Watergate In American Memory: How We Remember, Forget, And Reconstruct The Past

by Michael Schudson

Overview

A look at what Americans remember (and what they have forgotten) about one of the most traumatic domestic political event in the America's post-war history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465090839
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	11/17/1993
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1490L (what's this?)

Editorial Reviews

Multiple, conflicting versions of the Watergate scandal coexist in the public's collective memory, according to University of California sociologist Schudson. To leftists, the scandal was managed by establishment forces to preserve the national security state. The moderate-liberal version holds that ``the system almost failed'' and views Watergate as a crisis over presidential abuses of power, while conservatives identify a recklessly autonomous press as a threat to the social order. Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters, this intensive, evenhanded academic study challenges ``the myth of Watergate journalism,'' which holds that the press alone brought down Nixon. Using surveys, interviews and news clips, Schudson clarifies the meaning of Watergate as a social process of discovery and outrage, a constitutional crisis and a contribution to the public's political education. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

On the 20th anniversary of the Democratic headquarters break-in, has the Watergate perpetual publishing machine cranked out another play-it-again-Sam Ervin reprise? No! This engrossing overview shows how Watergate has evolved into part of our collective memory. Watergate, a cultural flashpoint rivaling the traumas of the John F. Kennedy assassination and the Challenger disaster, carries a legacy that includes an elevation of the journalism profession and the rise of Jimmy Carter based on a promise of clean government and his fall when he couldn't deliver. Ironically, the lessons of Watergate were cleverly and subliminally manipulated so that the players of Ronald Reagan's Iran- contra fiasco would not be prosecuted. This and an unassertive Congress allowed Reagan, whom Schudson sees as more deserving of impeachment than Nixon, to complete his second term while Nixon continued his struggle for rehabilitation. A provocative, controversial panorama of institutional Watergate, enthusiastically recommended for large public and academic collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/92.-- Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp . Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.

Library Journal