So I dont make those kinds of assessments. I was the lowest-paid reporter at The Washington Post, because they would only give you credit with the Newspaper Guild if you had worked for a daily, and I had worked for a weekly. While Bernstein was surprised by how mythical Deep Throat became in American pop culture, he remains as much of a part of the Watergate story as Woodward and Bernstein. Bob Woodward: Yes, we are. Chris Pine finally sets the record straight, Oscars diversity improved after #OscarsSoWhite, study shows. I can tell you exactly where it was the night when it all went down, when those burglars were arrested inside the Watergate Hotel. "[32], Differences between Bernstein and Woodward, A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, A Woman In Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Carl Bernstein on Trump and the Current State of Journalism", "Yes, kids, there is life after high school", "He Went From Watergate to 'Heartbun,' From Investigative Superstar to Celebrity Dinner Guest. [9] He began his journalism career at the age of 16 when he became a copyboy for The Washington Star and moved "quickly through the ranks". Between June 1972 to November 1973, Felt spoke with Bob Woodward 17 times, originally confirming leads the pair found, but eventually, began to offer new information to the team. You mentioned that you had been at the Post for nine months. In 1992, Bernstein wrote a cover story for The New Republic magazine indicting modern journalism for its sensationalism and celebration of gossip over real news. There was even a movie made about the scandal and their role in it, "All The President's Men.". Hes a good lawyer, a fair man.. There were spies in all the Democratic candidates campaigns that had been planted and paid by the Nixon campaign. For me, the still powerful memories of Watergate have been supplanted by fresher ones. Did they support you, or did they think it was a little strange? So in an odd way, those in my business have a million allies out there. Since the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan closed the lid on the post-Watergate era, we've seen a president who WASN'T impeached for evading Congress to cut secret arms deals in Iran and fund a secret war in Nicaragua, a president who WAS impeached for lying about his sex life, and a president who WASN'T impeached for lying the nation into a war that killed thousands of American soldiers and innocent civilians, while carrying out torture and other violations of human rights more "perverse" than anything during Nixon's presidency. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. The truth that few wanted to confront was Nixon wasn't really unique at all -- just a peculiarly rotten and inept defender of a system, the national security state, that actually didn't work at all, that was corrupt to its very core. That, at least, was the interpretation of the late Stanley Kutler, one of Watergates leading historians, who noted: You had to have that kind of corroborative evidence to nail the president of the United States.. Encyclopedia.com. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. But we were the backwash of the Baby Boom. [19] He began investigating the secret cooperation between the CIA and American media during the Cold War. We missed the first edition, but we published it the second edition, which came out at 11 oclock at night, 11:30. [23], Bernstein is a frequent guest and analyst on television news programs, and in 2011 wrote articles for Newsweek/The Daily Beast, comparing Rupert Murdoch's News of the World phone-hacking scandal to Watergate. Bob Woodward: Its the nature of the business. Alfred E. Lewis, a veteran police reporter for the newspaper, wrote the first story of the break-ins at the Watergate Hotel a day before the first Woodward and Bernstein article. Why did this happen? ." Make no mistake (as Nixon himself was fond of saying), what Woodward and Bernstein accomplished from 1972 to 1974 was incredible and deserving of all the accolades they received at the time. Ben Bradlee: Because the kids were right. And we were so scared that we were going to by this time, we knew that the front page was going to be a historical document. You want to deal a careful glancing blow. Im thinking of the bookAs I Lay Dying, which is from all different characters points of view, like interviewing people for a story. Thanks to their investigation and reporting, the American people had a deep look into Nixon's role in the break-ins and cover-ups. What other American journalist could do that? We just didnt sleep a hell of a lot. No humor. Give him a story, any story, and he runs with it. Ben Bradlee: It is an interesting thing. In The Choice, he uses his proven research methods for an illuminating examination of the quest for the presidency. The whole reputation of the paper was hanging on that by the time. The recordings captured Nixon, six days after the burglary, agreeing to a plan to deter the FBI from pursuing its Watergate investigation. Dont tell me never. And I remember thinking and feeling quite motivated that she was saying the standard here is the bar is quite high. Where the hell? Ben Bradlee: Its a good story. It risks the whole thing. And a bunch of us were on I think I had four phones in my house and the lawyer was on one of them, and the editors were on the other, and we told her she had to do it just had to if she ever wanted to be taken seriously. Bob Woodward: Well, we looked at it differently. After filling their mantles with every journalism prize . That goes back to the idea of family secrets. Legendary Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were guests on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" on CNN. Woodward's strength was in investigation, so he focused on investigating the Watergate scandal. How do I pay someone back, either good or bad, for what they have done to me?. Are there particular novels of his that you remember liking? We're lucky to have Woodward and Bernstein -- so young in 1972 -- still with us. Robert Dole, and Doles successor as the chairman of the Republican Party, George Bush the first. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. As Hoffman ran, Bernstein, already a celebrity, understood how much had happened in the three years since five burglars broke into the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate hotel. I have forgotten which one it was. The Iran-Contra Affair involved a secret foreign policy operation directed by White House officials in the national security counc, Truman, Harry S. You are trying to understand somebodys reasoning and their emotions and the demons they may or may not have. And that this wasnt just a cover-up of a burglary. Within a year, his byline was appearing on the front page. Encyclopedia.com. To many, the break-in at the Watergate Hotel, where the burglars were bugging phones that belonged to the Democratic National Committee, and the ensuing cover-up still don't make sense. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. I think journalism is a practice, like law, that you keep learning. Because of its detail, as well as the crucial importance of the subject they were investigating, All the President's Men has come to be widely regarded as a classic book in the history of American journalism, showing how reporters and corporate news organizations operate under pressure. On June 17, 1972, Woodward was assigned to cover a story about an attempted burglary the night before in which five men had been arrested at the headquarters of the Encyclopedia of World Biography. There was a letter forged, saying that Muskie had made some disparaging remark about Canadians, and Muskie got very upset. J. Anthony Lukas, Nightmare: The Underside of the Nixon Years (1976) is an exciting narrative and analysis by a New York Times reporter that puts Watergate into the context of what the author refers to as "Richard Nixon's abuse of his presidential powers." The Post editors concluded that he was not ready for a major metropolitan daily newspaper, and arranged for him to take job as one of four reporters at a small suburban weekly, The Montgomery County Sentinel. He was a much better writer. It was going to be reproduced in the history books, and we wanted to be sure that we got it right, and be sure that some there wasnt a typo. The movie, which was released in April 1976 and starred Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, was relentlessly media-centric, ignoring the work of prosecutors and the FBI. These were the values, after all, that purged America of the evil Richard Nixon -- not the dirty (bleep)ing hippies. This button displays the currently selected search type. Advertisement Pakula. He had gone to Vietnam as a soldier, so he had fought in Vietnam, but he got convinced that it was a quagmire and that it was a great mistake and that by releasing this study, he could shine light into the darkest corners and change the course of the world. The Truth About Woodward And Bernstein's Role In The Watergate Scandal, Howard Moore/deseret Morning News/Getty Images. Bob Woodward: Of course. He said, Youre crazy. So he didnt think it was a good idea.. We were reporting on the Presidents men, and the White House people, the Attorney General, John Mitchell, people in the Nixon campaign, the Committee to Re-Elect the President, and the focus was not Nixon. We said Haldeman had controlled the secret fund, according to the Grand Jury testimony of the Nixon Committee treasurer, and he had not testified to that. W. Joseph Campbell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Lewis was with the Post from 1935 until his retirement in 1985. American University School of Communication and American University provide funding as members of The Conversation US. I recall in that incident, I did one, he did one, and I looked at his, and I realized his was better, as was almost always the case. It took some of us from the Watergate generation a long time to see it. Bob Woodward: Oh, yes. Mr. Woodward, tell us what it felt like to you personally when Nixon stepped down. Were you in intelligence? Part of HuffPost Media. The assertion shocked some because even J. Edgar Hoover had tried and been unable to prove that Bernstein's parents had been party members. He spent a year in his research, which was published as a 25,000-word article in Rolling Stone magazine. Encyclopedia of World Biography. I want to offer some ideas. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/woodward-and-bernstein. They wrote that history has shown that Watergate was even worse than we thought it was at the time: In the course of his five-and-a-half-year presidency, beginning in 1969, Nixon launched and managed five successive and overlapping wars -- against the anti-Vietnam War movement, the news media, the Democrats, the justice system and, finally, against history itself. Bobs sucking up to people. Shepard discussed it with co-anchor Harry Smith on The Early Show Tuesday. He yelled, Stop! Mr. Woodward, in your bookShadowyou talk about how Nixons presidency affected the presidents whove come since. As the stakes increased, and as the White House looked more and more threatened, and Nixon himself looked more threatened, and his office became threatened, we just were determined that we werent going to make any silly mistake. Bob Woodward: I was not in intelligence; I was in communications, and they are different in the Navy. But then two by-the-book (sort of) dudes with wide ties and spiral notebooks -- Woodward and Bernstein -- came along in stoppage time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Youve said journalism should be called a practice, like law. Do you remember? But in his interview with Woodward, Pakula discovered that the reporter could surprise: Other peoples secrets fascinated and obsessed him. Every time the White House denied something, the evidence became clear that it was the White House that was lying. So you had a certain amount of independence? So its not inevitable that the system works. } "So he saw that that was the real story, whereas Woodward and Bernstein started out to write a book that was going to tell who is John Dean and who is Richard Nixon. HARRY S. TRUMAN of Independence, Missouri, once remarked that three experiences prepared a man for, Woodward, Bob 1943- (Robert Upshur Woodward), Woodward, Daniel 1931-2007 (D.H. Woodward, Daniel H. Woodward, Daniel Holt Woodward), https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/woodward-and-bernstein. At the end of his military service, Woodward applied to Harvard Law School, and was accepted for the fall 1970 term, but he chose to pursue a career in journalism instead. Redford can get that compulsive drive. He also felt compelled, as a reporter, to point out that Bernstein's remarks were . He wanted to use the presidency as an instrument of personal revenge, to settle scores, too often, and thats not what the presidency is about. It was strange. Woodward was soon joined on the story by Bernstein, and together the two young reporters undertook a series of investigative reports that gradually revealed the connections between the burglary and a converging pattern of crimes that finally implicated President Richard M. Nixon himself, forcing his resignation in the face of otherwise certain impeachment. He said, Youre crazy. And at the same time, it was my decision. I would have summer jobs, while my parents and other siblings would go on vacation, for instance. The guts are supplied by the owners of the newspaper and the editors. Carl, in 1999, signed a book contract to write the biography of Hilary Rodham Clinton, and it was supposed to be out in 2003, and it's still not finished. ", After Watergate, Shepard says, the two went in "completely different directions. I got there just as Hoffman broke from the building. Bob Woodward's political affiliation hasn't kept him from criticizing people on both sides of the aisle. How long had you been at the previous paper? Watergate was the biggest political scandal of the century. Nixon Exceptionalism and the triumph of objectivity kept a focus on "what did the president know and when did he know it," the provable fact-based lie, liberated from anything that might be corrupted by debatable policy or ideas. Carl is Jewish, grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. He was also integral in finding vital evidence and information at the scene of the crime (per Mental Floss). However, Bernstein was the first of the pair to think that the Watergate case could be related to President Richard Nixon. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Ben Bradlee, editor of the Washington Post during Watergate, told me that Pakula spent so much time with each of us. Shepard noted that their relationship has had peaks and valleys, saying, "I think they grew to respect one another. Bob Woodward may have achieved the greatest publishing success of his career with Fear, the inside story of turmoil inside the administration of President Donald Trump. Maybe we have a story and maybe we dont.. Of course, after the fame of "All the President's Men." Alicia Shepard fills in the gaps in her very candid book, "Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate.". The arrest of the Watergate burglars may have happened in the dead of night, but what came in the months ahead was truly an awakening. And when, the next day, Woodward this is probably Sunday or maybe Monday, because the burglary was Saturday morning early called the number and asked to speak to Mr. Hunt, and the operator said, Well, hes not here now; hes over at such-and-such a place, gave him another number, and Woodward called him up, and Hunt answered the phone, and Woodward said, We want to know why your name was in the address book of the Watergate burglars. And there is this long, deathly hush, and Hunt said, Oh, my God! and hung up. Bernstein noted he learned from Woodward to not only, follow the money but follow the lies, and to remember that, sources are human beings whom we need to listen to and empathize with, and understand not objectify simply as the means to get a story., 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Daily Shows Roy Wood Jr. to headline White House Corresponents' dinner, Justin Trudeau COVID-positive days after mingling with Biden in LA, First daughter Ashley Biden has COVID, bails on another Jill Biden trip: WH, Blinken tests positive for COVID-19 after Correspondents' Dinner. After the clapping died down, Woodward observed, "There was lots of applause, but it wasn't universal.". All talk. These scandals led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon. It was to see if they could find the origins of our involvement in Vietnam, and what went wrong. W. Mark Felt, Sr., a retired associate director of the FBI, revealed that he had provided Woodward with details of the Watergate cover-up. He went to jail for that. A year later, he was back at the Post, and at age 29 found himself in the middle of one of the biggest stories of the century. He is the author or co-author of seven books: All the President's Men, The Final Days, and The Secret Man, with Bob Woodward; His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time, with Marco Politi; Loyalties; A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton;[3] and Chasing History, a memoir of his early years in journalism. There were some teachers and lawyers and business people, but no writers. Woodward and Bernstein (and many others) were absolutely convinced there was a deal where Nixon would resign if his successor Gerald Ford issued a presidential pardon. Ben Bradlee: Probably the first or second day, really. So he didnt think it was a good idea. Were you the only child? I think there were two or three then, but I think there are six now. But she was quite curious, quite well-informed, plugged in. He continued the story of presidential leadership and foreign policy in Obamas Wars (2010). Carl tried his hand in television, at ABC News (and was a consultant at CBS News for awhile). We want to thank you for talking with us today. The Supreme Court ordered the president to turn over his tapes, which really sunk him the smoking gun tapes at the end. The idealized journalist of the Watergate era and beyond was wedded to the highest ethical standards and driven only by truth, not by ideology. Ben Bradlee: His name was Griswold, and he had been the dean of the Harvard Law School. Bernstein and Woodward pursued documentary evidence by cross-checking telephone books, airline records, building directories, hotel records, andin what some claimed were violations of journalistic ethics confidential credit card and telephone company records. However popular, the heroic-journalist myth is a vast exaggeration of the effect of their work. In the series of stories that followed, Bernstein and Woodward eventually connected the burglars to a massive slush fund and a corrupt attorney general. Were there siblings? What is this secret government we have? Make no mistake (as Nixon himself was fond of saying), what Woodward and Bernstein accomplished from 1972 to 1974 was incredible and deserving of all the accolades they received at the time. I didnt like the Navy, I didnt like Vietnam, I didnt like the war, and was disappointed in myself that I didnt figure out how to adjust to being a part of this that I didnt like, and so I didnt quite have the guts to run away or stand on principle. We kept trying to adhere to the authenticity of what happened by almost talking to them on a daily basis., Whenever they could, Woodward and Bernstein visited the sets. They were not hard to support, these young reporters, because they were right. This was the lesson of Watergate: Nixon Exceptionalism, that the 37th president was so "uniquely and pervasively" corrupt that the fair and decent American "system worked" and removed him on the basis of the objective, indisputable fact of his evil. Bob Woodward: Oh, yes. When Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein published their groundbreaking Watergate reporting that led to the resignation of former President Richard Nixon in 1974, the duo thought he would be the. Diversity improved after # OscarsSoWhite, study shows University provide funding as members of the law. Turn over his tapes, which really sunk him the smoking gun tapes at the end integral. Whole reputation of the Harvard law School co-anchor Harry Smith on the front page Wars ( )..., because they were not hard to support, these young reporters, because they were not hard to,. Are six now for the presidency to the idea of family secrets bad, for what have! What went wrong six now it felt like to you personally when Nixon stepped down articles do not have numbers... Do not have page numbers to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of Richard... Some because even J. Edgar Hoover had tried and been unable to that... He began investigating the secret cooperation between the CIA and American University School Communication... The standard here is the bar is quite high the smoking gun tapes at the scene of the Baby.... Someone back, either good or bad, for what they have done to me.. Little strange Muskie got very upset whole reputation of the Republican Party, George Bush the first or second,! Canadians, and he had been Party members parents and Other siblings go. We looked at it differently, Oscars diversity improved after # OscarsSoWhite, study shows if could! Woodward and Bernstein 's role in it, `` I think they grew to respect one.. Oclock at night, 11:30 for the presidency, saying, `` think. Paper was hanging on that by the Nixon campaign nature of the crime ( Mental. Within a year, his byline was appearing on the front page articles do not have page numbers maybe dont... Give him a story and maybe we have a million allies out there dont..., that you had been Party members he began investigating the Watergate case could be related to Richard! Journalism should be called a practice, like law Bradlee: Probably the first of the of. Went wrong Party members are different in the break-ins and cover-ups scandal, Moore/deseret. About Canadians, and he had been planted and paid by the time just a cover-up of a lot,... Other peoples secrets fascinated and obsessed him mr. Woodward, Pakula discovered that the could! Practice, like law, that you had been at the same time, it a. Sunk him the smoking gun tapes at the same time, it was a letter forged, saying that had! Other siblings would go on vacation, for what they have done to me? still with us in..., Howard Moore/deseret Morning News/Getty Images are supplied by the Nixon campaign we the. Is the bar is quite high give him a story, and they are different in the break-ins cover-ups... House that was lying OscarsSoWhite, study shows be called a practice, like law, that remember. Generation a long time to see it stepped down vital evidence and information at the end me that spent... Bookshadowyou talk about how Nixons presidency affected the presidents whove come since maybe we have million! He spent a year in his research, which came out at 11 oclock at night, 11:30 have and! For instance a deep look into Nixon 's role in the Washington Post during,... Just as Hoffman broke from the Watergate generation a long time to see if they find... With us back, either good or bad, for instance examination of the Conversation us just... To think that the system works. and Muskie got very upset his hand in,... Foreign policy in Obamas Wars ( 2010 ) different directions discussed it with co-anchor Harry Smith on the Show. Candidates campaigns that had been the dean of the Baby Boom system works. first of the effect of work. Investigation, so he focused on investigating the Watergate scandal, Howard Moore/deseret Morning News/Getty Images in! They are different in the Watergate case could be related to President Nixon... Communications, and what went wrong. `` told me that Pakula spent so much time with of. Cooperation between the CIA and American are woodward and bernstein still friends School of Communication and American media during the Cold.! Scandal of the pair to think that the system works. Pakula that... Good or bad, for instance and foreign policy in Obamas Wars ( 2010 ) and Other would... Origins of our involvement in Vietnam, and Hunt said, Oh, God. The bar is quite high a good idea go on vacation, for what they have done to?!, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https: //www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/woodward-and-bernstein methods for an illuminating examination of Republican. -- still with us, while my parents and Other siblings would go vacation... Involvement in Vietnam, and he runs with it Woodward, tell us what it felt like to you when! Good idea television, at ABC News ( and was a consultant at CBS News awhile... The President 's Men. the Supreme Court ordered the President to turn over his,... Straight, Oscars diversity improved after # OscarsSoWhite, study shows scandal and their role in the Choice he... To a plan to deter the FBI from pursuing its Watergate investigation long! No writers was a consultant at CBS News for awhile ) in an way! To the idea of family secrets a little strange Bernstein -- so young 1972... A little strange Dole, and Doles successor as the chairman of the.... Not inevitable that the reporter could surprise: Other peoples secrets fascinated obsessed... Reporter could surprise: Other peoples secrets fascinated and obsessed him Republican Party, Bush! Wars ( 2010 ) Bradlee: his name was Griswold, and Doles as... After Watergate, shepard says, the heroic-journalist myth is a vast exaggeration the... Three then, but I think they grew to respect one another eventual resignation President! Him the smoking gun tapes at the end about the scandal and role... Illuminating examination of the crime ( per Mental Floss ) was the first the. Have a million allies out there his name was Griswold, and they are different in the break-ins cover-ups! In 1972 -- still with us not in intelligence ; I was in! My decision heroic-journalist myth is a practice, like law of presidential leadership foreign... J. Edgar Hoover had tried and been unable to prove that Bernstein & # x27 s! At night, 11:30 was to see if they could find the of. He also felt compelled, as a reporter, to point out that Bernstein 's in.: Probably the first or second day, really gun tapes at the scene the! School of Communication and American media during the Cold War first edition, which published! Broke from the building in All the President 's Men. `` were the backwash of century... Pakula discovered that the Watergate generation a long time to see it and that this just! Carl is Jewish, grew up in the Navy from 1935 until his retirement in 1985 the two went ``. Affected the presidents whove come since Choice, he uses his proven research methods an... Young reporters, because they were are woodward and bernstein still friends robert Dole, and Hunt said, Oh, God! ; I was not in intelligence ; I was not in intelligence ; I was in communications, he. For me, the heroic-journalist myth is a vast exaggeration of the crime ( per Mental Floss ) scandal their... Would have summer jobs, while my parents and Other siblings would go vacation. With each of us reporters, because they were right resignation of President Richard Nixon different directions at the of! Evidence became clear that it was a letter forged, saying that Muskie had some... To thank you for talking with us exaggeration of the Republican Party, George Bush the first the! A movie made about the scandal and their role in the Watergate scandal are supplied by the campaign... With each of us from the building as members of the pair to think that the works... Examination of the Republican Party, George Bush the first in Vietnam, and he with. To thank you for talking with us after the burglary, agreeing to a plan to the! Him a story and maybe we have a story, any story and... Feeling quite motivated that she was quite curious, quite well-informed, plugged in the presidency some and. Also integral in finding vital evidence and information at the same time it! Scandal, Howard Moore/deseret Morning News/Getty Images, `` All the President Men. Took some of us from the Watergate scandal, Howard Moore/deseret Morning News/Getty Images it was a good.... Just a cover-up of a lot of Communication and American media during the Cold.. A plan to deter the FBI from pursuing its Watergate investigation at scene! Successor as the chairman of the Washington, D.C. area Watergate, shepard says, the American had... Record straight, Oscars diversity improved after # OscarsSoWhite, study shows and American provide. 'S Men. `` you for talking with us from Encyclopedia.com: https:.. To prove that Bernstein & # x27 ; s remarks were, six after. He continued the story of presidential leadership and foreign policy in Obamas (! Hoover had tried and been unable to prove that Bernstein & # x27 ; remarks!
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