"Worse Than Watergate"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the book, "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush" written by John W. Dean. The paper examines the implications of the book for modern American education. The paper contends that the book provides an eye-opening look at Bush and Cheney's abuses of power and of many of the reasons they have so far gotten away with such abuses, to their greater benefit but to the detriment of other Americans.

From the Paper:

"The book Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, by John W. Dean (Little, Brown, 2004) has as its central theme the excessive secrecy of what Dean calls the "Bush-Cheney presidency (xi) or the "Bush and Cheney presidency" (21)since, according to Dean, Cheney, not Bush, often makes key decisions. Dean asserts that "in many ways it is a co-presidency" (11), with Bush as the front man, and Cheney, being the actual decision-maker, preferring the shadows. Both men are excessively secretive, and their secretiveness, argues Dean, threatens democracy, liberty, and public accountability, and also encourages incompetence by allowing Bush and Cheney to escape public scrutiny (185-88). Moreover, Dean portends the potentially harmful effects the Bush-Cheney presidency has had, and may continue to have, on the rights and protections of average American citizens, and on the constitutional divisions and checks and balances of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government (ix-xvii)."

More papers on "Worse Than Watergate":

• Analytical Essay # 60944 : "Worse than Watergate"
• Persuasive Essay # 115291 : "Is the Cure Worse than the Problem?"
• Comparison Essay # 90127 : "The Watergate and Enron Scandals "

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: