More than 150 University community members and visitors gathered at the Miller Center of Public Affairs yesterday to hear Bob Woodward, associate editor at The Washington Post and renowned investigative reporter, speak about the evolution of U.S. presidencies from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama.
Woodward was part of a two-man team of investigative reporters who uncovered the 1972 Watergate scandal, revealing Nixon's involvement in a break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters and its subsequent cover-up. Woodward's and Carl Bernstein's reporting for The Washington Post led to the resignation of then-President Richard Nixon.
Woodward spent 18 months with Obama and his team in preparation for his most recent book, "Obama's Wars," which was published last year. Woodward was able to interview key players in the U.S. government, including the president himself, for the book.
"In deciding how to title the book, I thought about calling it 'The Divided Man,'" Woodward said, referring to Obama's struggle with the decision of how many troops should be sent to Iraq and other controversial decisions.
Woodward's deep knowledge of Nixon and Obama allowed him to make distinctions between the two administrations and the changing role of the president throughout the years.
He said the two defining aspects of a presidency are knowledge and leadership.
"Sometimes matters of greatest significance are hidden," he said. "If we don't have knowledge, we're not going to be able to survive."
Secret government should be the main worry of Americans today, Woodward said.
He highlighted the potentially damaging implications of secret governments by discussing the Nixon presidency.
"During Nixon's presidency, it was never asked, 'What does the nation need?'" Woodward said. "The nightmare of the Nixon tapes is the smallness of it. Everything was about Nixon."
Woodward also spoke about his experience investigating Watergate and what he learned about leadership. He praised Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post at the time, in particular, for providing an excellent definition of leadership.
"She asked [during a meeting], 'When is the whole truth about Watergate going to come out?' I said never," he recalled. "She said, 'Never? Don't tell me never.' It was not a threat - it was a statement of purpose. This is what leadership is about."
Woodward also described the changing role of journalism in the world. He said the vast quantities of information available to anyone on the Internet cannot replace quality reporting and interviewing.
"The Internet is a magic box that tells you everything ... but the Internet doesn't have the good stuff," he said. "You have to go to human beings to get the good stuff, because you can't find that on the Internet"
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