Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

Casey Chow

the lazy gorilla’s super guide

page 2Casey Chow

timeline

1960

1950

1940

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

March 26, 1943 Woodward is born in Geneva, IL

September 15, 1971Woodward is hired as a reporter

for The Washington Post

October 1972When a story written by Woodward and

Bernstein turns out to be false, Ben Bradlee refudiated, writing, “We stand by our story.”

August 9, 1974President Nixon resigns on

grounds of “lost political support”

February 3, 1991Bernstein’s memoir Loyalties, which

details his parents’ communist affiliations, is published

May 31, 2005Deep Throat, Woodward’s top secret

informant, is revealed to be former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt

June 18, 1974Woodward and Bernstein’s book, All the President’s Men, is published to wild approval

April 4, 1976The film adaptation to Woodward and Bernstein’s All the President’s Men is released

Spring 1983Bernstein’s 2nd wife, Nora Ephron, writes Heartburn, which (one-sidedly) portrayed their 1969 breakup1

August 2003Woodward and Bernstein sell their pa-pers, notes, letters, etc. from Watergate to UT Austin’s Harry Ransom Center for a record $5 million

February 14, 1944Bernstein is born in Washington, DC

1966Bernstein starts working for The Washing-ton Post after having jobs at both The Wash-ington Star and the Elizabeth Daily Journal

1 Ephron caught wind of his affair with Margaret Jay in 1979, 7 months pregnant with their second son.

2 http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/web/woodstein/

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chaptersThe Up and Comers

Woodward and Bernstein’s childhoods and early careers, up to June 1972, when the two were assigned to the Watergate story.

TrustThe “first steps” of Watergate and how Woodward

and Bernstein begin to “tolerate” each other. This chapter also includes some denials from the White House.

The Best Obtainable Version of the TruthWoodward and Bernstein conclude the Watergate

investigation. Woodward and Bernstein are established as unique reporters and start criticizing the rest of the rest of the news industry for not looking into the matter, as well.

In DemandWoodward and Bernstein publish their book, All

the President’s Men, and lecture for a few months. The book is very well received.

The Source to End All SourcesDiscusses the use of anonymous sources

in journalism, and Watergate’s effect on its legitimization.

The Double-Edged SwordRobert Redford approaches Woodward and

Bernstein with a movie deal, which at first they don’t believe is real, but later agree to. The film becomes a box office hit.

When Are You Going to Screw Up?Chronicles their rise to fame and describes their

1974 celebrity. We soon find out that Woodward tends to be a private person whereas Bernstein is a social maverick. The title comes from an interview

with Woodward where he describes celebrity as people asking said question.

Bernstein Unchaperoned Bernstein quits the Post to go to New York and

spend time (partying) with his girlfriend and later wife, Nora Ephron. He also writes his memoir Loyalties and fails in TV news. Ephron in 1979 goes through a massive divorce with Bernstein over his affair.

Mr. Carte Blanche1

Woodward, after Watergate, becomes a managing editor at the Post, wrote two books (The Brethren, on the Supreme Court, and Wired, on John Belushi), gets a major breakthrough (“Mobile Chief Sets Up Son in Venture”) and a major screwup (Janet Cooke).

LoyaltiesBernstein (finally) starts writing again, becoming

the author of Loyalties: A Son’s Memoir, a Time cover article, and His Holiness. With the help of Woodward, he reversed his lifestyle into something more sustainable.

Piercing the VeilWoodward is the author of Veil, on the CIA,

and The Agenda and The Choice, on Clinton. This chapter focuses more on the first book I mentioned, and how it seems that his sources gave him information he needed to hide the fact that there was more underground.

The RevelationWoodward’s mystery source, Deep

Throat, reveals himself to be Mark Felt.

1 Carte Blanche is another term for “blank check” , a vague, widely interpretable promise.

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supporterBen Bradlee, the then-executive editor of The

Washington Post, was certainly both Bob Woodward’s and Carl Bernstein’s most significant mentor/supporter.

His support is most showingly demonstrated by his defense of them in their “darkest hour”. The White House claimed that H.R. Haldeman, aide to Nixon, was not the 5th controller of a CRP slush fund. Bradlee, instead of firing them or something, refudiated with what he called a non-denial denial: “We stand by our story.”

But besides public defense, privately, he was their mentor. Perhaps that’s why the Haldeman story was the exception rather than the rule. He knew exactly when they got what they need to and when they didn’t and he would tell them just straight out, uncommon in the era of diplomacy. As described in All the President’s Men, he would put a story away from the front cover not because he was afraid, but because there were no sources. Not because he thinks they’re wrong, but because he knows they’re wrong. Not many mentors these days have that capacity.

Bradlee, far right, consults with his colleagues, including Wood-ward and Bernstein, second and third from left

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significanceRichard Nixon resigned as a result of the Watergate scandal, in which Woodward and Bernstein played a large role.

Even to this day, Bob Woodward is a strong (and active) advocate of transparent government. To get enough material on the most secretive US administration ever to fill 4 books is a miracle in its own right.

Woodward and Bernstein are credited with popularizing and reinventing investigative journalism in a time where copying press releases was the norm.

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wordsprofliglacy

(n) wild extravagance; dissolution

“But reporters need to recognize that they are undermining their credibility with such profligacy.” (Ch. 5, p. 113)

pliable(adj) flexible in disposition; readily yielding to influence, arguments,

persuasion, or discipline; easy to be persuaded

“What editor wouldn’t love a pliable young reporter willing to work day and night...?” (Ch. 4, p. 83)

immunity(n) exemption from legal prosecution, often granted a witness in

exchange for self-incriminating testimony.

“A former FBI agent, Baldwin traded his testomony for immunity and was considered a major government witness.” (Ch.3, p. 56)

pillory(v) figuratively, to expose to public scorn

“In other words, many journalists pilloried Woodward and Bernstien for their ‘Trust me. I know this stuff is true’ attitude.” (Ch.7, p.148)

truculent(adj) eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant

“Now he [Woodward] would be in charge of a staff of 108 journalists, who, by their skeptical, truculent nature, were famously hard to manage.” (Ch. 9, p.190)

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sourcesBob Woodward. (2011, January 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved

19:24, February 2, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Woodward&oldid=409716655

Carl Bernstein. (2011, January 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:25, February 2, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_Bernstein&oldid=408939589

Shepard, A. C. (2007). Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the shadow of Watergate. Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley.

Watergate scandal. (2011, February 1). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:27, February 2, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Watergate_scandal&oldid=411463811

Woodward, Bob. (n.d.). Full Biography. Retrieved January 30, 2011 from http://bobwoodward.com/full-biography

image creditsPage 4http://newsroom-magazine.com/2009/conversations-with-america/deep-throat-private-citizen-public-servant/

Page 5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nixon-depart.png

http://www.achievement.org/achievers/woo1/large/woo1-003.jpg

http://bobwoodward.com/category/books