Nixon’s grand mistake was his failure to understand that Americans are forgiving, and if he had admitted error early and apologized to the country, he would have escaped.
BOB WOODWARDReporters may believe they control the story, but the story always controls the reporters.
More Bob Woodward Quotes
-
-
The failure of the system to deal quickly was attributable to Nixon’s lying, stonewalling and refusal to come clean. So it took 26 months for the final truth to be known.
BOB WOODWARD -
After Nixon resigned in 1974, he engaged in a very aggressive war with history, attempting to wipe out the Watergate stain and memory. Happily, history won, largely because of Nixon’s tapes.
BOB WOODWARD -
Lawyers didn’t seriously get involved in the Watergate stories until quite late, when we realized we were on to something.
BOB WOODWARD -
I have written things that Republicans and Democrats and all kinds of figures have either hated or felt very uncomfortable about. Because in doing these long projects and books, you get close to the bone. And they’re not calling me up and asking me for dinner.
BOB WOODWARD -
Many people have their reputations as reporters and analysts because they are on television, batting around conventional wisdom. A lot of these people have never reported a story.
BOB WOODWARD -
I recently did the David Letterman Show about my book. He was very serious and made no jokes and it caught me off guard a little bit. He was much more serious than some of the joke shows that journalists get on.
BOB WOODWARD -
The source known as Deep Throat provided a kind of road map through the scandal. His one consistent message was that the Watergate burglary was just the tip of the iceberg.
BOB WOODWARD -
[Clinton] believes that the Washington press corps is so out of touch that it is absolutely inconceivable that reporters will understand the issues that people are really dealing with in their lives.
BOB WOODWARD -
Watergate provides a model case study of the interaction and powers of each of the branches of government. It also is a morality play with a sad and dramatic ending.
BOB WOODWARD -
Some newspapers have a hands-off policy on favored politicians. But it’s generally very small newspapers or local TV stations.
BOB WOODWARD -
Finally, the president added, ‘The American people are idealists, but they also want their leaders to be realistic…’
BOB WOODWARD -
There is a garbage culture out there, where we pour garbage on people. Then the pollsters run around and take a poll and say, do you smell anything?
BOB WOODWARD -
The biggest rap on me is that I don’t find a Watergate every couple of years. Well, Watergate was unique. It’s not something Carl Bernstein, I, or the Washington Post caused.
BOB WOODWARD -
We need to police ourselves in the media.
BOB WOODWARD -
I think journalism gets measured by the quality of information it presents, not the drama or the pyrotechnics associated with us.
BOB WOODWARD