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31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today ReviewFor those of us old enough to remember the summer of 1974 when the House Judiciary Committee voted articles of impeachment which ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, Barry Werth's new book, "31 Days" is a wonderful chronicle of that time. Although the book begins with the Nixon resignation (after the House vote) and ends essentially with Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon, Werth presents a fascinating view of 1974....not only regarding the political scene but related areas which affected President Ford during his first month in office.Needless to say, Ford entered the presidency as no one before him had. He needed to make decisions about the soaring inflation the United States was facing as well as growing unemployment on the homefront. In international policy Ford had to address not only the beleaguered American presence in Vietnam, the continuing problems in the Middle East but also a coup and subsequent Turkish invasion of Cyprus. On top of that Ford needed to find a vice-president.... to replace himself. However, the largest piece of the picture was what would Ford do with Nixon? "31 Days" centers around this aspect and it's a fascinating walk down memory lane.
How it was that Gerald Ford decided how and when to pardon the disgraced former president makes "31 Days" riveting. No one had a clue that Ford would use his power of pardon and Werth accurately describes the aftermath of that early September announcement. The honeymoon Ford enjoyed was over in a flash. Yet it is also a good connection that the author makes about how Ford might have decided things with regard to Nixon....he was contemplating a concurrent, limited amnesty for Vietnam draft dodgers and as he wanted them to "work their way back" into American society, so, too, had Ford wished to get a deeper sense of "mea culpa" from Nixon....something he really never got. As Werth points out, Ford's own relationship with his natural father and his peacemaking abilities he demonstrated between his father and mother almost certainly played a role in Ford's pardon. He simply wanted to do what was right for the good of the country and move on with life. However, as Werth points out in his epilogue, Ford's actions made things worse....it cost the Republicans massively in the midterm elections that fall and without a doubt contributed to Ford's narrow loss to Jimmy Carter in 1976.
There are one or two things which reminded me of how long ago 1974 seems, sometimes. One cannot even fathom today a Republican president choosing a moderate to liberal Republican like Nelson Rockefeller as his vice-president. To think as well that Democrats controlled the Congress in large numbers...many of their ranks coming from southern states. Werth makes some good parallels to the current administration, noting that Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney were instrumental characters during the Ford years. And as if the author weren't prescient enough.... how alike the Bush White House is to Nixon's......two secretive administrations dealing with unpopular wars.
"31 Days" is a book I highly recommend....not only for the revelations of the behind-the-scenes White House activities of August, 1974, but the analogies to the current political climate in Washington today....analogies which seem to unfold on a weekly basis. Werth's book is a good lesson in history.
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