31 Days - by Barry Werth (Paperback)

About the Book

The author takes readers inside the White House during the tumultuous days following Nixon's resignation and the swearing-in of Gerald Ford, revealing the ruthless maneuvering and day-to-day politicking behind everything from the pardon of Nixon to the rise of a new cadre of Republican movers and shakers.

Book Synopsis

In 31 Days, acclaimed historian Barry Werth takes readers inside the White House during the tumultuous days of August 1974, following Richard Nixon's resignation and the swearing-in of America's "accidental president," Gerald Ford. The Watergate scandal had torn the country apart. In a dramatic, day-by-day account of the new administration's inner workings, Werth shows how Ford, caught between political expedience, the country's demands for justice, and his own moral compass, struggled valiantly to restore the nation's tarnished faith in its leadership. With deft and refreshing analysis Werth illuminates how this unprecedented political upheaval produced new fissures and battle lines, as well as new opportunities for political advancement for ambitious young men such as Donald Rumsfeld, who had been Nixon's ambassador to NATO, and Dick Cheney, already coolly efficient as Rumsfeld's former deputy. A superbly crafted presidential history with all of the twists and turns of a thriller, 31 Days sheds new light on the key players and political dilemmas that reverberate in today's headlines.

Review Quotes

"Describes a time with eerie parallels to our own...What connects 31 Days to the present is . . . how political figures such as [Donald] Rumsfeld and . . . Richard Cheney were shaped by their experiences in Watergate Washington" --USA Today "Compelling. . . . [A] gripping narrative account of Ford's first weeks in office. . . . A period in which some of the key players in the Bush administration rose to power and established their mastery of intra-administration battles, a period that . . . serves as a bookend to our own."--The New York Times"Never has the Ford administration seemed so gripping." --The Atlantic Monthly

About the Author

Barry Werth is the author of The Scarlet Professor, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author of The Billion Dollar Molecule and Damages, and wrote the text for Alexander Tsiaras's Architecture and Design of Man and Woman and From Conception to Birth. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.