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In the vein of The Residence and This Town, this absorbing history features a remarkable cast of politicians, journalists, socialites, and spies who made the Watergate the most famous - and some say infamous - private address in Washington.Opened in 1965 and located along the Potomac River in Washington, DC's Foggy Bottom neighborhood, the Watergate became one of the capital's chicest addresses, a hub for powerbrokers and the epicenter of a scandal that brought down a president. In The Watergate, writer and political consultant Joseph Rodota skillfully paints a vivid portrait of this historical landmark whose name has become an indelible part of the cultural zeitgeist.Rodota introduces us to the Watergate's movers and shakers, both famous and unknown, who made the Beltway tick over five decades. Anna Chennault was known as the "Tiger Hostess" for the lavish dinners and cocktail parties in her penthouse, where her companion Tommy Corcoran, Washington's first "super lobbyist," played piano.The irrepressible Martha Mitchell, wife of Nixon attorney general and campaign manager John Mitchell, captivated the nation with a stream of outrageous interviews and phone calls from her Watergate duplex. The Watergate housed Nancy and Ronald Reagan's California posse in the 1980s. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg celebrated New Year's Eve at the Watergate with Antonin Scalia and their spouses. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave chamber music concerts in her Watergate living room. Longtime residents Elizabeth and Bob Dole lived next door to Monica Lewinsky and her mother.The Washington Post once favorably compared the Watergate to the Titanic: a concrete-and-steel version of the luxurious ocean liner, ahead of its time. The Watergate is an engaging and eye-opening inside look at the passengers and crew of this legendary building.



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Joseph Rodota

Since its opening in 1965, the Watergate complex has been one of Washington's chicest addresses, a home to power brokers from both political parties and the epicenter of a scandal that brought down a president. In The Watergate, writer and political consultant Joseph Rodota paints a vivid portrait of this landmark and the movers and shakers who have lived there. Watergate residents - an intriguing casts of politicians, journalists, socialites and spies - have been at the center of America's political storms for half a century. The irrepressible Martha Mitchell, wife of President Nixon's attorney general and campaign manager John Mitchell, captivated the nation with a stream of outrageous interviews and phone calls from her Watergate duplex. Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia put aside their differences many a New Year's Eve to celebrate together at the Watergate, dining on wild game hunted by Scalia and cooked by Ginsburg's husband. Monica Lewinsky hunkered down in her mother's Watergate apartment while President Clinton fought impeachment; her neighbor U.S. Senator Bob Dole brought donuts to the hordes of reporters camped out front. Years after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted chamber music concerts in her Watergate living room, guests remembered the soaring music - and the cheap snacks. Rodota unlocks the mysteries of the Watergate, including why Elizabeth Taylor refused to move into a Watergate apartment with her sixth husband; reveals a surprising connection between the Watergate and Ronald Reagan; and unravels how the Nixon break-in transformed the Watergate's reputation and spawned generations of "-gate" scandals, from Koreagate to Deflategate. The Washington Post once called the Watergate a "glittering Potomac Titanic. " Like the famous ocean liner, the Watergate was ahead of its time, filled with boldface names - and ultimately doomed. The Watergate is a captivating inside look at the passengers and crew of this legendary building.



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