\\ Herald Tribune, where he had worked after high school and during college breaks. In 1966, The Washington Post hired him. Rosenfeld is best known as the editor who, six years later, helped oversee early coverage of the Watergate scandal. The Pulitzer Prize-winning stories led to impeachment hearings, the resignation of President Richard Nixon and a series of ethics laws. It started in 1972 with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate offices. Rosenfeld, the Post metro editor, oversaw young reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (whom he hired) as they linked the burglary to Nixon. “It scared the marrow out of my bones,” Rosenfeld has said as details surfaced. Rosenfeld later successfully fought off efforts to replace the now-legendary Woodward and Bernstein with more experienced Post reporters. The power struggle was captured on the screen when Jack Warden played Rosenfeld in “All the President’s Men.” The 1976 movie based on Woodward and Bernstein’s best-selling book won five Oscars. The episode inspired a new generation of journalists, eager to break open the next big scandal. In 1978, Rosenfeld was named editor of the Albany Times Union and now-defunct Knickerbocker News. He retired in 1997, but continued for years to write a nationally syndicated Sunday column. As editor at large, he serves as a consultant and a member of the paper’s editorial board. Rosenfeld and his wife, Anne, continue to live in Albany. Rosenfeld has served as a Pulitzer juror and as vice chairman of the New York State Conference on Fair Trial/Free Press. He also took part in three state commissions studying the use of cameras in the courtroom. He was the first recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award established by Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences. He was honored as well with the First Amendment Award of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith in Los Angeles for Watergate, as well as the Freedom of Information Award from the Associated Press. Other awards include one from the Black United Front of Washington, D.C., another from the New York State Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission and Institute for Non-Violence. In addition to a personal glimpse of historic events, Rosenfeld’s story reflects the influence of early experiences on the choices that follow. “I had in my mind to do what I could to help assure that what happened in Hitler’s Germany would not happen here,” Rosenfeld writes in his acclaimed book. “Looking back, I discerned a theme underpinning much of my journalistic labors: holding to account the accountable, the more powerful the better.”
In Recognition Harry M. Rosenfeld, the persecution you experienced as a child in Nazi Germany inspired you to dedicate your life to holding government accountable to its citizens. You have used the tools of journalism to shine a light on activities the public might not otherwise see, from the local town hall to the highest echelons of power. You cultivated the talents of the young reporters covering the Watergate scandal and have done so ever since, ensuring that journalists in newsrooms across the country share your own insistence on writing stories that have impact. As an editor and an author, you have shown that a strong democracy relies on an intrepid press. For reminding us to not just challenge authority but to ask the right questions, Harry M. Rosenfeld, The College of Saint Rose is pleased to confer upon you the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, with all its rights and privileges.
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