All The President

All The President’s Men Essay, Research Paper All The President’s Men Richard Nixon’s first term as president will always be connected with the Watergate scandal, the biggest political scandal in United States history. Various illegal activities were conducted including burglary, wire tapping, violations of campaign financing laws, sabotage, and attempted use of government agencies to harm political opponents to help Richard Nixon win reelection in the 1972 presidential elections. There were about 40 people charged with crimes related to the scandal. Most of them were convicted by juries or pleaded guilty. Watergate involved more high-level government officials than any previous scandal. It has been etched in the minds of millions and is still being recalled today when

faced with the present day scandal of President Clinton. In All The President’s Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, former Washington Post reporters, recount, illustrate, and analyze the Watergate scandal time and their work in reporting and revealing these events for the newspaper. The story begins on “June 17, 1972. Nine o’clock Saturday morning. Early for the telephone (13).” The telephone rings to awaken Bob Woodward. His editor wakes Woodward to inform him about a break-in at the Democratic headquarters that occurred late the previous night. The authorities arrested five men, one White House employee and four Cuban-American Miami citizens. They were found to be in the possession of high-tech surveillance and communication devices, along with hundreds of dollars,

mostly in $100 bills in sequential order. In addition, the authorities also discovered two address books, a telephone number for Howard E. Hunt, consultant to the White House. The listing had small notations “W. House” and “W.H. (22).” This was the first indication that the President and his cabinet might be involved in this burglary. Woodward and Bernstein investigated this White House connection. As they delve deeper into this lead, they continuously discover larger crimes where more of the prominent White House staff was involved. Woodward and Bernstein print all their findings in their articles in the Washington Post. The tremendous pressure on Nixon through their in-depth articles, along with the FBI’s investigations of him and his cabinet, ultimately led to the

President’s resignation. When Bernstein and Woodward were writing this book and their articles, they must have had some idea of the significance of their work. After all, they were printing a series of articles that pointed straight to the President. At this time, only one other impeachment inquiry existed, so Bernstein and Woodward’s work had to be as accurate as possible. They made sure of this through a few precautionary measures. First, they agreed never to let an article go to print unless they both fully agreed the article was worthy of printing should. When they were investigating the truth of a fact or statement, they always made sure that they checked it with at least two sources. When they made a large implication, such as that of H.R. Haldeman, Assistant to the

President, they investigated with as many as four or five sources. To make sure that they were not overly ambitious or biased, they frequently ran their story ideas, topics, and facts, over with their editors, Sussman and Rosenfeld. All The President’s Men was fair and detailed, which adds significantly to their credibility, which was the purpose they protected and looked out for. Woodward and Bernstein had a motivation driving their investigation and reporting that was very unlike any that could be found today. They seemed to be enticed by their love for writing and strife for the truth. Today, some journalists seem to be motivated by fame, wealth, or politics. Many people would have written those articles simply to go down in history books or to bring down high officials for