Bob Woodward
As the foremost chronicler of the last ten Presidents of the United States, Bob Woodward has reported in depth and in real-time how their decisions have affected the lives of all Americans, as well as lives around the world. In an age when news is spread instantly and without regard to the truth, his writing has kept his readers anchored to the facts.
Born in Geneva, Illinois, he attended Yale University on a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship where he studied history and English literature. Graduating in 1965, he began a five-year tour of duty in the U.S. Navy. After being discharged as a lieutenant in 1970, he began work as a reporter, later joining The Washington Post. Assigned to cover a burglary at the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office complex in 1972, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein followed leads that led to the disclosure of financial irregularities in the 1972 re-election campaign of President Richard Nixon and related political “dirty tricks.” Subsequent investigations by Congress and the Watergate special prosecutor confirmed the accuracy of their reporting.
Ultimately, over 40 people, including senior White House officials, went to jail, and President Nixon resigned in 1974. This year marks the 50th anniversary of All the President’s Men which Woodward and Bernstein published in early 1974. The riveting details of their investigative reporting on the Watergate scandal are an inspiration to all students of journalism.
Bob Woodward continued to write about the workings of government, providing insight into the Supreme Court with The Brethren, the first Persian Gulf War in The Commanders, and Hollywood, with Wired: The Short Life & Fast Times of John Belushi. Refocusing on the presidency, he published The Agenda and The Choice on the Clinton Administration. He followed this with four books on the George W. Bush Administration which were grounded in nearly eleven hours of personal interviews with President Bush between 2001 and 2008. Bob Woodward continued his reporting on the presidency with two books on the Obama Administration and three on the Trump Administration, concluding with the transition to President Biden in Peril, co-authored with Robert Costa.
He is an Associate Editor of The Washington Post and has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes. The first was in 1973 with Carl Bernstein for coverage of the Watergate scandal, and the second was in 2002 as the lead reporter covering the 9/11 terrorist attacks.