Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are renowned American journalists best known for their investigative reporting that uncovered the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Their work began in June 1972 when Woodward was assigned to cover a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Teaming up with Bernstein, the two reporters diligently pursued leads connected to the Nixon administration, revealing a web of illegal activities including high-level involvement in both the break-in and its subsequent cover-up.
Using a confidential source known as "Deep Throat," they connected key figures such as Attorney General John Mitchell to the scandal and exposed the White House's misuse of federal agencies and tactics against political enemies. Their reporting earned The Washington Post a Pulitzer Prize for public service in journalism in 1973. Woodward and Bernstein later authored the best-selling book "All the President's Men," detailing their investigation and its implications for democracy and the media's role in holding power accountable.
Their legacy is significant, as they not only highlighted the importance of investigative journalism but also reinforced the principle that no one is above the law, a message that resonates in contemporary discussions about governance and press freedom. Woodward continues to be active in journalism, while Bernstein has contributed as a political analyst and author on various subjects, including the influence of prominent figures like Pope John Paul II and Hillary Clinton.
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Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
Woodward and Bernstein wrote a series of articles that revealed the involvement of the Nixon White House in the break-in at the Watergate office complex and its subsequent cover-up. Their continuing work between 1972 and 1974 spurred investigations by the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Election Activities and the House Judiciary Committee and contributed to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on August 9, 1974.
On June 17, 1972, Bob Woodward received a phone call from Barry Sussman, the city editor of The Washington Post, and learned that the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate had been burglarized, and five men had been arrested. Woodward was assigned the story, and at the arraignment on June 18, he learned that James McCord, one of those arrested, was a former consultant for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). During the next two days, Woodward was able to connect the break-in to E. Howard Hunt, a White House aide. Within a week Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee had teamed Woodward with Carl Bernstein.
During the months that followed, Woodward and Bernstein pursued every lead from the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP), the Justice Department, the CIA, and the White House. Multiple sources and inquiries resulted in new revelations during 1972 and 1973. Woodward had an inside source known only as Deep Throat, who clarified information and provided further direction for the investigation. Through diligence and hard work, the reporters were able to implicate Attorney General John Mitchell in both the break-in and the cover-up that was being orchestrated by the Nixon White House. They also revealed the illegal involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the CIA, and White House aides H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and John Dean. Woodward and Bernstein also revealed the White House Enemies List, the conspiracy to discredit and ruin Senator Ted Kennedy, and the use of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits to harass political enemies. Their work assisted the investigation conducted by the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Election Activities that was led by Senators Sam Erwin and Russell Baker.
The Washington Post received the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for public service in journalism. In 1974, Woodward and Bernstein published All the President’s Men, an account of their investigation; it served as an important contribution to history and investigative journalism. In 1976, they coauthored The Final Days, which provides a detailed description and analysis of the last months of the Nixon presidency.
Those best sellers launched the literary careers of both reporters. Along with Marco Politi, Bernstein cowrote His Holiness: John Paul II and the Hidden History of Our Time (1996), about the pope's influence on social and geopolitical issues. He also authored Loyalties: A Son's Memoir (1989), and A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton (2007), and Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom (2022) and served as a political analyst for CNN, and contributed to Vanity Fair.
Woodward has continued to report for the Post and produced about twenty best-selling books in the decades after Watergate. Nearly half of his books chronicle modern US presidencies from Nixon onward, while others deal with the Supreme Court, the Federal Reserve, the CIA, and the story of Deep Throat, whose identity was revealed in 2005. Woodward also shared in the Post's 2002 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Woodward's Fear: Trump in the White House, a controversial tell-all about the first eighteen months of the Donald Trump presidency, sold over a million copies within a week of its publication in 2018. Some critics found Woodward's Fear lacking in new political insights, while others claimed it offered a distorted view of its subject. In 2023, he released The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodard's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump. Trump sued but the publisher found is allegations to be unwarrented.
Impact
The legacy of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein included awakening the American media to its responsibilities in investigative journalism and reminding American politicians that no one, including the president, is above the law. This exercise of responsible journalism was dependent upon the courage and principles of Katharine Graham, then owner of The Washington Post, editor Ben Bradlee, and Woodward and Bernstein themselves.
Woodward and Bernstein's subsequent writings further illuminated the inner workings of centers of power, past and present, at home and abroad, and both sounded alarms over what they perceived as President Trump's authoritarianism and rhetoric against the free press.
Bibliography
Frum, David. "Woodward Missed Everything That Matters about the Trump Presidency." Review of Fear: Trump in the White House, by Bob Woodward. The Atlantic, 16 Oct. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/bob-woodwards-fear-trump/573067. Accessed 20 May 2024.
Greenfield, Jeff. "Why Woodward’s ‘Fear’ Flopped in Washington." Review of Fear: Trump in the White House, by Bob Woodward. Politico Magazine, 17 Sept. 2018, www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/09/17/woodward-trump-book-fear-washington-220059. Accessed 20 May 2024.
Hamill, Adrian. Deep Truth: The Lives of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Secaucus, N.J.: Carol, 1993.
Smith, David. "Woodward and Bernstein: Watergate Echoes Loud in Donald Trump Era." The Guardian, 13 Aug. 2018, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/12/woodward-bernstein-watergate-donald-trump-era. Accessed 20 May 2024.
Woodward, Bob, and Carl Bernstein. All the President’s Men. 2d ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Woodward, Bob, and Carl Bernstein. The Final Days. Reprint ed. Cutchogue, N.Y.: Buccaneer Books, 1994.