The Watergate: Inside America’s Most Infamous Address

Political consultant Rodota chronicles the history of the D.C. address known as the Watergate from its conception in 1960 in the offices of the Italian construction company SGI to its present place in the registry of historic landmarks. An integral part of the Watergate story is the 1972 break-in at the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee, but Rodota doesn’t overemphasize that incident; he happily careens from the break-in to lesser-known but significant Watergate-connected scandals, including a gay prostitution ring that did business at the Watergate Hotel, the Clinton-Lewinsky affair (relevant because of Monica Lewinsky’s Watergate residence), and a host of other misdeeds and transgressions that either occurred at the Watergate or were perpetuated by Watergate residents. Rodota includes innumerable anecdotes about both ordinary and rich and powerful Watergate dwellers, among them cabinet members, senators, and political operatives. He also devotes energy to the Watergate’s controversial architecture and the zoning battles that surrounded its planning and construction, as well as the high-wire financial challenges faced by the development’s Watergate Hotel. This account mixes history, finance, and high-level political gossip to evoke the Watergate complex’s mystique. Agency: Sterling Lord Literistic. (Feb.)