Historical Background 

• All the President's Men is a powerful book about 2 Washington Post journalists who brought down the crooked Nixon Presidency.  Gore Vidal was an astute chronicler of Washington life and politics, in fictional form.
• Add More! - "Washington Goes to War" -  believe it was written by David Brinkley. It has been years since first published  - but   it brought the time of WWII  in DC to life. Highly recommended.