The Last Of The President's Men

New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015. First Simon & Schuster Hardcover Edition [stated]. First printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Richard Howard (Author photograph). [10], 291, [3] pages. Appendix. Index. Signed by the author on the title page. DJ has small crease at rear flap. Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. After a year at the Montgomery Sentinel, a weekly newspaper in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, Woodward was hired as a Post reporter in 1971. He now holds the title of associate editor. While a reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Woodward teamed up with Carl Bernstein, and the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon. The work of Woodward and Bernstein was called "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time" by longtime journalism figure Gene Roberts. Woodward continued to work for The Washington Post after his reporting on Watergate. He has written 21 books on American politics and current affairs, 13 of which have topped best-seller lists. Woodward himself has been a recipient of nearly every major American journalism award, including the Heywood Broun award (1972), Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting (1972 and 1986), Sigma Delta Chi Award (1973), George Polk Award (1972), William Allen White Medal (2000), and the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Reporting on the Presidency (2002). In 2012, Colby College presented Woodward with the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for courageous journalism. An intimate but disturbing portrayal of Nixon in the Oval Office.--The Washington Post. Bob Woodward exposes one of the final pieces of the Richard Nixon puzzle in his new book The Last of the President's Men. Woodward reveals the untold story of Alexander Butterfield, the Nixon aide who disclosed the secret White House taping system that changed history and led to Nixon's resignation. In forty-six hours of interviews with Butterfield, supported by thousands of documents, many of them original and not in the presidential archives and libraries, Woodward has uncovered new dimensions of Nixon's secrets, obsessions and deceptions. The Last of the President's Men could not be more timely and relevant as voters question how much do we know about those who are now seeking the presidency in 2016--what really drives them, how do they really make decisions, who do they surround themselves with, and what are their true political and personal. Alexander Porter Butterfield (born April 6, 1926) is a retired United States Air Force officer, public servant, and businessman. During the Vietnam War, Butterfield commanded a squadron of low and medium-level combat tactical air reconnaissance aircraft. He flew 98 combat missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1965 and 1966, Butterfield served as the military assistant to the special assistant to the Secretary of Defense, where he became a friend of Alexander Haig. He served as the deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973. He revealed the White House taping system's existence on July 13, 1973, during the Watergate investigation but had no other involvement in the scandal. From 1973 to 1975, he served as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Derived from a Kirkus review: Four decades after Watergate shook America, journalist Woodward returns to the scandal to profile Alexander Butterfield, the Richard Nixon aide who revealed the existence of the Oval Office tapes and effectively toppled the presidency. Of all the candidates to work in the White House, Butterfield was a bizarre choice. He was an Air Force colonel and wanted to serve in Vietnam. By happenstance, his colleague H.R. Haldeman helped Butterfield land a job in the Nixon administration. For three years, Butterfield worked closely with the president, taking on high-level tasks and even supervising the installation of Nixon's infamous recording system. The writing here is pure Woodward: a visual, dialogue-heavy, blow-by-blow account of Butterfield's tenure. The author uses his long interviews with Butterfield to re-create detailed scenes, which reveal the petty power plays of America's most powerful men. Yet the book is a surprisingly funny read. Butterfield is passive, sensitive, and dutiful, the very opposite of Nixon. Years later, Butterfield seems conflicted about his role in such an eccentric presidency. When Butterfield admitted to the Senate Select Committee that he knew about the listening devices, he felt its significance. Less a sequel than an addendum, the book offers a close-up view of the Oval Office in its darkest hour.