April 16, 2008
Bob Woodward was having dinner with Al Gore recently and, as America’s leading journalist, couldn’t resist asking: “Of all the things that went on in the Clinton presidency, how much was actually reported in the news?”
Gore’s answer: “About 1 percent.”
So much for daily journalism — at least when it comes to informing the public about America’s most important office and the person who occupies it.
Woodward obviously recognized long ago that, in his words, “the job of a journalist is to move that percentage up, so people can make informed decisions.” Which is why he has built his historic career reporting on the behind-the-lights actions and intrigues of presidents from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush (as well as Supreme Court justices, financial wizards, even pop stars). His work not only helped cut short Nixon’s second term, it has exposed the all-too-human miscalculations and failures in the planning and conduct of Bush’s Iraq war.
So who better than Woodward to speak on “The Press and the Presidency” at Wayne State University’s recent Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society? Who better indeed!
For an hour or more, Woodward provided the overflow audience with rare and thoughtful insights into the highest office in the land, and those who have honored and dishonored it. Some quick notes:
— Michigan’s Gerald Ford was one of the few who ended up looking better under Woodward’s magnifying glass. Woodward admitted he had always assumed Ford made a “dirty” deal to pardon Nixon. But years later, after extensive interviews, Woodward was finally convinced that Ford really did act out of a desire to pull the country out of the Watergate slime and get it moving forward — even though it probably cost him election in his own right. “It was the courageous thing to do.”
— Nixon stood (you could say fell) apart from other presidents because of “the smallness of it all” — the personal hate he held for his enemies and his determination to use the office for personal revenge. Nixon’s presidency was “always about Nixon” and “devoid of the higher purpose of the presidency” that all other recent presidents — despite their failings — have held.
— George W. Bush subjected himself to an unprecedented three and one-half hours and 500 Woodward questions about the invasion of Iraq. Toward the end of the probe Bush became animated at one question and revealed the core of his motivation: “We have a duty to free and liberate people,” he said. “We have a zeal to free people.”
— Clinton was a master communicator, even better than Reagan, and no one could top him in a one-on-one situation. Clinton’s “perfect eye contact” and intense concentration on the other person had the ability to “slow down time” and convey the sense of great importance. Woodward said he was surprised to read the transcript after an interview he conducted with Clinton — instead of presidential statements full of revelation, as he had regarded them while listening, they turned out to be “mush.”
But this calm and reflective reporter — “who has written or co-authored 10 New York Times #1 bestsellers, more than any other contemporary American writer” — delivered more than just anecdotes.
Coming back to the theme that a journalist’s duty is “to move that percentage up,” he pointed to increasing secrecy in government as the most important thing we should worry about as a nation.
“If we don’t know what goes on, we are subject to secret government. That will take everything away…and we’re going to lose democracy at home.”
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