Bob Woodward
By: Natalie Wong
Who Is Bob Woodward?
Bob Woodward is an investigative journalist in America. He is currently the associate editor for The Washington Post. Bob is best known for his reports on the Watergate Scandal in 1972. His work has made a huge impact on history.
Woodward's Life Before Journalism
Robert Upshur Woodward was born in 1943 and grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. After high school, he went off to attend Yale College where he focused his studies on history and English literature. He was also involved in NROTC (Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps). Woodward was heavily engaged in multiple student organizations. He was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and was involved in a secret society known as "Book and Snake." He graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor's Degree and then joined the U.S. Navy shortly after. He served in the Navy for 5 years and while being on duty he was one of one of the officers that was responsible for handling nuclear launch codes. It was an honor for Bob Woodward to be one of the two officers that was assigned that job.
His Career In Journalism
In 1970, Woodward was discharged as a lieutenant. Although he was accepted to Harvard Law School, Bob decided to attend graduate courses at George Washington University while simultaneously applying to The Washington Post as a reporter. However, without any experience in journalism, Woodward was declined the job. After gaining some experience from working for Montgomery Sentinel, Bob was hired by the Post a year later. He tends to cover issues regarding politics and economics in his reports. Woodward focuses a lot on fraud and corruption within the government and amongst administrators.
The Watergate Scandal
Bob Woodward is famous for his reports regarding the Watergate Scandal. There were 5 burglars that broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex. The police linked the burglars to President Richard Nixon, who at the time was running for election against McGovern. Tapes of conversations involving Nixon revealed that he attempted to cover up the burglary. This led the public to lose their trust in Nixon and caused society to grow a hatred towards him. The attempt to spy on the opposing party's campaign led to the fall of Nixon and loss of the election.
Reports
In the book, "All the President's Men", Woodward and his co-reporter Carl Bernstein, released information about the infamous scandal. The book later on became an Academy Award winning movie. The reporters got information from an inside FBI source, Mark Felt, who they referred to as "Deep Throat" to protect his identity. Felt exposed White House gossip and was Woodward's main source of information regarding the scandal. Woodward was able to publish the series of articles with credible sources and managed to get many people to expose private information to him. Bob Woodward made headlines with his reports where he exposed how the scandal was tied to Nixon's committee for re-election. He was able to figure out the motive behind the burglary and went public with his findings. Woodward wasn't afraid to speak up about these corrupted issues and posted government information and diaries and interviews in his reports. The public respected how honest and truthful Woodward was in his articles.
In one of the other reports Woodward published back in 1972 was called "Bug Suspect Got Campaign Funds," he revealed that there was a check deposited in one of the burglar's bank account that was signed off by Nixon's committee. He was able to back up his reports with his own research and statements made by the FBI.
In a more recent report, "Nixon fired the man investigating him. Will Trump?", Woodward compared former President Donald Trump to past President Nixon. While in his presidency, Nixon fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox for digging into information that would've made Nixon look guilty. Similar to Nixon, Trump has has many people investigate his family and life. Government official, Robert Mueller, started investigating Donald Trump's family personal finances. Trump referred to the investigation as unfair witchcraft. He asked the White House officials to get Cox removed. Woodward unapologetically published his research and isn't afraid to challenge the public's views or actions of government officials.
Works Cited
https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadid=00365
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Woodward
https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/profile/bob-woodward
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/bob-woodward/
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