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 WOODWARDSome newspapers have a hands-off policy on favored politicians. But it’s generally very small newspapers or local TV stations.
More Bob Woodward Quotes
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I recently read some of the transcripts of Nixon’s Watergate tapes, and they spent hours trying to figure out who was leaking and providing information to Carl and myself.
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I’m not going to name some of my colleagues who are very well-known for their television presentation, but they wouldn’t know new information or how to report a story if it came up and bit them.
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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.
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Lawyers didn’t seriously get involved in the Watergate stories until quite late, when we realized we were on to something.
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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.
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Not a season passes without new disclosures showing Nixon’s numerous attempts at criminal use of his presidential powers and in fact the scorn he held for the rule of law.
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I think that everyone is kind of confused about the information they get from the media and rightly so. I’m confused about the information I get from the media.
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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.
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Newspapers that are truly independent, like The Washington Post, can still aggressively investigate anyone or anything with no holds barred.
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The fact of the Watergate cover-up is not nearly as interesting as the step into making the cover-up. And when you understand the step, you understand that Richard Nixon lied. That he was a criminal.
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We’re not going to have another Watergate in our lifetime. I’m sure.
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If information is true, if it can be verified, and if it’s really important, the newspaper needs to be willing to take the risk associated with using unidentified sources.
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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.
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I think the problem in the Republican Party is really not money. I think they’ve got lots of it. I think it is theory of the case – why are we here, what is our message, how to connect to the real world.
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Finally, the president added, ‘The American people are idealists, but they also want their leaders to be realistic…’
BOB WOODWARD