The Original Watergate Stories

by The Washington Post, Bob Woodward (Foreword), Carl Bernstein (Foreword)

“5 Held in Plot to Bug Democrats’ Offices”: The legendary articles that exposed a crime, ended a presidency, and changed a nation.   The Washington Post’s seminal Watergate stories have been gathered together for the first time as an e-book, including a foreword by journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein assessing the impact of their stories decades later.   "5 Held in Plot to Bug Democrats' Offices Here", said the headline at the bottom of page one in the Washington Post on Sunday, June 18, 1972. The story reported that a team of burglars had been arrested inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office complex in Washington. On assignment, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward uncovered a widespread political scandal and cover-up at the highest levels of government, culminating with the resignation of President Richard Nixon. The Post won a Pulitzer Prize for its work, which became the subject of two bestselling books and a renowned movie, All the President's Men.   This eBook is a look back at the dramatic chain of events that would convulse Washington for two years and lead to the first resignation of a U.S. president, forever changing American politics.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Journalism, Biography

199 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 8, 2012

About the author

The Washington Post provides authoritative local, national and international news — with reporting on politics, technology, business and culture — offering readers and users entertainment and information they need to know, plus expert original commentary, insight and analysis, 365 days a year.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came out in 2013 to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Watergate Scandal. The forward is by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The stories were published in the Washington Post and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.

This is a compilation of the newspaper stories but they are not in chronological order and it is not a complete compilation. Woodward selected certain stories to present but it does give an informative picture of the scandal. This makes a good review for someone like me that lived through the scandal but for young people it would make a beneficial reference and starting point to launch further investigation.

I read the memoir of Katharine Graham’s “Personal History”. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998. Her memoir provided information about what tactics Richard Nixon took in his attempt to stop the Post from publishing the stories. As I read this book I remembered what Graham had said and it only made the stories in this book even more interesting.

David Marantz does a good job narrating the book. Marantz is an actor, voiceover artist and audiobook narrator.

[Aiden Wylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of us not around in those nefarious, wild days of the early 70s, this collection of contemporaneous reportage is essential. For those of us with an interest in presidential politics and/or true crime, this collection is endlessly fascinating.

What strikes me is, in comparison to today’s breathless reaction to Trump’s misdemeanours, Woodward and Bernstein’s (and others’) reporting is calm and measured, clear and concise but equally detailed and intelligent.

A cancer on the presidency indeed.

[Fatima · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In a tape from the Oval Office on Feb. 22, 1971, Nixon said, “In the short run, it would be so much easier, wouldn’t it, to run this war in a dictatorial way, kill all the reporters and carry on the war.” “

I’d heard of Watergate in bits and pieces and was very interested in seeing what the whole story was, gosh I was not disappointed. Nixon had a blatant disregard for the prestige of the office he held to the point where he wanted to play God.

Another example of what happens when you fly too close to the sun.

[Michael Linton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is probably more interesting to Watergate buffs. It's interesting to read the stories from the perspective of what the public was learning at the time. It's also interesting to reading know who the sources were. It's a quick easy if you've already seen the movie and read the book All the President's Men. I'm not sure how useful this book would be if someone is just beginning to learn about Watergate.

[Nick Winlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original WaPo stories by Woodward, Bernstein, Broder, and others from 1972 until Nixon resigned.

This is good material to compare to RussiaGate today in 2019. Nixon was bad but trump is a traitor. There are some candid parallels to then and now, legally speaking. Politically there was much grandstanding in the 1970s but the committee investigations continued apace and helped show the courts where the evidence lay then. Politics hasn't been the same since!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This (nonfiction) is full of twists and turns with a cast of unbelievable characters in Washington. I read the audible version.

Nixon was extremely privileged. He was extremely ahead in the polls by a long shot. How did he think he could get away with this? My last trip to DC included a watergate tour.

[Benjamin Schauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never read the articles surrounding Watergate, so this was an enlightening read. The chapters alternate between the original articles and the history in hindsight. It’s fascinating to watch the progression from a crazy conspiracy theory no one wanted to touch to a massive expose that eventually brought now a president.

The only reason I gave this a 4/5 was the audiobook format. There was a lot of information that I wanted to go back to, but that’s obviously much harder to do without a physical copy. Otherwise, it was a fantastic dive into this dark period in American history.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to go through/relive (although a bit repetitious in spots...perhaps they could've edited some of that stuff out). Speaking of which, there didn't seem to be an overabundance of editors working on this project--a fairly appalling number of typos/misprints strewn throughout.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but ultimately supplemental.

[Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough and concise. I wouldn't expect less of the Post. So many parallels of an authoritarian figure that thought he was above the law.

[Kris Hilburn Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting in today's political environment.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating!!

[Annelies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather repetitive and poorly organized.

[Jino Ganesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Sarah E · Rating 4 out of 5]

A soporific read that catches you unawares with astounding moments.

[StiffSticks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A selection of Watergate stories ....not the complete library.

[Andrew McBurney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an indispensable resource for anyone studying Watergate. The narrative passages help place time and context. I was a little surprised at some of the articles. They did not seem to be as "tight" as what you would expect in a newspaper today; although this neither detracts from the book or the articles themselves. A fascinating history.

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huge disappointment. Despite Woodward and Bernstein's names being prominent on the cover, only a handful of Woodstein articles are in here. Rather than the investigative reporting that won the Post a Pulitzer, most of the material here is just repeating facts that would've appeared in every newspaper in America -- the revelation that Nixon recorded his meetings, the Saturday Night Massacre, Liddy and Hunt's convictions, etc. While those are nice to provide context, there's not enough here for them to contextualize.

Also annoying is that the Post's editors whitewash their own mistake by including the article that got Woodstein burned without any of the followups or even a note about how the article proved to be incorrect in an important detail.

Honestly, you could get just as much information by reading All the President's Men.

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

It still amazes me how a third-rate burlgary turned out to impeach Nixon, who's “lack of grace in power has led to a fall from grace.”

After reading "All the President's Men" book, it was naturally to read the original articles on the Watergate scandal. The book is fully portraying the 5 wars Nixon was fighting on anti-war movement, the news media, democrats, justice and history. The articles are cronologically compiled from 18 June 1972 to the articles that revealed Deep Throat's identity as FBI agent Mark Felt 2005. Only 30 years later, "Deep Throat" finally expressed his shock to have his place in history tagged with the name of a porn movie.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to see the original Washington Post articles that ultimately exposed the cover-up that led to Nixon's resignation. I vaguely remember the controversy ... interesting to read how the pressure increased as each revelation of the investigative reporting process led to the ultimate conclusion.

[Charles Biggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy does this being back memories. I was in college at the time and obviously didn't follow Watergate so closely. I believe this out to be required high school reading, part of an American history or government class work.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hey, it's a collection of Watergate newspaper reports from when they happened. I can't really rate this except for its historical importance. It was a fun read and a great appendix for anyone interested in Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

[Alexei · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most staggering true story of the late XX century

Everyone should read these news stories and historical perspective provided by interludes. There is just no excuse not to, it's an insightful and riveting real life Greek tragedy

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great retrospective on an important period of American history. The book provides basic historical context and then a selections of the most important original Washington Post articles from the period. Fascinating to watch the onion peeled layer by layer.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting recap of the Watergate Stories from the Washington Post, strung together with contextual essays. Alarming number of typos in some of the articles, but still a good read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm about a third of the way through this book, which I'm reading on my Kindle, and while I'm enjoying it, I have to say there are a lot of typos.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but interesting collection of the WaPo stories on Watergate.

[Marc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars for this edition (not for the stories themselves): strange selection, poor editing, little value added by prefatory matter. Kind of cool to sort of see how things unfolded.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and atmospheric.

[Sandra Krause · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

True life history




History we knew about however we were only ten or eleven as it all took place. Nice to hear the story.