This book really paints a picture of the White House plumbers and what their job was. It really sheds light on some interesting facts that have not been shared before. What really happened behind those closed door meetings that they had with the president??? read this book to find out???

This book is an interesting perspective on a topic that has already had many books written about it.
It gave me a new outlook on some of the people involved.
I highly recommend this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

I selected The White House Plumbers because I thought it would give me a good picture of the Watergate scandal. I quickly found out that I was mistaken. This book is extremely informative, and gives a personal perspective on the weeks leading up to the Fielding break-in. It doesn't give any kind of intro or background on these scandals, so for a beginner it was difficult to follow at first. The first part of the book felt jumbled and confusing because of this. Once I hit that halfway point, I found myself falling into Bud's story a bit more. I found it admiral that he was willing to step up and faces his consequences, especially when it would have been so easy to just wipe his hands of the mess and walk away. This book was definitely a great way to humanize Watergate a bit more!

A surface level memoir from Bud Krogh (with his son, Matthew) mainly focusing on his involvement in illegal actions taken at the direction of The Nixon Administration. A quick read, Krogh does not provide a ton of detail and mainly focuses on how he did what he did in service of his country and did his best to own up to his choices and make amends.

Certainly worth the time for anyone interested in modern American history, and I am sure the HBO mini-series will be terrific.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the advance reader copy.

THE WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS

EGIL KROGH &Matthew KROUGH





A rapid read that details the historic events that generated the demise of the Nixon Presidency and told in the words of those at the center of the controversy is well worth your time. The events are played out in easy to understand, logical and honest order. Of most interest to me was the iner-struggle of the main character to find and rebuild his integrity once he realized he had gone beyond proper limits and done damage to unsuspecting individuals. His journey to atonement is fascinating and thought provoking.


A different slant on a much published subject, the personal feelings expressed by the writers will have you looking at the final solution with renewed interest.





Spencer W. Birt

Fifty years ago the Washington Post broke the story of President Richard Nixon paying political cronies to spy on his political enemies. Today seemingly investigative journalism is not trusted to either be non-partisan or even to be a valid tool. Bud and Mathew Krogh were directly impacted by this. Bud as a member of the "White House Plumbers" was tasked with finding the leaks to the press and was sentenced to prison for the crimes committed by the group and Mathew his son. We all need to take heed of those that represent us as a nation and remember we are all supposed to be governed by the same laws.

I enjoyed reading this memoir. This would be a good book for those who lived through the Watergate scandal and are curious to hear from someone who committed the illegal acts. I found, as a younger person, I had to do quite a bit of supplemental research to understand the details of referenced events. There were certainly some sections that were interesting to contemplate in our current political environment.

Interesting perspective behind the scenes of the Nixon White House and the Watergate scandal. The reader is introduced to a story of how situations like this build up each passing day, and become all encompassing. This book adds an extra layer to one's knowledge base of Nixon's time in office.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to thank Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. I remember Watergate. I was 18 in 1972 and was voting for President for the first time. I remember how excited I was and humbled to be a part of the American process of Democracy. I was struck and saddened in the next years as all of the information regarding the Watergate scandal came out.I read everything I could then about it , and watched everything on TV. I also spent a long time talking about it with my grandfather. Pap was fascinated by it, and could match me word for word on the things we learned while watching the days hearings. I have never forgotten that. It was 50 years ago. Pap( who I thought was ancient at 71- a scant 3 years older than I am today)kept shaking his head and saying it all started with the Pentagon Papers. This book is indeed the validation of my Grandfather's statement. It did all start with the Pentagon Papers and the burglary of Daniel Ellsbergs doctor. Egil "Bud" Krogh was the first aide to be sentenced in the aftermath of Watergate. He was not part of the Watergate break in- but was responsible for the first break in- that of the office of Dr Fielding,Ellsbergs doctor. This book takes us through the reasoning and rationale behind the break in, and Krogh's initial belief in its necessity for National Security reasons. It also looks at his change of heart and mind as time went on, and the reasons he chose to plead guilty. Mr Krogh passed away in 2020, however he and his son had worked on the manuscript prior to his death. It is a good book, not a lot of new information on the crime itself, but background on the man who, in many respects, started the whole things. All of the key Watergate players make an appearance , as well as Mr Kroghs family and friends. I understand it will be a mini series on HBO this year. I am glad I read this now, and look forward to the series. Thanks again for the opportunity.

The White House Plumbers by Egil Krogh takes the reader behind the scenes of the Watergate episode from one man’s perspective. They’re a number of good books about this event but this one takes us through the emotional side of one of the players as he is going day to day and getting deeper and deeper into the scandal. We all have had moments of poor judgment for whatever reason, we did the wrong thing for what we thought was the right reason. We want to do a good job, show that we are loyal or maybe we are awestruck by the person we are reporting to, no matter what the reason all of us can fall down that rabbit hole. If you had the President of the United States telling you that he needed something done and it was a matter of national security what would you do?
Egil Krogh was in that position and he clearly felt that it was his duty to do what the President had asked him to do. But at some point his judgment was so clouded that he went over the line, the “end justified the means”. At the point he realized that he had gone too far and he had to make an even greater decision, what was he going to do about it. Blame others, take a plea deal by turning State’s evidence, deny everything or come clean and face the consequences of his actions.
The Watergate scandal revealed a major tear in the fabric of our political system. Many thought that the outcome would prevent this type of abuse from ever occurring again, clearly that is not the case. At the time many said that the Republican Party was dead and just needed some dirt push over them. But the Party moved on and so have the scandals. One critical factor in the Watergate episode was that both sides of the aisle were working together to address the abuse of power, now, as these scandals are coming up again we have decided that democracy is no longer worth preserving.
In “The White House Plumbers” we see that at least one man had the integrity to accept the penalty for what he did. We can only wish that today we can find more men with this level of integrity and that when a criminal act has occurred both sides of the aisle will have the courage and faith in our system to hold those individuals accountable for the laws they have broken. Right now our democracy is hanging by a thread and maybe if Nixon had not been pardoned, but rather if he had been held responsible and gone to jail we might not have some of the issues we have today.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Watergate scandal, how pressure can effect people, how the abuse of power can come to some so easily or if you have an interest in one man’s journey through his own hell and back again. It draws you into the story and gets you turning pages as fast as you can.

This was a book referencing to a operation that went down before the Watergate scandal in Robert Nixon’s time as President. The author was indicted for his part in the “sting” that took place that they knew about and set up. The author thought he was taking care of something that was obstruction of national security. But after everything happened and he was arrested among others, he began to see what his role was in this “sting.” I liked the book. It was okay. Good information about this man who pled guilty over things that shouldn’t even be going on in the government, especially ours. I know some things are needful for security sake, protection of the President, and other important issues, but whenever this comes to be, think long and hard, if it’s for doing for these reasons. Is it because of national security or obstruction of it. There’s a fine line with it all and they need to make sure they’re not crossing it. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers, St Martin’s Griffin, and the author, for the opportunity to read and review #TheWhiteHousePlumbers with my honest thoughts and opinions.

During the Nixon presidency, author Bud Krogh was in charge of the Special Investigations Unit, a confidential group within the White House, tasked with investigating leaks of government secrets, at first specifically related to the release of the famed Pentagon Papers. This group, who would come to famously be known as “The Plumbers”, were central figures in the Watergate scandal, which ultimately lead to Nixon’s resignation. While this book does not explore the Watergate break-in, it is a fascinating inside look at the genesis of the group that was involved in that event, and the ideals which propelled their actions. The book is definitely a different look, revealing the mindsets of those involved, and the author’s attempts to atone for, and own up to, his own decisions that led to his downfall. It’s a short and quick read, but a must for anyone who has followed the Watergate scandal and its aftermath. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The White House Plumbers, is a well written memoir, of an inside view of some of the most disheartening times in our nation, during Richard Nixon’s Presidency. The paranoia of Richard Nixon was his downfall. And the downfall of many of those who were loyal to him and who served him. I especially applaud “Bud” Krough for saying he took “full responsibility” for the break in of Dr. Fielding’s office, a psychiatrist treating Daniel Ellsberg, a man suspected of leaking top secret government documents to the Press. While he took “full responsibility’, he did not take “exclusive responsibilty.” So many followed President Nixon with a groupthink philosophy. The Watergate and The National Archives break ins, were appauling events, that also contributed to Nixon’s downfall. So many of Nixon’s staff thought they were acting to preserve National Security. I look forward to watching the HBO series based on this book and will also recommend the book. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy.

I have always been interested in the history of Watergate and this book reveals details from a unique perspective. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys political history. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

I received The White House Plumbers as an ARC through Netgalley. Bud Krogh describes what he believes to be the beginning of the downfall of Nixon. He was personally involved with The Plumbers and operation that went horribly wrong to retrieve documents from a private citizen. As a lover of all history and historical fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this time period. Bud should be applauded for recognizing that him and his team had a big misstep and taking responsibility for those actions and the consequences that came with them.

An intriguing read on how the Watergate break-in occurred and the aftermath from it. The story is informative and sure to be a great read for the history enthusiast.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an interesting memoir from one of the people behind the break-in of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. He seemed genuinely regretful for his actions, which is refreshing to read in today's political climate. Richard Nixon's portrayal was, as I've read in numerous places, paranoid and obessed with his political enemies.

Whether a reader remembers the events of Watergate or is reading about it for the first time. this book is a great explanation of what happened and how. A real treat for those who want the truth.