All the President's Men past times Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

I was xi years quondam inwards the summertime of 1972 (45 years agone -- yikes!!), when v men wearing suits as well as carrying photographic as well as surveillance equipment were arrested after breaking into the Democratic Party National Headquarters inwards the Watergate Hotel inwards Washington, D.C. Gradually, over the adjacent ii years, the shout "Watergate" became a household word, every bit the even out of the break-in, who had authorized it as well as why unravelled on the nightly intelligence as well as inwards Congressional hearings.

Being only 11-13 years old, I didn't pay a lot of attending -- I was generally annoyed yesteryear the whole thing, because the hearings invariably cancelled out my favourite daytime goggle box shows during the summers of 1973 & 1974. (Before Watergate, it was the Apollo infinite missions to the Moon that took over the TV screens -- ho hum. If I'd known therefore that the Apollo 17 mission of Dec 1972 was going to hold upwardly the concluding one, I mightiness withdraw hold paid to a greater extent than attention.)

It all climaxed on the nighttime of August 8, 1974, when President Richard "I am non a crook" Nixon announced his resignation, inwards the confront of almost sure impeachment. I was xiii years quondam yesteryear then, as well as nosotros were all at my grandmother's tiny theatre inwards northern Minnesota, gathered inwards the living room roughly the TV laid (which I intend was even therefore a dark & white set, as well as pulled inwards almost 5 or six channels amongst the assist of a rotary antenna -- NBC, ABC & PBS, sometimes CBS (depending on the weather, lol), as well as CBC & CTV from across the Canadian border.)(And the French-language CBC channel, which nosotros never counted.)  I shout upwardly beingness glad to hold upwardly rid of Nixon (and of Watergate) -- I never liked him -- but the sober faces of the adults inwards the room brought abode the seriousness of the situation, as well as fifty-fifty then, I realized that I was witnessing history inwards the making. The adjacent day, nosotros left on a route trip to see my uncle inwards Minneapolis, as well as everywhere nosotros stopped along the way, the newspapers had huge headlines, the likes of which I had perchance only ever seen i time before (when the astronauts landed on the moon), "President resigns."  I even therefore withdraw hold a copy, somewhere inwards the depths of my parents' basement.

Despite all the media coverage, I didn't actually know or empathise much almost the details of Watergate or how it had led to the president's resignation until a few years later, the spring/summer of 1976. I was straight off 15, my sis & I went to consider a novel movie, "All the President's Men," starring Dustin Hoffman & our favourite moving-picture present idol of the day, Robert Redford, every bit Carl Bernstein as well as Bob Woodward, the ii Washington Post reporters whose stories helped scissure the instance as well as won a Pulitzer Prize.

(My sis & I had outset seen Redford inwards "The Sting" amongst our cousins inwards Minneapolis a few summers earlier, as well as fallen madly inwards honey amongst him -- fifty-fifty though he's older than our father...! (ALI note: inwards recent years, I learned that Redford's outset child, a boy named Scott, died of SIDS when he was 10 weeks quondam inwards 1959.)  A twelvemonth or therefore later, our woman raise took us to consider him inwards "The Way We Were" amongst Barbra Streisand, as well as to the drive-in, ON H5N1 SCHOOL NIGHT, therefore that nosotros could consider "The Great Gatsby." (Although nosotros had to endure through "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad," the outset of a double-header bill, before nosotros got to Gatsby.)  Such was the ability of Robert Redford inwards his prime...!)  

We both LOVED the moving-picture present -- NOW all that Watergate materials we'd lived amongst for therefore long was starting to brand sense!  (Plus -- Robert Redford.)  There was even therefore a lot nosotros didn't quite "get," though -- because i of our schoolhouse friends came over & sat amongst us as well as talked incessantly throughout the entire movie. :p  So nosotros went dorsum to consider it i time again the adjacent night, to grab the parts we'd missed. ;) Shortly after that, I bought as well as devoured the paperback version of the 1974 mass yesteryear Woodward & Bernstein that the moving-picture present had been based on (with a photograph of Redford & Hoffman on the cover).  I industrial plant life it only every bit riveting every bit the moving-picture present had been, as well as a lot easier to follow, since I could digest the information at my ain footstep as well as flip dorsum to the "Cast of Characters" at the front end of the mass to hold all the names & titles straight. There was a lot of information that hadn't been inwards the movie, too.

*** *** ***

I've read "All the President's Men" at to the lowest degree i time or twice inwards the years since I outset picked it upwardly (as good every bit other books written yesteryear the two, together as well as separately, including "The Final Days" as well as "The Bretheren")(and seen the moving-picture present many times too) -- but non inwards many years.  And amongst the recent events unfolding inwards Washington, as well as frequent appearances yesteryear Woodward & Bernstein on TV intelligence shows, I decided it was timely to re-read the mass again.

Even though I've read the mass before -- fifty-fifty though the even out is a lot to a greater extent than familiar to me than the outset fourth dimension roughly -- I even therefore industrial plant life myself hooked, correct from the opening pages. (It took me to a greater extent than than a calendar week to acquire through "Tribe," which was only 130 or therefore pages long... I devoured "All the President's Men," a much longer book, inwards only nether a week.)  It's even therefore a gripping read -- as well as solely relevant to the introduce day.

Personal disclaimer: I wanted to hold upwardly a author from a immature age.  I was thinking "books,"  but it wasn't until roughly the fourth dimension I was inwards junior high that I realized most authors of books didn't brand rattling much coin at it. That's when I started thinking of journalism every bit a career. My identify unit of measurement ever received a daily newspaper, as well as I read it (or at to the lowest degree parts of it) almost from the fourth dimension I learned to read. (The watch of a career inwards "corporate communications" wasn't fifty-fifty on my radar until I was inwards journalism school, as well as I don't intend nosotros fifty-fifty called it that dorsum then. "Public relations," maybe.)

So I don't intend it was Woodward & Bernstein who inspired me to acquire to journalism schoolhouse -- I'm pretty sure I was already thinking along those lines -- but only almost anyone who entered the champaign inwards the belatedly 1970s & 80s was surely inspired yesteryear their illustration as well as looked to them every bit the aureate standard. They were as well as even therefore are stone stars to me, as well as I even therefore acquire a huge boot out of seeing them on TV, individually or (especially) together. When Woodward &/or Bernstein speak almost electrical flow events, how they compare to Watergate (or not), as well as why nosotros should pay attending -- I intend nosotros should pay attention. These guys know whereof they speak.

Reading the mass again, now, reminded me that a lot has changed since 1972. For example:

• the reporters' calls were sometimes made at payphones as well as routed through switchboard operators -- no cellphones dorsum then...!, 
• they wrote their stories on typewriters as well as made edits amongst pencils vs on screens amongst discussion processing software,
• their stories were published (& read) inwards a physical newspaper, non online,
• television intelligence consisted generally of a half-hour even newscast on i of the 3 networks -- no Internet, no cable TV, no multichannel universe, no CNN, 
• Woodward & Bernstein spent spending an entire afternoon sorting through box after box of asking slips at the Library of Congress (which made for a memorable scene when translated to the moving-picture present screen) -- something that no dubiety could hold upwardly done inwards almost v seconds on a reckoner today

(to shout a few things).

Some of the linguistic communication has changed (one of the Watergate burglars is said to withdraw hold a "retarded" daughter). And although the Post's publisher was a adult woman (Katharine Graham -- her memoir, Personal History, is also an fantabulous read, yesteryear the way),  and a woman someone bookkeeper at the Committee to Re-elect the President proves to hold upwardly a critical source, the vast bulk of the principal players inwards the even out are (as the championship of the mass would suggest) MEN -- at that spot were surely nowhere nigh every bit many women inwards the newsroom or inwards regime as well as political jobs, 45 years ago.

But patch applied scientific discipline has made reporters' jobs easier inwards many respects, the basics of journalism -- cultivating sources, calling as well as talking to people (many, many people), asking questions as well as to a greater extent than questions (and asking them again), taking careful notes & keeping files, researching through piles of dusty books as well as press clippings (not everything y'all demand is available on the Internet), checking your facts as well as checking them again, confirming what i someone tells y'all amongst multiple other sources before publishing your even out -- that remains the same. (Another swell moving-picture present inwards a to a greater extent than modern setting almost reporters unravelling an of import even out almost the abuse of ability (by the Catholic church) is "Spotlight,"  which deservedly won the Oscar for Best Picture a span of years ago.)

And human nature, certainly, remains the same too.

While Woodward & Bernstein were eventually recognized every bit heroes as well as inspired an entire generation of journalists, their tactics were sometimes questionable, they didn't ever acquire it correct (at i point, they watch they were headed for jail), as well as they encountered formidable obstacles as well as opposition along the way.  Early on, they write almost how the even out was barely mentioned exterior of the Washington & New York papers, one-half the dry soil had (at that point) never heard of or cared almost Watergate, as well as regime spokespeople derided the Post for chasing a even out that only wasn't there....  I industrial plant life myself thinking, hmmm, why does this audio familiar...?? (This happened to a greater extent than than i time every bit I read. The White House's disdain for the press, the obsession amongst leaks -- all familiar territory...!)

Nevertheless -- aided yesteryear anonymous sources such every bit the now-infamous "Deep Throat" -- they continued to enquire questions as well as pursue the story, gradually putting the pieces together into a coherent painting of what went on behind the scenes at the White House as well as the Committee to Re-elect the President, ultimately leading to the downfall of the president as well as his men.

If y'all ever wanted to acquire to a greater extent than almost Watergate and/or almost how journalists actually produce their jobs, this mass is an fantabulous alternative -- a classic.  And if y'all wanted to empathise why therefore many people are talking almost Watergate i time again lately inwards the context of electrical flow events, read the book. The parallels are eerie as well as unmistakeable.

This was mass #11 that I've read therefore far inwards 2017, bringing me to 46% of my 2017 Goodreads Reading Challenge destination of 24 books.  I am currently 2 books behind schedule to come across my goal. :p  ;)  
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