The Watergate Is a Building, Too

Watergate didn't just shake the firmament of politics, redefining political scandal for future public figures. It became the very language of scandal itself. Today, the simple addition of the suffix “–gate” is one of the easiest ways to hyperbolize any controversy—from “Travelgate” in the early Clinton years to “Deflategate” on the football field to “Memogate” in Washington this winter.

Often overlooked, as Joseph Rodota recounts in “The Watergate: Inside America's Most Infamous Address,” is that the Watergate is also a building. Or, rather, six buildings, spread across 10 acres near the Potomac River and bounded on all sides by high-traffic roads in Foggy Bottom.