The Watergate scandal is arguably the biggest presidential story in American politics…to date. The news was broken by two Washington Post reporters and their book describes the brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation and sent several of his advisors to federal prison.
A TRUE DETECTIVE STORY
All The President’s Men is the non-fiction account of a political discovery that reads like a detective thriller. Written from a third-person point of view, with plenty of twists and turns, it is told in straightforward prose. Nevertheless, it took almost two years to write, from the first article about what seemed to be a burglary to the resignation of the President. In the space of nearly four hundred pages, the authors chronicle in great detail what happened, who was involved, and what the aftermath of the Watergate scandal was. The New York Times called their work “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.”
THE WATERGATE HOTEL
On the 17th of June 1972 a break-in took place in the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee based in the Watergate office, hotel and residential complex in Washington DC. Five men, one of whom admitted being a former employee of the CIA, were arrested. The Washington Post assigned the story to Woodward and he was soon joined by veteran reporter Carl Bernstein as the investigation progressed.
“Bernstein looked like one of those counterculture journalists that Woodward despised. Bernstein thought that Woodward’s rapid rise at the Post had less to do with his ability than his Establishment credentials. They had never worked on a story together.”
- “Bernstein aveva tutte le caratteristiche di quei giornalisti della controcultura che Woodward detestava. Per parte sua, era convinto che la rapida ascesa di Woodward al «Post» dipendesse, più che dalle sue doti, dalle credenziali che aveva come uomo dell’establishment. Non avevano mai fatto un servizio insieme”.
THE WATERGATE SCANDAL
After the first investigations, Woodward and Bernstein realised that there was a connection between the Watergate break-in and the campaign for the re-election of President Nixon. The two journalists received information from an anonymous source known as Deep Throat whose identity was kept hidden for over thirty years. Thanks to these leaks, they were able to uncover a secret fund used to spy on and sabotage the Democratic Party, as well as journalists, activists and many ordinary citizens.
“On evenings such as those, Deep Throat had talked about how politics had infiltrated every corner of government—a strong-arm takeover of the agencies by the Nixon White House. Junior White House aides were giving orders on the highest levels of the bureaucracy. He had once called it the “switchblade mentality”—and had referred to the willingness of the President’s men to fight dirty and for keeps, regardless of what effect the slashing might have on the government and the nation.”
“In quelle serate Gola Profonda spiegava Woodward che la politica si era infiltrata nelle pieghe più riposte della pubblica amministrazione, e che dopo l’avvento di Nixon tutti gli enti, uno dopo l’altro, erano caduti sotto il controllo della Casa Bianca. Giovani impiegati di secondo piano della Casa Bianca davano ordini a funzionari dei più alti gradi della burocrazia federale. Una volta aveva chiamato questo andazzo «mentalità da serramanico», riferendosi alla propensione degli uomini del Presidente a battersi con tutti i mezzi, anche i più sporchi, senza preoccuparso dei guasti che ciò poteva creare negli organi dello stato e nella nazione”.
BRILLIANT JOURNALISM
The book is the tale of how Woodward and Bernstein got at the story of Watergate. It manages to explain exactly what happened in a very dramatic way. The reader feels the tension escalating as the journalists start putting all the pieces together until they finally uncover and expose the corrupt presidential administration.
A long career
In 1976, a film adaptation of the book was released, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein, respectively. The film won four Oscars. In 2005, a 91-year old retired FBI special agent named Mark Felt acknowledged that he was Deep Throat, after being persuaded by his daughter to reveal his identity.
Both Bernstein and Woodward have continued their careers as investigative journalists, publishing multiple best-selling books on American politics, and the private maneuvering of US presidents in power, from Clinton to Trump.
“So the White House wants to eat The Washington Post, so what? It will be wearing on you, but the end is in sight. It’s building and they see it and they know that they can’t stop the real story from coming out. That’s why they’re so desperate. Just be careful, yourselves and the paper, and wait them out, don’t jump too fast. Be careful and don’t be too anxious.”
- “Così, la Casa Bianca vuole mangiarsi il «Washington Post». E allora? Certo, per voi sarà un po’ dura, ma la fine è in vista. La marea sta salendo, e loro se ne rendono conto. Sanno che non potranno impedire alla verità di venire fuori. Per questo sono così furiosi. Solo, andateci piano, voi e il giornale, e aspettateli al varco, non correte troppo. Andateci piano, e non lasciatevi prendere dall’impazienza”.