Bob Woodward Interview: The Power of Persistence in Journalism
Reporter Bob Woodward recalls how his time in Vietnam got him into journalism, his initial bonding with Ben Bradlee over their time in the Navy, and on “finding the line” when deciding to run a story. He discusses the legacy of Watergate and the lesson for journalism “to keep going after the story.” Woodward describes Bradlee’s belief in truth and how he was “the master of curiosity.”
Robert Upshur Woodward is an investigative journalist who was born in Geneva, Illinois on March 26, 1943. He enrolled in Yale University in 1961 with an NROTC scholarship, and studied history and English literature. He received his B.A. degree in 1965, and began a five-year tour of duty in the U.S. Navy. After being discharged as a lieutenant Woodward spent a year working at the Montgomery Sentinel, a weekly in the Washington D.C. suburbs, and was hired as a reporter for The Washington Post in September 1971. In 1972, he teamed up with journalist Carl Bernstein and the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal which led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon. Woodward’s first book with Bernstein about their reporting of Watergate, All the President’s Men, became a #1 national bestseller before Nixon resigned in 1974. The 1976 movie version of All the President’s Men became an instant classic with Robert Redford starring as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein. Woodward continued to work at the Post for more than 50 years where he became associate editor. He went on to cover nine U.S. presidents, write over 20 best-selling books, share in two Pulitzer Prizes and has been a recipient of nearly every major American journalism award, including the Heywood Broun award (1972), Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting (1972 and 1986), Sigma Delta Chi Award (1973), George Polk Award (1972), William Allen White Medal (2000), and the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Reporting on the Presidency (2002).
From the HBO / Kunhardt Film Foundation (KFF) Documentary “The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee,” about one of America's most influential and celebrated newspaper editors, who found himself at the center of many of the 20th Century's most seismic storms, including: World War II, John F. Kennedy, Watergate and the fall of Richard Nixon.
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Bob Woodward, Associate Editor, The Washington Post
Interviewed By: John Maggio
Interview Date: February 3, 2017
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:09 Getting into journalism
01:50 Initial interest in The Washington Post
02:56 Wanting to work at The Washington Post
03:43 Interviewing with Ben Bradlee
06:13 Ben Bradlee’s time in the navy
08:25 Early days at the Post
11:21 Ben Bradlee’s management style
12:54 Ben Bradlee’s patriotism
15:19 The media and national security
18:18 Ben Bradlee’s friendship with JFK
21:12 Managing conflicts of interest
23:37 Ben Bradlee as an outsider
24:42 Ben Bradlee and Katharine Graham
29:56 Ben Bradlee and his quest for the truth
30:47 Ben Bradlee and the Pentagon Papers
32:05 The Pentagon Papers and the Post
34:40 Spotting a good story
39:49 Ben Bradlee’s skepticism
40:42 The Watergate break-in
43:34 Uncovering the Watergate scandal
47:24 Recruiting Mark Felt
49:56 Breaking the Watergate story
53:35 Anxiety around Watergate
54:13 Continuing the Watergate story
57:09 Following the money
59:06 Unraveling the Watergate web
01:01:20 Attacks on the Post during Watergate
01:04:21 Protecting anonymous sources
01:09:18 Felt’s warning to Woodward and Bernstein
01:12:18 Paranoia surrounding Watergate
01:13:25 The Haldeman mistakes
01:18:21 The turning point in the Watergate scandal
01:24:50 The Nixon White House tapes
01:26:38 Nixon’s resignation
01:29:12 Nixon’s impeachment
01:31:01 Nixon’s lust for power
01:33:52 Watergate and Ben Bradlee’s lasting legacy
01:34:45 Attempting to talk to Nixon
01:35:25 All the President’s Men
01:38:56 The spotlight on the Post
01:43:01 Ben Bradlee’s sense of story
01:45:22 Knowing a good story when you see it
01:46:30 The impact of All the President’s Men on the Post
01:48:16 Ben Bradlee’s persona
01:49:20 The difficulties of being an editor
01:50:14 Lessons from the Janet Cooke scandal
01:56:42 Ben Bradlee and the Janet Cooke scandal
01:57:17 The aftermath of Janet Cooke’s story
01:58:26 Loyalty to the Post
02:00:41 Ben Bradlee’s ability to forgive
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