Woodward and Bernstein started working on the scandal in their mid 20’s. Their methods resemble those of muckrakers in the early 1900's who used the print revolution to expose political injustices. [1] Intrigued by the lack of information provided regarding the scandal, Woodward and Bernstein set to work deciphering the evidence they had. They phoned and visited different people in hope of gaining evidence that would help them take down the Nixon administration. Willing sources, such as Deep Throat, gave them valuable information, but there were also moments where they had to decide between breaking the Post’s rules or losing uncooperative sources.
For example, Don Segretti had important contacts who could have taken part in the scandal. Desperate for these contacts, Bernstein “bent the rules a bit. The Post had a firm policy that its reporters were never to misrepresent themselves. But he didn’t tell Mrs. Segretti. When he left his name and numbers, they were for both his and Woodward’s apartments. Bernstein neglected to tell Woodward about the call.” [3] When Segretti found out, he was much more reluctant to give them any information. “The Washington Post? Segretti asked. He said he didn’t know what Woodward was talking about. Besides, he was too busy to talk, he said, and hung up.” [4] However, after some convincing, Segretti revealed a few of his contacts that proved to be useful during further investigation. Using information from these kinds of sources, Woodward and Bernstein pursued the investigation until Nixon’s exposure. [5]
"He [Woodward] identified himself to another clerk as a Post reporter and said he wanted to look through the file. The clerk looked at Woodward suspiciously. 'Okay,' he said, 'but you aren't allowed to copy anything. You can't take names. No notes. I'll be watching.'...Woodward took the first four cards, set them face up in the bottom of the file drawer and began studying the names, ages, addresses, phone numbers and occupations...Inside the washroom, Woodward went into a stall, took a notebook from his jacket pocket and wrote out what he had memorized...At the office, he typed a list of the jury members and the accompanying data...Everyone in the room had private doubts about such a seedy venture. Bradlee, desperate for a story, and reassured by the lawyers, overcame his own...Sussman was afraid that one of them, probably Bernstein, would push too hard and find a way to violate the law. Woodward wondered whether there was ever justification for a reporter to entice someone across the line of legality while standing safely on the right side himself. Bernstein, who vaguely approved of selective civil disobedience, was not concerned about breaking the law in abstract. It was a question of which law, and he believed that grand-jury proceedings should not be inviolate." - A situation where Bernstein and Woodward bordered breaking the law to gain information described in All the President's Men [7]
Footnotes:
- Independence Hall Association, "Muckrakers," US History, last modified 2016, accessed May 15, 2017, http://www.ushistory.org/us/42b.asp.
- Header Image: Max Holland, "Beyond Deep Throat: The Hidden Watergate Sources That Helped Topple a President," Newsweek, October 9, 2014, accessed February 3, 2017, http://www.newsweek.com/2014/10/17/many-sources-behind-woodward-and-bernsteins-deep-throat-276291.html.
- Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, All the President's Men (New York, NY: Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, 1974), 120.
- Bernstein and Woodward, All the President's, 120.
- Washington Post Staff, "The Watergate Story," The Washington Post, accessed January 24, 2017, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part1.html. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, All the President's Men (New York, NY: Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, 1974), 161-163. Rodger Streitmatter, Mightier than the Sword (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2016), 201,219.
- Harry Ransom Center, "Segretti Notes," Harry Ransom Center: the University of Texas at Austin, accessed February 5, 2017, http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/web/woodstein/post/segretti_detail.html.
- Bernstein and Woodward, All the President's, 208-210.