Ever the reporter, legendary journalist Bob Woodward started his Monday appearance at The College of William and Mary by interviewing the audience.
The genial reporter did an informal poll of the audience to see how its members planned to vote today. The college crowd was overwhelmingly in favor of reelecting President Barack Obama, with about 20 hands shooting up for Mitt Romney and a married couple admitting they’re still undecided.
Intrigued, Woodward interviewed them from the lectern, learning that they both voted for Obama in 2008, but weren’t impressed with his handling of the economy, while also feeling disappointed with the Republican party’s behavior in Congress. “Interesting!” Woodward said.
When the question was turned on him, Woodward demurred, saying he typically takes his teenaged daughter into the voting booth with him and lets her cast the ballot. “It’s important to be neutral,” he said.
Woodward’s hour-long speech touched on many of the tenets of journalism, including neutrality, perseverance and preparation. The overall theme, however, was that one question haunts him: “How much do we know about what goes on?” Former Vice President Al Gore once told him the American people knew about “1 percent” of the things that happened of consequence during his time in office. Woodward bets people know more than 1 percent, but never know everything.
He shared several anecdotes about his most famous piece of reporting — the series of stories he wrote with Carl Bernstein for The Washington Post that uncovered the White House’s connection to the break-in at the Democratic Party office in the Watergate Hotel.
The stories were compiled into a book, called “All the President’s Men,” that led to an Academy Award-winning 1976 movie with Robert Redford portraying Woodward. “I’ve disappointed a lot of women,” Woodward joked when asked how accurate the movie had been.
Many of the tactics he used when reporting that story still serve him today. He recounted how he and Bernstein went to the homes of people working for the committee to reelect Richard Nixon, trying to ferret out which of them were involved in the break-in. Some would open the door, look stricken and slam the door in his face.
Decades later, as he worked on a book about the war in Iraq, he became fed up with a military general who was dodging his calls and emails. Finally, he showed up at the general’s doorstep just after dinnertime, knowing that’s when the general would be relaxing. The general opened the door, and said, “You’re still doing this [expletive]?” and waved Woodward in. Too many reporters take “no” for an answer now, Woodward said.
He shared several anecdotes about his interviews and encounters with famous politicians, from Obama to Hillary Clinton to Henry Kissinger to Gerald Ford. He also touched on his most famous co-workers, editor Ben Bradlee (“a great editor”) and former publisher Katharine Graham, describing the latter as having the best management style (“mind on, hands off”).
He asked the audience to share what they thought were the most pressing issues facing the nation; answers included the national debt, the economy, the education system and political polarization.
Woodward said he felt the biggest issue is the national debt, and said, “For the government to not have its finances in order is tragic.” While researching his new book, “The Price of Politics,” he said he came to believe everyone is to blame for the current situation. “Republicans for being inflexible, but in my book I said Obama bears the biggest responsibility because he’s the president,” he said. “Reagan and Clinton found a way to work their will on national problems. On this, Obama did not succeed.”
From his interviews with the president, Woodward found that Obama’s strength is his weakness. “He’s a divided man…he’s professorial, he sees all the sides,” he said. On the other hand, he said Romney’s plans to fix the economy “don’t even come close to adding up.”
In the 1990s, Woodward interviewed Sen. John McCain, who asked, “Can you be true to yourself and run for president?” After McCain lost the election in 2008, Woodward brought the question back up and asked what McCain thinks now. He said he didn’t know the answer.
“I told him, ‘I do,’” Woodward said. “You can’t.”
