It was a Saturday morning, I think the summer. We're much better friends than we were at the time. The real crimes of the last 40 years didn't fit into the box that Woodward and Bernstein and the Watergate scandal helped to create. 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. And she had a style of I want to know whats going on. Despite their stark differences, they needed each another. Bob Woodward: Well, of course, what Faulkner is trying to do is get to the interior, and in the end, as a journalist, you are trying to get to the interior. Although Woodward and Bernstein were able to link the burglary of Democratic National Headquarters to operatives inside the Nixon White House, and to President Nixons re-election campaign, they were unable at first to prove any direct involvement by the president or his senior staff to either the burglary or its subsequent cover-up. Bob Woodward: Sure. [19] He began investigating the secret cooperation between the CIA and American media during the Cold War. display: block; Lets be sure for the record to say that it wasnt just the Post. Probably one of my favorite books is All the Kings Men, Robert Penn Warrens book about political corruption in Louisiana and about a reporter who watches this and gets to participate and see, but doesnt have all of the full consequences of the action fall on him. ", Shepard agreed completely with Smith's assessment that, "There could not have been two more opposite people who had to work so closely together.". [7][8] He attended Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he worked as circulation and exchange manager for the school's newspaper Silver Chips. Bob Woodward said that Lewis "laid the foundation for what the paper was able to do in reporting the story." You have Hunt saying Oh, my God! At a later arraignment, one of the guys whispered to a judge. Do you see President Clintons impeachment related to Watergate? Ben Bradlee: I was at The Washington Post, and I couldnt believe it. I would have been more effective.. 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. Ben Bradlee: Four hundred stories about Watergate in The Washington Post Four hundred in two years and two months. Carl tried his hand in television, at ABC News (and was a consultant at CBS News for awhile). The Woodward and Bernstein comparison is apt because it's a reminder that they were Metro Section reporters, not Political desk reporters. 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. Whos going to get what lead and put it together? But together they did something that neither one of them could do individually. How do I pay someone back, either good or bad, for what they have done to me?. Richard Nixon's RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (1978) gives the former president's version of the events surrounding Watergate. Bob Woodward has two daughters, Tali and Diana. So you are dealing a glancing blow to whats out there. So its not inevitable that the system works. Ben Bradlee: It is an interesting thing. Advertisement Pakula. But she was quite curious, quite well-informed, plugged in. Where were you when he resigned, and what were your feelings? Bernstein wrote in the 1996 book that the Pope's role in supporting Solidarity in his native Poland, and his geopolitical dexterity combined with enormous spiritual influence, was a principal factor in the downfall of communism in Europe.[21]. Los Angeles, Remember that Harry Styles Spitgate drama? Like most media myths, the heroic-journalist interpretation of Watergate rests on a foundation of simplicity. Woodward had married reporter Francie Barnard, and Bernstein was dating Nora Ephron, whom he married on April 14, 1976 -- 10 days after the movie debuted in Washington. 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. Yes. And that this wasnt just a cover-up of a burglary. W. Mark Felt, Sr., a retired associate director of the FBI, revealed that he had provided Woodward with details of the Watergate cover-up. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Why did they think of you? Then in March 1973 one of the Watergate burglars, James McCord, a former CIA official, wrote a letter to Judge John Sirica, who was trying his case, that essentially confirmed the Bernstein and Woodward stories. The team stole top-secret documents and wiretapped the phones to listen to conversations. But Bernstein and Woodward were already branching out into another form of journalism, having secured a contract to write a book on their Watergate investigations. (The Academy of Achievement interviewed both Bob Woodward and Ben Bradlee, the Executive Editor of The Washington Post, on May 1 during the 2003 International Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C. Their interviews are combined here.). George W. Bush's Iraq War, in particular, was enabled by a docile press corps and by a feckless generation of lawmakers and judges -- largely the generation that came of age when I did, during those languid Watergate summers. But in fact at that time, we were. You get to have access to people you wouldnt normally have access to. So all the while that this was coming out, you were being very careful that there was enough confirmation of these things? Were there other people that inspired you? Alicia Shepard fills in the gaps in her very candid book, "Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate.". 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. Didnt you have a chat with the Posts publisher, Katharine Graham, in the midst of all of this? . When you began to work as a journalist, what was the reaction of your family? Haldeman? They were the first to reveal the tapes, and they were always ahead of the curve, but there was a lot of great reporting done by other people, Sy Hersh, the Los Angeles Times, they all did really good work. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson what was the advice to woodward and bernstein. For example, talk about how it affected Muskie. Ben Bradlee: John Mitchell, Attorney General Mitchell. The recordings captured Nixon, six days after the burglary, agreeing to a plan to deter the FBI from pursuing its Watergate investigation. 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. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. However popular, the heroic-journalist myth is a vast exaggeration of the effect of their work. 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. Bull---- artist. Much to his chagrin. He sat down with Woodward, then 32, Bernstein, then 31, their editors, their friends and the two women at the center of the reporters lives. An informant in the federal government, it was not until 2005 that the public finally put a name on Deep Throat. 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. In their dogged reporting of the Watergate scandal, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered the crimes that forced Richard Nixon to resign the presidency in August 1974. Why has the heroic-journalist interpretation of Watergate persisted through the 50 years since burglars linked to Nixons campaign were arrested at the Watergate complex in Washington? Additionally, he is a regular political commentator on CNN. Later, along with Vatican expert Marco Politi, he published a papal biography entitled His Holiness. Pakula didnt want facts alone. Nixon was a full-blown hater, and if you listen to the tapes, its chilling and frightening. Are there particular books that you remember? Ben Bradlee: Nixon himself? It was inconceivable that Nixon wasnt. NEW YORK . George Tames/New York Times Co./Getty Images, American University School of Communication, unfolded over 26 months beginning in June 1972, Getting It Wrong: Debunking the Greatest Myths in American Journalism, Woodward and Bernsteins All the Presidents Men, cinematic adaptation of All the Presidents Men, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. This button displays the currently selected search type. He spent a year in his research, which was published as a 25,000-word article in Rolling Stone magazine. I think the lead of his story was, Will the wonders of Watergate never cease?. The distinct memories I have of books are from college. 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. Tell us a little bit about what actually happened. So you had a certain amount of independence? However, the wiretapped failed to work properly and on June 17, five of the men broke back into the DNC's office in the Watergate Hotel. Woodward and Bernstein were no closer to revealing who approved the break-in than they had been in June, and even further away from exposing the obstruction of justice that followed the. What attracted you to the newspaper business? So we started phrasing it close to resignation, and debating resignation, and then, finally, we learned that I think he was going to do it at nine oclock at night, or eight oclock at night. I say we publish it. And three of the journalists all hung up immediately, because we didnt want any we had what we came for, and we didnt want to let her change her mind. "Carl was the big thinker, and Woodward was the one that make sure it got done.". 25 Feb/23. Bob Woodward: As defendants, as tax cases, divorce cases, the full catastrophe of litigation. Some people think I was in intelligence. Why is he interested in that? But every Republican in the country was interested in Chappaquiddick, and not a few Democrats, so I said, Find out what the hell he took it out for. 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. We had heard that they had this big blockbuster coming up, and suddenly, they just dropped this on us. Compared to Woodward, Bernstein was a strong writer, and therefore wrote articles based on Woodward's information from Deep Throat. A career FBI agent, Felt held the second ranking post in the FBI at the time of the Watergate break-in and made his disclosures to Woodward when Nixons appointed FBI director failed to act on information incriminating members of the administration. But it would have been I mean, there was a lot of money on the table. 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. Starting with the Watergate burglars, the two young reporters traced the money used to finance the break-in, following it by October 1972 to John Mitchell, formerly Nixon's attorney general and at the time of the break-in the 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. This was our time, our story. One of the sources I can now reveal I mean, I have talked about was Senator Goldwater, who was a great friend of my wifes family, and I used to talk to him all the time. The qualities that each other had -- the qualities that they needed [to report Watergate] -- they didnt like. ALICIA C. SHEPARD, who teaches journalism at American University, is the author of "Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate. The American Academy of Achievements interview with Bob Woodward is combined with an interview with his longtime editor and mentor, Ben Bradlee (1921-2014). Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. JAWORSKI, LEON By June 17, 1972, what Hunter S. Thompson had famously called "the crest of a high and beautiful wave." of the 1960s had crashed and dissapiated. Were you the only child? Bernstein was portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film version of All the President's Men[28] and by Bruce McCulloch in the 1999 comedy film Dick. 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