All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein | Book Review

All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward
Genres: History, Non-Fiction
Original Publication Date: 1974 (original)
Source: I purchased this book
Goodreads

Published just months before President Nixon’s resignation, All the President’s Men revealed the full scope of the scandal and introduced for the first time the mysterious “Deep Throat.” Beginning with the story of a simple burglary at Democratic headquarters and then continuing through headline after headline, Bernstein and Woodward deliver a riveting firsthand account of their reporting. Their explosive reports won a Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post, toppled the president, and have since inspired generations of reporters. All the President’s Men is a riveting detective story, capturing the exhilarating rush of the biggest presidential scandal in US history as it unfolded in real time.

The Downfall of an American President

President Richard  M. Nixon resigned from the Presidency of the United States 44 years ago this week.  He announced his resignation on August 8^th, 1974, and left office on August 9, 1974.

The whole scandal started on June 17, 1972.

Burglars broke into the Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel.

This was the beginning of a scandal that rocked the Presidency and led to Nixon’s resignation.

The resignation:

Saying goodbye to staff:

Leaving the White House for the last time:

For more than two years, there had been much coverage of the break-in. Who was involved, and who ordered it?

In the summer of 1973, Senate committee hearings were held on live television.

This was one of the most memorable moments:

The most famous continual coverage of the scandal was done by The Washington Post.

The reporters who got the most attention were Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

In 1973 the newspaper received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

Woodward and Bernstein published  All the President’s Men in 1974.

The book explained what happened up until that point.

All the President’s Men was published before Nixon resigned.

Final Analysis

All the President’s Men is a superb example of not only political coverage but ethics in journalism.

When Woodward was first assigned the story he assumed the break-in was at the local Democratic party headquarters.

Woodward went to cover the story at the courthouse when the burglars were arraigned.

He was stunned to find out that one of the burglars had worked for the CIA.

You feel the tension start to build as the reporters and editors at WAPO start putting the pieces together.

The reporters interviewed scores of witnesses, including the infamous Deep Throat.

They do not shy away from admitting they made mistakes along the way.

All the President’s Men is an excellent book and will keep you riveted until the last page.

You can read my review of a very different book about Watergate in Jimmy Breslin’s How the Good Guys Finally Won.

Please also read my State of the Blog Address 2024.

The New Yorker reviewed this book in 1974.

The Book Was An Enormous Success

The book was an instant bestseller and was turned into a terrific 1976 film starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman:

The film was a gigantic success, too, nominated for several Academy Awards.

Thank you for reading The Literary Lioness!