The Right and the Power (1977)
Okay, we'll take it for granted that the Media Age has accelerated & magnified all of these problems, but here are some of the familiar themes we find in Jaworski's memoir of the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Office: questions about the constitutionality of the Office itself, expansive jurisdiction, convictions for perjury instead of for underlying crimes, leaks, grand jury report to Congress, specious privilege claims, etc. All of the supposedly unprecedented events of recent years are all here.
Jaworski is a pretty pedestrian writer & his focus is very specific to issues that concerned the Special Prosecutor's Office; one longs for a little greater perspective. However, he leaves little doubt that Richard Nixon and his aides engaged in a conspiracy to cover up White House involvement in the Watergate & Ellsberg breakins and, in doing so, obstructed justice.
Ultimately, the most important impression that the book leaves is that
America is a better place because we forced from office a man who was not
fit to be President. Once upon a time in America, we cared about
such matters.
(Reviewed:)
Grade: (C)
