Basic HTML Version
12
BizVoice
/Indiana Chamber –
September/October 2012
T
he names Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward will forever be linked in American
lore. While both went on to decorated careers in journalism, their tandem work in
exposing the Watergate saga in the early 1970s shed light on a very dark undertaking
by an American president. This illumination ultimately lit the course for the
resignation of President Richard Nixon.
For the first time in 36 years (in June), the pair shared a byline on an article,
which appeared in
The Washington Post
and outlined the dubious nature of Nixon’s tenure. On
this 40th anniversary of Watergate, Woodward and Bernstein will speak at the Indiana Chamber
of Commerce’s 23rd Annual Awards Dinner in Indianapolis on November 1. As a preview, the
duo spoke with
BizVoice
®
about Nixon, the American presidency and the state of journalism.
What are the lessons learned from Watergate that apply today? How has it changed the
presidency?
Bob Woodward:
“Because it’s been 40 years, it’s hard to say whether lessons were learned. I
think they were for a while. At least in the late 1970s there was a deeper sense that activity
concealment in the White House didn’t work. I’m not sure that lesson was absorbed in the
eighties, nineties – and this time – to a certain extent. I think each administration has learned
how to manage the information in the way they want.”
What type of message do you try to leave with audiences as you discuss the events of Watergate?
Carl Bernstein:
“The idea is to convey that this was an event of huge significance in our history.
With the passage of time, it needs to be understood both by the generation that experienced it
and future generations. That involves putting aside some mythology that is bound to occur in
intervening years and going back to look at exactly what happened in the Nixon presidency.
By Matt L. Ottinger
‘All About Nixon’
Famed Reporters Look Back at Watergate
Bob Woodward (left) and Carl
Bernstein in
The Washington
Post
newsroom in April 1973
(photo by Ken Feil/The Washington
Post/Getty Images).