What I'll be watching today....

The Watergate Building

“Watergate” is not just the name of a scandal that brought about the only Presidential resignation in US history, but is an iconic building in Washington DC. I used to stop close to the Watergate (not in, out of my price range!) during my early visits to the city. It isn’t a single building, but a complex of five buildings., covering a site of 10 acres. There is a hotel as well as apartments and offices. There used to be a Safeway supermarket (where I discovered ‘Red Rose Tea’), but that closed a few months ago. It was built in the 1960s, final completion coming only in 1971.

But it was the early hours of June 17th 1972 that made it a household name around the world. The Democratic National Committee had its headquarters on the sixth floor of the Hotel and Office Building (the 2600 Virginia Avenue building) . The famous break in that occurred 40 years ago this weekend was not the only one. In fact it took place because one of the original bugs, placed on May 28th, was not working properly. There is a fascinating 20 page article on the earlier burglary, which seeks to bring together the evidence about what happened where and when at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_burglaries

The famous burglary was monitored from the Howard Johnson Hotel across Virginia Avenue. It is now student accommodation. The burglars were arrested after a security guard, Frank Wills, found that duct tape had been left on the door between the garage and a stairwell. (He played himself in the film "All the President's Men")  The door can now be seen in the Newseum. And as they say, the rest is history…..

Who are the paymasters?

There's a line spoken by 'Deep Throat' in "All the President's Men" that has always stayed with me. Asked for advice by Bob Woodward, he advises "Just... follow the money"

As the American political system has become more dependant upon corporate money and "gifts" from some very wealthy individuals, concerns have grown about the expectations of these donors. What do they gain from 'sponsoring' legislators and the parties? Ethics rules have been developed and refined over the years to attempt to curtail certain behaviour. There is now a huge ethics manual for the House of Representatives. It can be accessed here.

The public has a right to know who is making the donations. The Sunlight Foundation's website allows you to see who is donating to whom. Visit the website here.

Richard Nixon

As February 6th approaches, expect to hear from conservatives about the birthday of Ronald Reagan - it will be the centenary of his birth. We probably won't hear too much today about another Presidential birthday. Richard Nixon was born on this day in 1913 (yes, that's right - the Vice President from the 1950s was younger than the 1980's President!)

Whatever else may be said about the 37th President - he was most of the most interesting characters of the Twentieth Century.

Final Address to Staff



Books about Nixon









One of my favourite movies of all time

Political Films

During my recent short break in Bournemouth (a frequent party conference venue - though not this year), I read a number of interesting books. One was Michael Coyne's "Hollywood Goes to Washington". It outlines some of the great (and some not so great) films about politics in America. Whilst mainly dealing with cinema releases it also covers some made for TV fils and series.

The first chapter deals with the history of the American political film - identifying six main phases - from a "mythic/idealistic phase" (from the 1930s to the 1950s) through to the "Apocalyptic Phase" in the twenty first century. Later chapters deal with themes such as Presidents and Conspiracies. A book which is worth (and enjoyable) reading.

There a few films I'll be looking out for. Obviously some are already firm favourites - "All the President's Men" was a film which excited my growing interest in US Politics. As someone who specialises in Congress - "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" remains a particular favourite. Last week "Advise and Consent" was shown on British TV - I thoroughly enjoyed it! Of course, amongst the made for TV series which I enjoy revisiting, West Wing stands head and shoulders above all the others.