Bob Woodward

and Carl Bernstein

the lazy gorilla’s super guide

Casey Chow
 timeline
1940
March 26, 1943
Woodward is born in Geneva, IL February 14, 1944
Bernstein is born in
Washington, DC
1950

1960

September 15, 1971 1966

Woodward is hired as a reporter Bernstein starts working for The Washing-
for The Washington Post 1970 ton Post after having jobs at both The Wash-
ington Star and the Elizabeth Daily Journal
October 1972
June 18, 1974
When a story written by Woodward and
Woodward and Bernstein’s book,
Bernstein turns out to be false, Ben Bradlee
All the President’s Men, is published
refudiated, writing, “We stand by our story.” 1980 to wild approval
August 9, 1974
President Nixon resigns on April 4, 1976
grounds of “lost political support” The film adaptation to Woodward
and Bernstein’s All the President’s
1990 Men is released
February 3, 1991
Bernstein’s memoir Loyalties, which Spring 1983
details his parents’ communist Bernstein’s 2nd wife, Nora Ephron,
affiliations, is published writes Heartburn, which (one-sidedly)
2000 portrayed their 1969 breakup1

August 2003
May 31, 2005 Woodward and Bernstein sell their pa-
Deep Throat, Woodward’s top secret pers, notes, letters, etc. from Watergate
informant, is revealed to be former to UT Austin’s Harry Ransom Center
FBI Associate Director Mark Felt 2010 for a record $5 million
1 2
Ephron caught wind of his affair with Margaret Jay in http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/web/woodstein/
1979, 7 months pregnant with their second son.
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 chapters
The Up and Comers
Woodward and Bernstein’s childhoods and early
careers, up to June 1972, when the two were assigned
to the Watergate story.
Trust
The “first steps” of Watergate and how Woodward
and Bernstein begin to “tolerate” each other. This
chapter also includes some denials from the White
House.
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.

The Best Obtainable Version of the Truth Mr. Carte Blanche

1

Woodward, after Watergate, becomes a managing

Woodward and Bernstein conclude the Watergate
editor at the Post, wrote two books (The Brethren, on
investigation. Woodward and Bernstein are
the Supreme Court, and Wired, on John Belushi), gets
established as unique reporters and start criticizing
a major breakthrough (“Mobile Chief Sets Up Son in
the rest of the rest of the news industry for not
Venture”) and a major screwup (Janet Cooke).
looking into the matter, as well.

In Demand
Woodward 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 Sources
Discusses the use of anonymous sources
in journalism, and Watergate’s effect on its
legitimization.
The Double-Edged Sword
Robert 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
Casey Chow
Loyalties
Bernstein (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 Veil
Woodward 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 Revelation
Woodward’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.
page 3
 supporter
Ben 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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 significance
Richard Nixon resigned as a result of
the Watergate scandal, in which Woodward and
Bernstein played a large role.

Woodward and Bernstein are credited with

popularizing and reinventing
investigative journalism in a time
where copying press releases was the norm.

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.

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 profliglacy
words
(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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 sources
Bob 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 credits
Page 4
http://newsroom-magazine.com/2009/conversations-with-america/deep-
throat-private-citizen-public-servant/
Page 5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nixon-depart.png
http://www.achievement.org/achievers/woo1/large/woo1-003.jpg
http://bobwoodward.com/category/books

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