He just had a psychosis about being controlled by authority figures. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Mr. Bradlee, do you think there could be another Watergate today? Thats an astonishing thing for a journalist to say. Some people think I was in intelligence. Their editors at the Post allowed them to keep most of their sources confidential, but demanded that alleged facts be confirmed by more than one witness. But they missed decisive elements of Watergate, notably the payment of hush money to the burglars and the existence of Nixons White House tapes. His works to date include The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court; The Man Who Would Be President: Dan Quayle; Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi; Veil: The Secret Ways of the CIA; The Commanders, a look inside the decision-making process behind the 1991 Persian Gulf War; The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House; The Choice, on the 1996 presidential campaign, and Maestro, on longtime Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Soon other newspapers began to investigate the Watergate story more energetically, and legislative and judicial agencies began to uncover a larger and larger pattern of lawbreaking. Ben Bradlee: Well, we were tired. It's the system. ", To read excerpts, click here. He quickly tired of the routine assignments his position offered, and began to hunt for news on his own. "[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. The book inescapably promoted the impression Woodward and Bernstein were vital to Watergates outcome. He'd started at age two, I think. In January 1975, five months after President Nixon had resigned, Pakula flew to Washington to begin in-depth interviews with a dozen of the principals involved in unraveling the Watergate tale. They deposited, at the end of 1974, over $600,000. Woodward, 60, whose parents divorced when he was 12, is the son of a Midwestern Republican judge, graduated from Yale in 1965, and joined the Navy. And that this wasnt just a cover-up of a burglary. I think the lead of his story was, Will the wonders of Watergate never cease?. And no one goes back or slows down or digs enough, particularly me. 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 It was only later, when Dean testified, and the tapes came out, that it was quite clear that not only was Nixon involved, he was in charge of the cover-up. Hes a reporter doll. But the following morning, Dan Schorr of CBS we saw on CBS Morning News shoved a microphone in front of this guy and said, The Post says you did this. Bob Woodward was at the very head of that pack, flaunting his access to the Bush White House while failing to ask the only question that really mattered. He joined the Washington Post's metropolitan staff in 1971. But the real input comes from people who believe in a free press, believe in the First Amendment, believe in open discourse as much as possible, hate secrets, hate secret government, hate secret concentrations of power. Were there other writers in your father or mothers family? In the end, the Watergate scandal brought down a president and made Bob Woodward the most famous investigative reporter in America. He said, Youre crazy. So he didnt think it was a good idea.. Youre not used to seeing your actions. Woodward relied on one source whom he refused to identify even to his editors except by the code-name "Deep Throat.". Then and certainly today, there is still much debate about whether confidential informants are ethically viable due to their hidden identities. "You could just tell," Shepard continued, "by how different they were that they wouldn't be friends and they wouldn't be working together. Ukraine's neighbor Moldova, host to thousands of Ukrainian refugees, is monitoring the conflict closely while . Bob Woodward: Interesting question. 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. That we do explain enough about whats going on. With the full support of their editor, Ben Bradlee, Bob Woodward and his Post colleague Carl Bernstein continued to pursue the Watergate story, after other news outlets had dropped the story. Not bad, as they say, and what legs! Bob Woodward: One year exactly. We talk all the time. On the eve of the 2016 election, Woodward returned to the Watergate story one more time. display: block; Yes. Redford can get that compulsive drive. And that in a little way, and often in a significant way, thats realized. You get to have access to people you wouldnt normally have access to. Who would be dumb enough to work on this story on a Saturday morning? And they thought of me immediately. It turned out that he hadnt been asked, and that interested us a great deal, because if the prosecution wasnt asking him those interesting questions, that suggested that there was a reason they werent, and the reason might be that they were trying to cover it up. }, First published on December 26, 2006 / 7:23 AM. Bob Woodward: Certainly. And in it, you just saw that it was not as pure and simple a community as the members liked people to think. Nixon didnt last too long in that second term. 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. 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. I think most people feel that the old Post would have just sat by. Where were you in the pecking order of siblings? After graduating from Yale University, he joined The Washington Post; nine months later, he was assigned the Watergate break-in story. We were told that before we could write it, but yes, we knew it. It was never conclusively established that this had been done by the Nixon campaign, but one of the people in the White House acknowledged to one of our reporters that he had written it. But then, of course, if you think about it, Nixon is the one who did himself in. Yes. . [3] The Star, however, unofficially required a college degree to write for the paper. How do you think your different perspectives and personalities complemented one another as you continued the Watergate investigation? So I had just a sense that we had done some of the first work on this that any suggestion that we had caused it, or brought down a president, was a stretch, to say the least, and not factual. They were tireless young reporters, fearless and not intimidated by the very powerful people they were investigating. He told me first that he was going to resign, wasnt sure when, and for Gods sake dont write it as hard, because he wont. Robert H. Ferrell Bob Woodward's political affiliation hasn't kept him from criticizing people on both sides of the aisle. } He persuaded The Washington Post to give him an unpaid two-week try-out. There were some teachers and lawyers and business people, but no writers. Bernstein could be right intuitively -- but dangerous left to himself, Pakula wrote in his notes. In 1975, it was turned into a movie starring Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein and Robert Redford as Woodward which later went on to be nominated in multiple Oscar (including Best Picture nomination), Golden Globe and BAFTA categories. I worked quite hard, did a number of stories that the Post and The New York Times picked up. He wanted to film it from 3:00 in the morning until 8:00 in the morning, and we just told him it was not possible. Most of us had quite fancy security clearances in that capacity. Other than Woodward and Bernstein, no personalities prominent in Watergate were the subjects of a bestselling memoir, the inspiration for a star-studded motion picture, and the protectors of a mythical source who eluded conclusive identification for decades. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Most of them didnt realize that the world had changed. Pakula didnt want facts alone. Ben Bradlee: From Daniel Ellsberg. Jiri and Rakic are still injured, Ankle-Ayev and Jan just fought (and no one wants to see it again), Oezdemir/Smith are game but definitely past their prime, and then there's weirdsmobiles like Walker, Craig, Krylov, and Spann who are too hot-and-cold to truly put together a title run. I was worried about the Posts image of all of this, and that there would be a segment of society who said, you know, They were out to get him, those bastards, and they got him. And it was going to be we were just very careful. We've received your submission. Without them, he likely would have served out his presidential term. Democratic National Committee in the Watergate complex. The heroic-journalist myth, which began taking hold even before Nixon resigned, has been sustained by three related influences. Kind of parse it out. But she wasnt the editor. Instead, they wrote 'All the President's Men' and they sold the movie rights to Robert Redford. Chris Pine finally sets the record straight, Oscars diversity improved after #OscarsSoWhite, study shows. 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. He was not lazy, she insisted. Legendary Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were guests on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" on CNN. Mr. Woodward, tell us what it felt like to you personally when Nixon stepped down. The Iran-Contra Affair involved a secret foreign policy operation directed by White House officials in the national security counc, Truman, Harry S. Just it was terribly, critically important that we do it right and that we not brag, not seem to be bragging, and that we didnt allow any television in there for days. For example, the newspapers publisher during Watergate, Katharine Graham, pointedly rejected that interpretation during a program 25 years ago at the now-defunct Newseum in suburban Virginia. Why did this happen? Following the 1972 arrests, journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post investigated the scandal relentlessly. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. We shouldnt do that. That doesnt mean there wont be more scandals and maybe even larger scandals, but in a sense, the vision or the dream of the people who wrote the Constitution has, at least in part, been realized. Bob Woodward: We had done some of the early stories, that it led to the Senate Watergate Committee, led to the House Judiciary Committee and impeachment investigation. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. And redford was the one who shaped 'All the President's Men.' Yet I knew that he was right.. Not, "What did the president know and when did he know it? What were they doing? What does the American Dream mean to you? And so the other day they wrote a lengthy piece -- their first joint byline in 36 years -- trying to correct all the myths about Watergate that have risen in the years since. Himself, Pakula wrote in his notes in that second term of 1974, over $ 600,000 Deep..., is monitoring the conflict closely while in a little way, thats realized you the... After graduating from Yale University, he was assigned the Watergate scandal down! At the end of 1974, over $ 600,000 authority figures of search options that will switch search! Been sustained by three related influences his notes due to their hidden identities members people. Over $ 600,000 for the paper thing for a journalist to say work on this on! The Watergate investigation hunt for news on his own and that in a way. After graduating from Yale University, he likely would have served out his presidential term was published on December,! 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