GA_091318

16 | September 13, 2018 | The glencoe anchor sound off
glencoeanchor.com
Glencoe: Yesterday and Today
Wyman Green named after
former village president
Glencoe Historical
Society
Contributing Columnist
here, lived
here, worked
“Born
here – and
made a difference.” These
are the basic qualifications
for consideration for the
Glencoe Sesquicentennial
Hall of Fame. The Glencoe
Historical Society
is seeking
nominations
of individuals
to be
included in
a collection
honoring
150 extraordinary
Glen-
Wyman
coe residents. The Hall
of Fame will ultimately
include men and women
of all ages and ethnicities
that have helped shape
the worlds of business,
government, science, the
arts and sports. They will
all be individuals who represent
the values that the
Village holds dear.
To help our community
begin considering
who might be candidates
for this list, the Glencoe
Historical Society introduces
you to one potential
nominee – someone who
made his name both in the
village through election
to various government
offices and in the world
through his legal career
and public service.
Wyman Green is one
of the few open spaces
that belong to the village.
It sits between the
Glencoe Public Library
and Glencoe Village Hall
and is a gathering place
for residents on the fourth
of July or movie nights or
the French Market or just
a quiet summer lunch on
the picnic table. Do you
See historical, 17
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SATURDAY
OCT. 13, 2018
10 AM - 2 PM
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1515 LAKE COOK ROAD,
NORTHBROOK
Vendors are needed to offer seniors and baby boomers everything they need
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For more information, call
708.326.9170 or visit www.22ndcenturymedia.com/events
DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26
Summer Reads for Glencoe Beach
‘All the President’s Men,’ a
brilliant journalistic narrative
Glencoe Historical
Society
Contributing Columnist
After watching
the movie “The
Post” this year,
I developed a soft-spot
for journalistic discovery
stories. Needless to say,
when I learned about
Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein’s “All the
President’s Men,” a book
detailing the lead-up and
reveal of the Watergate
scandal, the prospect
of it piqued my interest.
I checked out both
the book and the movie
from the Glencoe Public
Library as quickly as I
could.
Woodward and Bernstein’s
story dives into
the two reporters’ experience
at The Washington
Post as lies start to unravel
in the Nixon-era White
House. What begins as a
break-in at the Democratic
National Committee
headquarters turns into
convictions, a secret cash
fund and corruption leading
straight to President
Nixon. Through Woodward
and Bernstein’s
journalistic narrative, the
reader learns about the
process of reporting for
a high-stakes story, especially
the critical nature
of sound facts, accurate
portrayals and trustworthy
sources.
I found Woodward and
Bernstein’s writing brilliant.
The authors prove
themselves pure journalists
as they deal with factual,
historical evidence
in a matter-of-fact and
succinct style and retell
their discoveries without
any added nuances. As a
reader, I followed Woodward
and Bernstein’s
journey, complete with
footnotes and quotations,
and I couldn’t help but
admire how every strand
of the political puzzle
tied together at the end.
Given the importance
of journalistic integrity
in politics, I found
it refreshing that these
authors admitted to their
errors as readily as they
presented the ideas that
ultimately led them to the
correct solutions.
I have not read many
co-authored books. Also,
Woodward and Bernstein
wrote about themselves
in the third person, which
I found a bit off-putting
at first. However, I quickly
began to appreciate the
depth the two perspectives
added and the wider
view they allowed me as
a reader. For example,
Deep Throat, an anonymous
source, provided
Woodward and not Bernstein
with information,
but the incorporation of
those conversations allowed
vital information
to fall into place. As each
reporter had his own way
of doing things, it was
enjoyable to watch their
collective work – and
their editors’ responses
to their work – play out
across the pages.
Today’s general public
knows the names of
individuals like Michael
Cohen and Paul Manafort
too well, and it was
impossible to read about
John Mitchell, H.R. Halderman,
Charles Colson
and Gordon Liddy without
drawing the connection
to yet another group
of ambitious men in positions
of great power finding
themselves knee-deep
in a political mess. John
Dalberg Acton famously
stated, “Absolute power
corrupts absolutely”; yet
it is surprisingly easy to
want to sympathize with
them. After all, even the
greediest men have families
they want to protect.
While the Watergate
scandal is widely familiar,
“All the President’s
Men” did more than
bring the scandal to light.
Woodward and Bernstein’s
book provides
readers with a rare vein
through which to explore
the intricacies of working
as a newspaper reporter
during a time of national
crisis. I truly recommend
reading this work. It
resonates extremely well
with our current political
climate and brings to
light in a highly skilled
manner an important era
in U.S. history.
Glencoe resident Mikaela
Ritchie is a New Trier graduate
and a rising sophomore
at Harvard University. She
is studying literature and
creative writing and plans to
major in English.