Trump and his MAGA allies may point to Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, and others, but if he balks at judicial orders, he’ll be an outlier.
Watergate
Posted inPolitics
Lessons in Leadership from Howard Baker
Lessons in Leadership from Howard Baker. Fifty years after Richard Nixon’s resignation, the life example of the Republican vice chair of the Senate Watergate Committee still resonates.
Posted inPolitics
The Only Kept Secret in Washington
Fifty years ago, months before Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, a small group of White House staffers quietly planned for the ascension of Gerald Ford. Not even Nixon or Ford knew.
Posted inPolitics
Bob Woodard and Carl Bernstein on Trump, Watergate at 50, and Our Democracy
The legendary reporters discuss a range of topics on stage with historian, journalist, and Monthly contributing editor Jonathan Alter.
Posted inJanuary/February/March 2023
The Plumbers Who Couldn’t Fix a Leak
For me, the puzzle of Watergate is why Richard Nixon, who wasn’t responsible for the Democratic National Committee break-in, decided to lead the cover-up just days after the burglary undertaken by a band of White House–led dirty tricksters known as “the Plumbers.” What made the president order the CIA to shut down the FBI probe […]
Posted inFeatured, Political Animal, Politics
Trump Can’t Envision a Government Less Corrupt Than He Is
The former president and the GOP don’t understand institutions such as the Justice Department. For them, it’s just about service to Trump.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Garland Has to Prosecute Trump for January 6 to Restore Faith in the Justice Department
It’s often said that the attorney general has two goals—keep the DOJ apolitical and prosecute the former president—but the aims, says a noted historian, are complementary and essential.
Posted inPolitics
The Watergate Anniversary and the Liz and Dick Cheney Paradox
The Watergate scandal, now 50, was the executive and congressional showdown of its time. Today, as Liz Cheney investigates Donald Trump, her father bears much of the blame for Trump’s imperial presidency.
Posted inBooks
The Endless Struggle Between Presidents and the Press
A new study focuses on the relationship between the White House and the media in the years since Woodrow Wilson, but it gives short shrift to the 19th century.
Posted inPolitical Animal
When Republicans Believed in Congressional Oversight
To the extent that Republicans support the president’s efforts to stonewall this investigation, they make themselves not only hypocrites, but co-conspirators.
