida a cada uno de los acusados. Interrogar a testigos, arrebatar cintas de la Casa Blanca, lidiar con el sexismo descarado de algunos de sus colegas masculinos y superiores, y al mismo tiempo vivir en carne propia el deteriorado matrimonio que llevaba.
Creo que uno de los puntos más tratado era saber que decían los jodidos 18 y medio minutos de las cintas, y la infeliz vida de Mary Rose Woods, la cual resultó ser frustrante para la autora, a quien le preocupaba su comportamiento al enfrentar la incondicional Woods, reflejara su juventud y vulnerabilidad. Esos 18 minutos fueron cruciales, donde Woods sostuvo que fueron borrado accidentalmente. Ni menos hablar de Magruder, a quien lo percibió como un mentiroso consumado.
Con este escrito, Wine-Bank nos coloca en la habitación a puerta cerradas para hacernos ver las estrategias y decisiones a tomar para hacer fértil el mayor juicio político. La abogada de la minifalda por como iba vestida a los juicios, le preocupa mucho el sexismo, pues para la década de los años 1970 era frecuente llamarla La abogada, mientras que a los hombres no se le dio ningún modificador de género. Entre otros asuntos, especialmente su entorno a matrimonial con Ian, y el affair con un companero: "Mi aventura con Kurt existió en un reino fuera de Watergate, un mundo romántico de amor y seguridad en el que confiaba".
Es un libro interesante a luz de una de los protagonistas de ese evento que marcó la vida política de los Estados Unidos, pero como siempre ante un hecho como este, donde hay muchas cosas por decir, y no podríamos plantear si por si, cierta duda de que todo lo que ella sabe está dicho en este libro, pues ante todo hay una actitud, un detenerse, que dejar de hacer para poder pensar, creo al igual que muchos que siendo protagonista de dicho evento, hay cosas que se dicen detrás de batidores que no salen a luz, y es ahí el rayo de luz que muchos esperaban ver en este libro, pero obviemos este punto, no todo esta dicho aun, han pasado años y seguimos descubriendo datos de cualquier índole.
En el libro nos va describiendo cada uno de los procesos realizado para ir llevando a la guarida a cada uno de los acusados. Interrogar a testigos, arrebatar cintas de la Casa Blanca, lidiar con el sexismo descarado de algunos de sus colegas masculinos y superiores, y al mismo tiempo vivir en carne propia el deteriorado matrimonio que llevaba.
Creo que uno de los puntos más tratado era saber que decían los jodidos 18 y medio minutos de las cintas, y la infeliz vida de Mary Rose Woods, la cual resultó ser frustrante para la autora, a quien le preocupaba su comportamiento al enfrentar la incondicional Woods, reflejara su juventud y vulnerabilidad. Esos 18 minutos fueron cruciales, donde Woods sostuvo que fueron borrado accidentalmente. Ni menos hablar de Magruder, a quien lo percibió como un mentiroso consumado.
Con este escrito, Wine-Bank nos coloca en la habitación a puerta cerradas para hacernos ver las estrategias y decisiones a tomar para hacer fértil el mayor juicio político. La abogada de la minifalda por como iba vestida a los juicios, le preocupa mucho el sexismo, pues para la década de los años 1970 era frecuente llamarla La abogada, mientras que a los hombres no se le dio ningún modificador de género. Entre otros asuntos, especialmente su entorno a matrimonial con Ian, y el affair con un companero: "Mi aventura con Kurt existió en un reino fuera de Watergate, un mundo romántico de amor y seguridad en el que confiaba".
Es un libro interesante a luz de una de los protagonistas de ese evento que marcó la vida política de los Estados Unidos, pero como siempre ante un hecho como este, donde hay muchas cosas por decir, y no podríamos plantear si por si, cierta duda de que todo lo que ella sabe está dicho en este libro, pues ante todo hay una actitud, un detenerse, que dejar de hacer para poder pensar, creo al igual que muchos que siendo protagonista de dicho evento, hay cosas que se dicen detrás de batidores que no salen a luz, y es ahí el rayo de luz que muchos esperaban ver en este libro, pero obviemos este punto, no todo esta dicho aun, han pasado años y seguimos descubriendo datos de cualquier índole.
February 9, 2020
Jill was one of the prosecutors in the Watergate trials. She worked on Ehrlichman, Magruder, Dean, all the men made famous by All the President's Men. She was the loan woman attorney involved in the case, and often the only woman in any room at that time. She was a tough prosecutor, having come from working Mob cases, but she was often sidelined and daily faced rampant sexism and misogyny.
But she stuck to the job. It was grueling work with horrible hours and not great working conditions. She was in her early 30s and still felt she was proving herself. It also helped as a distraction from her terrible marriage to work herself to exhaustion.
Throughout this book we see the inevitable parallels between what happened in 1973-74 and today, with the manipulation, threats, power plays, and truly despicable abuse of the office of the President. With the benefit of hindsight, Nixon doesn't seem as bad as he once did, and this play-by-play within the context of the time helps remind us that his behavior, and that of the men under him, was truly reprehensible. It as also interesting for me to hear for the first time about people like Rose Mary, Nixon's personal secretary, who probably played as active a role in the cover-up as the men mentioned above, but was never even considered as a co-conspirator because of her sex (even by Jill!)
This is a fast read, and a worthy reminder of the past which we seem to be doomed to repeat.
But she stuck to the job. It was grueling work with horrible hours and not great working conditions. She was in her early 30s and still felt she was proving herself. It also helped as a distraction from her terrible marriage to work herself to exhaustion.
Throughout this book we see the inevitable parallels between what happened in 1973-74 and today, with the manipulation, threats, power plays, and truly despicable abuse of the office of the President. With the benefit of hindsight, Nixon doesn't seem as bad as he once did, and this play-by-play within the context of the time helps remind us that his behavior, and that of the men under him, was truly reprehensible. It as also interesting for me to hear for the first time about people like Rose Mary, Nixon's personal secretary, who probably played as active a role in the cover-up as the men mentioned above, but was never even considered as a co-conspirator because of her sex (even by Jill!)
This is a fast read, and a worthy reminder of the past which we seem to be doomed to repeat.
February 11, 2020
The Watergate Girl is the memoir of Jill Wine-Banks, the lone female lawyer working on the staff of the Watergate trial’s special prosecutor. Much of the book is dedicated to her time working on the Watergate case. From rumors of presidential scandal, to eventual resignation and beyond, Wine-Banks gives her readers insight into her job, her life, and the greater cultural zeitgeist of the 1970’s.
Jill Wine Banks is the feminist icon that NO ONE is talking about. I absolutely loved this memoir. Memoirs can be hit or miss for me, and I was afraid that this one would be dry. However, Wine-Banks’ attention to detail kept me glued to the pages! I find Watergate (and impeachment in general) incredibly fascinating and was drawn in right away. I admire how Wine-Banks persevered through both blatant and subtle misogyny while working on the Watergate case. The memoir goes into Wine-Banks’ less than perfect personal life, which gave me a good understanding of who she was both as a prosecutor and a person. With the recent presidential impeachment, I found the parallels between the two cases to be very interesting. In the epilogue, Wine-Banks touches on the Trump impeachment and her opinions of those events. It is a MUST read! Thank you @henryholtbooks and @netgalley for my advanced readers copy. The Watergate Girl will be released on 2/25.
Jill Wine Banks is the feminist icon that NO ONE is talking about. I absolutely loved this memoir. Memoirs can be hit or miss for me, and I was afraid that this one would be dry. However, Wine-Banks’ attention to detail kept me glued to the pages! I find Watergate (and impeachment in general) incredibly fascinating and was drawn in right away. I admire how Wine-Banks persevered through both blatant and subtle misogyny while working on the Watergate case. The memoir goes into Wine-Banks’ less than perfect personal life, which gave me a good understanding of who she was both as a prosecutor and a person. With the recent presidential impeachment, I found the parallels between the two cases to be very interesting. In the epilogue, Wine-Banks touches on the Trump impeachment and her opinions of those events. It is a MUST read! Thank you @henryholtbooks and @netgalley for my advanced readers copy. The Watergate Girl will be released on 2/25.
August 6, 2021
This is Jill Wine-Banks’ memoir of her life, focusing mainly on her time as a Watergate prosecutor, the only female member of the team.
I’ve really appreciated Wine-Banks’ insight and input on MSNBC and wanted to read this history of her life. I was afraid I’d be bored during the Watergate details since this case has been re-hashed so many times throughout my life. But I found her memories and experiences to be fascinating. She reviews her entire Watergate experience from beginning to end, describing all the people involved in the case, strategies, considerations, actions, results, and even where most of the people ended up after the case. This book also includes a good bit of her own personal life. She was very candid and it rang genuine.
Wine-Banks was a trailblazing female attorney and I applaud her professional efforts. I’m glad she shared her story and I enjoyed reading it.
I listened to the audiobook. The Prologue and the Epilogue were read by Wine-Banks herself. The narrator for the meat of the book was Cassandra Campbell. She did well enough but I had really hoped to hear the author read her own story since I know what she really sounds like. Campbell did not have a huge vocal repertoire but she was effective with this memoir. I’ll give her a B.
I’ve really appreciated Wine-Banks’ insight and input on MSNBC and wanted to read this history of her life. I was afraid I’d be bored during the Watergate details since this case has been re-hashed so many times throughout my life. But I found her memories and experiences to be fascinating. She reviews her entire Watergate experience from beginning to end, describing all the people involved in the case, strategies, considerations, actions, results, and even where most of the people ended up after the case. This book also includes a good bit of her own personal life. She was very candid and it rang genuine.
Wine-Banks was a trailblazing female attorney and I applaud her professional efforts. I’m glad she shared her story and I enjoyed reading it.
I listened to the audiobook. The Prologue and the Epilogue were read by Wine-Banks herself. The narrator for the meat of the book was Cassandra Campbell. She did well enough but I had really hoped to hear the author read her own story since I know what she really sounds like. Campbell did not have a huge vocal repertoire but she was effective with this memoir. I’ll give her a B.
June 22, 2020
After listening to her on MSNBC and The Stephanie Miller Show, I was really looking forward to reading this. I was not disappointed!
She begins the book with a bit of a tease, her questioning of Rose Mary Woods. That had me hooked!
I remember so much about this time and yet had forgotten so much, as well. Her riveting story brought me back to those moments more than 45 years ago.
We tend to forget the gender discrimination that went on, or that someone was "the first woman" to do something. We have come so far and yet have much more work to do.
Revealing her unhappiness in her personal life and the strength it took to push it aside, while pursuing justice for the country, says so much about who she was and still is. She is a pioneer, a mentor, and a role model.
She begins the book with a bit of a tease, her questioning of Rose Mary Woods. That had me hooked!
I remember so much about this time and yet had forgotten so much, as well. Her riveting story brought me back to those moments more than 45 years ago.
We tend to forget the gender discrimination that went on, or that someone was "the first woman" to do something. We have come so far and yet have much more work to do.
Revealing her unhappiness in her personal life and the strength it took to push it aside, while pursuing justice for the country, says so much about who she was and still is. She is a pioneer, a mentor, and a role model.
August 2, 2020
Jill Wine-Banks was the only woman on the Special Prosecutors team investigating the Watergate break in and obstruction of justice by Richard Nixon. She famously cross examine Rosemary Woods and erasing the missing 18 minutes on the WH tape. Lots of insight into the whole impeachment process, Nixon's resignation and how the Republicans in the Senate forced Nixon out unlike the cowards in the Senate today. Jill Wine-Banks has been a legal commentator during Trump's impeachment and daily showed how flawed and partisan it was. I really enjoyed her insider recap of history.
September 30, 2022
I enjoyed this. I especially enjoyed it as a law student. This was for two reasons:
1. I finished something that wasn't for school or work!
2. She went to law school and her career followed a jagged path afterwards. It was a lesson in how, as one who is qualified to be an attorney, you can do so many different things. You get there by building new skills and honing your reputation wherever you are at the time.
1. I finished something that wasn't for school or work!
2. She went to law school and her career followed a jagged path afterwards. It was a lesson in how, as one who is qualified to be an attorney, you can do so many different things. You get there by building new skills and honing your reputation wherever you are at the time.
May 12, 2020
A little bit about Watergate, a fair amount about being a high-profile female in a predominantly male profession in the 1970's, and an excessive amount about the author's love life, personal appearance, and insecurities
June 11, 2020
I tried, but I could not get beyond the first 50 pages of this book. I lived through this era, love Jill on MSNBC, but the book just did not grab me in any way. Sorry that I couldn't finish it, but just no spark.
January 22, 2021
I’ve always been fascinated with Watergate and trials. I think that’s why I wanted to be a lawyer as a young girl. (I became a teacher instead.) I loved this behind the scenes account of the investigation.
February 16, 2023
I enjoyed this telling of the Watergate scandal. The writing was straightforward and engaging. I would consider it more of a memoir since it involves a solid amount of the author’s personal life. And I actually really liked that. It made the history feel more human.
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