theBOCAinterview [ by john thomason ]
The Insider
On the eve Of twO area appearances, accLaIMeD InvestIgatIve repOrter BoB WoodWard weIghs In On the presIDency, The Price of PoliTics anD a certaIn career-MaKIng scanDaL.
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t’s become an iconic scene, forever etched in journalism history: The confidential source known as Deep Throat, swathed in shadows in an empty parking garage, exposing a government-wide conspiracy about the Nixon Administration’s involvement with the Watergate break-in. The whistleblower, later revealed to be FBI agent Mark Felt, cautioned the reporter, Bob Woodward, that in no uncertain terms, “your lives are in danger,” referring to Woodward and his colleague at the Washington Post, Carl Bernstein. That’s how the action plays out in “All the President’s Men,” the Oscar-winning dramatization of Woodward and Bernstein’s epochal tome about Watergate. Forty years later, Woodward says his response to Felt’s admonition—in the film, he rushes to Bernstein’s residence, cranks the stereo to the max and types out his revelations to Bernstein for fear of being surveilled—was something of an overreaction. Overreaction or not, it never stopped the reporter in Woodward from digging—and revealing. Throughout his distinguished career at the Washington Post, he has continued to speak truth to power about the virtues and failings of our previous eight presidents, raising the ire of both political parties along the way. In addition to his stalwart associate editorship of the Post, he has penned 17 exhaustively researched books, most of which hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list. His latest, The Price of Politics, is a typical Woodward project, built from hundreds of hours of recorded interviews. He is both admired and criticized for the unprecedented access to presidents that he has cultivated over the years, and his writing style is defined by his fly-on-the-wall immersion into the most secretive meetings at the Capitol. It’s rare if his words don’t cause a stir on just about every page. Woodward, who will be making local appearances in January and February, spoke to Boca Raton about his upcoming lectures, the presidency, political scandal and much more. follow the leader
Describe your relationship with carl bernstein. how has it changeD since you covereD watergate? We’re bound together, so we talk and share thoughts. Just in the last month, I’ve talked to him probably 10 times. It continues, and it’s actually stronger and more personal.
what Do you hope the stuDents at Fau will take away From your joint lecture with carl? We want to do a little history, talk about the news business, where it’s going, what’s going on in Washington. I’ve been able to write books about presidents from Nixon to Obama, so we’ll talk about presidents, because I think that presidents have more and more power. There’s such a concentration of power in the presidency these days that to understand what’s going on, you’ve got to try to understand the president. You can see that with all the budget issues, all the legislative issues. There’s a convergence coming this year that will demonstrate drastically how important the president is and how important the relations or non-relations with Congress are.
having spent so much time with them, anD with unpreceDenteD access, are there any presiDents you Feel receiveD a baD rap in terms oF public perception? I guess I would pick Gerald Ford. I went back in one of the books I did, Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, and was able to re-excavate the pardon he gave Nixon. He made a strong argument, and based on my research and discussions with everyone through 25 years, I’ve decided that actually what he did was gutsy and courageous rather than something that looked at the time to be corrupt, where the guy at the top gets a pardon and 40 people go to jail. The re-evaluation process made me rethink Ford.
why Do you think presiDents are oFten remembereD more FonDly aFter they leave oFFice than when their term enDs? Great question. That’s because often we see that history through the lens of what’s going on now, and we say, “Oh my God, look at all the problems and difficulties and mistakes.” So you tend to give somebody who made it through the presidency a new look or [ bocamag.com ]
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