Bob Woodward

Legendary Two-Time Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist

Author Associate Editor, The Washington Post

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Former CIA director and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wished he’d recruited Woodward into the CIA, “His ability to get people to talk about stuff they shouldn’t be talking about is just extraordinary and may be unique.”

Therein lays the genius of Bob Woodward – a journalistic icon who gained international attention when he and Carl Bernstein broke the deeply disturbing news of the Watergate scandal.  The book they wrote – All the President’s Men – won a Pulitzer Prize.

Watergate’s theme of secret government is a common thread throughout Woodward’s career that spawned 18 books – all went on to become national bestsellers – 12 of them #1 – more than any other contemporary nonfiction author.  In the process Bob Woodward became the ultimate inside man.  No one else in political investigative journalism has the clout, respect, and reputation of Woodward.  He has a way of getting insiders to open up – both on the record and off the record – in ways that reveal an intimate yet sweeping portrayal of Washington and the budget wrangling, political infighting, how we fight wars, the price of politics, how presidents lead, the homeland security efforts, and so much more.  His work is meticulous and draws on internal memos, classified documents, meeting notes and hundreds of hours of interviews with most of the key players, including the president.

As a speaker, Woodward pulls the curtain back on Washington and its leaders to captivate audiences with stories that are sometimes surprising, at times shocking, and always fascinating.  He blends stories that are both up to the minute and from the past (to provide historical context).  Woodward speaks as he writes – crisp and concise – and helps people get behind the spin to understand what’s really going on in the halls of power in an age of 24-hour news, social media, and snarky politics.

Professionally, Bob Woodward is currently associate editor for The Washington Post where he’s worked since 1971. He has won nearly every American journalism award, and the Post won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for his work with Carl Bernstein on the Watergate scandal. In addition, Woodward was the main reporter for the Post’s articles on the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks that won the National Affairs Pulitzer Prize in 2002. Woodward won the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency in 2003.

The Weekly Standard called Woodward “the best pure reporter of his generation, perhaps ever.” In 2003, Albert Hunt of The Wall Street Journal called Woodward “the most celebrated journalist of our age.”  In listing the all-time 100 best non-fiction books, Time magazine has called All the President’s Men, by Bernstein and Woodward, “Perhaps the most influential piece of journalism in history.”

Bob Woodward has co-authored or authored twelve #1 national best-selling non-fiction books. He graduated from Yale University in 1965 and served five years as a communications officer in the U.S. Navy before beginning his journalism career at the Montgomery County (Maryland) Sentinel, where he was a reporter for one year before joining the Post.

The Age of the American Presidency. What Will 2016 Bring?

No journalist or author has uncovered more secrets or probed deeper into the modern American presidency and Washington than Bob Woodward. The 2016 presidential election will be a critical pivot point in the well-being of the nation, its national security and economy. In his 18 bestselling books, Woodward has written in depth about the last eight presidents and Washington power centers from the Supreme Court to the CIA and Congress. He now explains what went wrong and what worked. He then distils out what lessons voters might expect – and demand – from the next president. With riveting storytelling, there can be no better guide as he pulls back the curtain and takes audiences on a behind-the-scenes, intimate tour of political power and the often hidden motives of key players. What are the leadership failings and gaps? Why? What are the dangers of government secrecy? Are we safe and who is responsible? What’s driving our foreign policy? What about the economy and the budget wrangling? What could be the impact of scandal? Can anyone fix Washington? How might the fix be accomplished? After time spent listening to Bob Woodward, audiences understand why Bob Schieffer of CBS News said, “Woodward has established himself as the best reporter of our time. He may be the best reporter of all time.”

War and Terrorism - What are the Lessons for America?

Nothing defines the nation to the world – and to itself – as much as war. Bob Woodward has written seven books on the wars and foreign policy of the two Bushes, Reagan and Obama -- beginning with The Commanders in 1991 on the first Gulf War, Veil: the Secret Wars of the CIA under Reagan, four books on President George W. Bush’s wars (Bush at War, Plan of Attack, State of Denial, and The War Within) and Obama’s Wars in 2010. Woodward’s work is so full of secrets that former CIA director and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that he wished he’d recruited Woodward into the CIA, saying “He has an extraordinary ability to get otherwise responsible adults to spill their guts to him. His ability to get people to talk about stuff they shouldn’t be talking about is just extraordinary and may be unique.” In his talk Bob Woodward helps audiences see behind the closed doors and into the private offices of the Pentagon and the White House as our leaders wrestle with the great military, foreign policy and terrorism questions. There are important lessons there for our future as Woodward asks tough questions. What do we make of international instability? Are we prepared to defend the nation? Are America’s foreign policy efforts up to the task – and can we change as fast as the world is changing? Woodward speaks as he writes – crisp and concise – and his storytelling will hold audiences spellbound.

Has Washington Forgotten the Lessons of Watergate?

Bob Woodward’s and Carl Bernstein’s work uncovering the Watergate scandal was called “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time” by Gene Roberts, then managing editor of The New York Times. It earned them the Pulitzer Prize. Years after the revelations of Watergate that led to President Nixon’s resignation still cast a long shadow. Its lessons about secret government stand as warning signs to future presidents. Woodward brings audiences on a journey and shows how Watergate forever altered the nature of the presidency, Washington and journalism. Have the lessons of Watergate been forgotten or ignored? How did post-Watergate ethics laws embolden Congress and the media? How have the privacy and protections once expected by the nation’s chief executive changed? The legendary Bob Woodward draws on internal memos, classified documents, meeting notes and hundreds of hours of interviews with most of the key players, including the presidents, to offer insights on what it means to America and the President’s ability to lead effectively.

Accountability

Election Analysis

Leadership

All the presidents men

With a new introduction by the authors for the fortieth anniversary of its publication, the most devastating political detective story of the century, two Washington Post reporters, whose brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation smashed the Watergate scandal wide open, tell the behind-the-scenes drama the way it really happened.

The most devastating political detective story of the century: the inside account of the two Washington Post reporters who broke the Watergate scandal, now with a 40th anniversary Afterword on the legacies of Watergate and Richard Nixon.

This is the book that changed America. Published just months before President Nixon’s resignation, All the President’s Men revealed the full scope of the scandal and introduced for the first time the mysterious “Deep Throat.” Beginning with the story of a simple burglary at Democratic headquarters and then continuing through headline after headline, Bernstein and Woodward deliver a riveting firsthand account of their reporting. Their explosive reports won a Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post, toppled the president, and have since inspired generations of reporters.

All the President’s Men is a riveting detective story, capturing the exhilarating rush of the biggest presidential scandal in US history as it unfolded in real time. It is, as Time magazine wrote in their All-Time 100 Best Nonfiction Books list, “the work that brought down a presidency...perhaps the most influential piece of journalism in history.”

All the presidents men

Obama´s Wars

In Obama’s Wars, Bob Woodward provides the most intimate and sweeping portrait yet of the young president as commander in chief. Drawing on internal memos, classified documents, meeting notes and hundreds of hours of interviews with most of the key players, including the president, Woodward tells the inside story of Obama making the critical decisions on the Afghanistan War, the secret campaign in Pakistan and the worldwide fight against terrorism.

At the core of Obama’s Wars is the unsettled division between the civilian leadership in the White House and the United States military as the president is thwarted in his efforts to craft an exit plan for the Afghanistan War.

Obama´s Wars

The Choice: How Bill Clinton Won

The Choice is Bob Woodward's classic story of the quest for power, focusing on the 1996 presidential campaign as a case study of money, public opinion polling, attack advertising, handlers, consultants, and decision making in the midst of electoral uncertainty. President Bill Clinton is examined in full in the contest with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the Republican presidential nominee. The intimacy and detail of Woodward's account of the candidates and their wives show the epic human struggle in this race for the White House.

The Choice: How Bill Clinton Won

The Last of the President's Men

Bob Woodward exposes one of the final pieces of the Richard Nixon puzzle in his new book The Last of the President’s Men.

Woodward reveals the untold story of Alexander Butterfield, the Nixon aide who disclosed the secret White House taping system that changed history and led to Nixon’s resignation. In forty-six hours of interviews with Butterfield, supported by thousands of documents, many of them original and not in the presidential archives and libraries, Woodward has uncovered new dimensions of Nixon’s secrets, obsessions and deceptions.

The Last of the President’s Men could not be more timely and relevant as voters question how much do we know about those who are now seeking the presidency in 2016—what really drives them, how do they really make decisions, who do they surround themselves with, and what are their true political and personal values?

The Last of the President's Men