''All the President's Men'' is a 1974

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

book by

Carl Bernstein Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original ne ...

and

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the honorific title of associate editor though the Post no longer employs ...

, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. The book chronicles the

investigative reporting Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

of Woodward and Bernstein from Woodward's initial report on the Watergate break-in through the resignations of Nixon Administration officials

H. R. Haldeman Harry Robbins "Bob" Haldeman (October 27, 1926 – November 12, 1993) was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and his consequent involvement in the Water ...

and John Ehrlichman in April 1973, and the revelation of the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

Watergate tapes Audio recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and Nixon administration officials, Nixon family members, and White House staff surfaced during the Watergate scandal in 1973 and 1974, leading to Nixon's resignation. In Fe ...

by Alexander Butterfield three months later. It relates the events behind the major stories the duo wrote for the ''Post'', naming some sources who had previously refused to be identified for their initial articles, notably Hugh Sloan. It also gives detailed accounts of Woodward's secret meetings with his source Deep Throat, whose identity was kept hidden for over 30 years.In 2005, Deep Throat was revealed to be then-

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Associate Director W. Mark Felt. Gene Roberts, the former executive editor of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' and former managing editor of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', has called the work of Woodward and Bernstein "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time." A film adaptation, starring

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...

and

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...

as Woodward and Bernstein respectively, was released in 1976. The same year, a sequel to the book, '' The Final Days'', was published, which chronicled the last months of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

's presidency, starting around the time their previous book ended.

Background

Woodward and Bernstein had considered the idea of writing a book about Watergate, but did not commit until actor

expressed interest in purchasing the film rights. In ''Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of "All the President's Men"'', Woodward noted that Redford played an important role in changing the book's narrative from a story about the Watergate events to one about their investigations and reportage of the story and was thus successful in transferring the content from one medium and one genre to another (see: media-adequacy). The name of the book alludes to the

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

about

Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle, and is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. The first recorded versions of the rhyme date from ...

("All the king's horses and all the king's men / Couldn't put Humpty together again"). An allusion similar to that was made more explicitly a quarter-century earlier in

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, literary critic and professor at Yale University. He was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern ...

's 1946 novel ''

All the King's Men ''All the King's Men'' is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It was inspired by the real-life story of U. ...

'', which describes the career of a fictional corrupt governor, loosely based on Huey Long.

Important individuals

The President

The President's men

They are listed with their 1972 positions in either the president's executive staff or in his re-election committee, where applicable.

White House

* Alexander Butterfield, Deputy Assistant to the President * Dwight Chapin, Deputy Assistant to the President * Ken W. Clawson, Deputy Director of Communications for the President * Charles Colson, Chief Counsel for the President *

John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is a disbarred American attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scan ...

White House Counsel The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Off ...

* John Ehrlichman, Counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs *

White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...

* E. Howard Hunt Jr., President's Special Investigations Unit (" White House Plumbers") *

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

, National Security Advisor * Egil Krogh, head of the President's Special Investigations Unit ("White House Plumbers") * Gerald Warren,

White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...

, succeeding Ziegler * David R. Young, special assistant at the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

* Ron Ziegler, White House Press Secretary

Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP)

* Kenneth H. Dahlberg, CRP's Midwest finance chairman * Herbert W. Kalmbach, personal attorney to President Richard Nixon and Deputy Finance Chairman of CRP * G. Gordon Liddy, CRP employee * Clark MacGregor, CRP Chairman * Jeb Stuart Magruder, Deputy Director, and assistant to the Director of CRP * Robert Mardian, CRP political coordinator * John N. Mitchell,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, and CRP campaign director * Robert Odle, Director of Administration ("office manager") for CRP *

Kenneth Parkinson Kenneth Wells Parkinson (September 13, 1927 – October 5, 2016) was an American lawyer. He was counsel to the Committee to Re-elect the President that supported Richard Nixon in 1972. He was a member of the Watergate Seven, who were indicted ...

, CRP counsel * Herbert Porter, CRP organizer and former White House aide *

Donald Segretti Donald Henry Segretti (born September 17, 1941, in San Marino, California) is an attorney best known for working as a political operative with then-U.S. President Richard Nixon's Committee to Re-elect the President during the early 1970s. Segret ...

, political operative for CRP * Hugh W. Sloan Jr., CRP treasurer *

Judy Hoback Miller Judith Hoback Miller (born May 10, 1937) acted as an investigative source in the Watergate scandal in 1972 during the presidency of Richard Nixon. She served as the bookkeeper for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President. Personal life ...

, CRP bookkeeper *

Maurice Stans Maurice Hubert Stans (March 22, 1908April 14, 1998) was an American accountant, civil servant, and political organizer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Commerce from 1969 to 1972. He served as the finance chairman for the Committe ...

, CRP finance chairman * Gordon C. Strachan, staff assistant to Herbert G. Klein but was assigned to be

's liaison to CRP

Rest of the President's men

* Alfred C. Baldwin III * Jack Caulfield * L. Patrick Gray, acting

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a United States federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI director is appointed for a ...

* Richard Kleindienst,

(succeeding John Mitchell) *

Fred LaRue Frederick Cheney LaRue Sr. (October 11, 1928 – July 24, 2004) was an aide in the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon. He served a short prison sentence for his role in the Watergate break-in and the subsequent Watergate scan ...

, no rank, title, salary or even listing in the White House directory * Powell A. Moore * Kenneth Rietz * DeVan L. Shumway

The burglars

* Bernard L. Barker * Virgilio R. Gonzalez * Eugenio R. Martinez * James W. McCord, Jr. * Frank A. Sturgis

The prosecutors

* Henry E. Petersen, United States Assistant Attorney General *

Earl J. Silbert Earl Judah Silbert (March 8, 1936 – September 6, 2022) was an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1974 to 1979. He was the first prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, alongside two other U.S. A ...

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia The United States attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC) is responsible for representing the Federal government of the United States, federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's ...

* Donald E. Campbell, Assistant U.S. Attorney * Seymour Glanzer, Assistant

The judge

* John J. Sirica, District Judge for the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a United States district court, federal district court in Washington, D.C. Along with the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and ...

''The Washington Post''

, Reporter *

, Reporter * Benjamin C. Bradlee, Executive Editor * Katharine Graham, Publisher * Harry M. Rosenfeld, Metropolitan Editor * Howard Simons, Managing Editor * Barry Sussman, City Desk Editor * Brett Gurganious, Local News Reporter

The senator

Sam Ervin Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A Southern Democrat, he liked to call himself a " country lawyer", and often told humorous ...

(D–NC), chair of the Senate Watergate Committee

The informant

* Deep Throat (revealed in 2005 to be

Mark Felt William Mark Felt Sr. (August 17, 1913 – December 18, 2008) was an American law enforcement officer who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1942 to 1973 and was known for his role in the Watergate scandal. Felt was ...

)

Publication

Dick Snyder of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

purchased the right to publish the book through the agent David Obst. The authors received an advance of $55,000. In his memoir, Michael Korda said of the book's publication that it "transformed book publishing into a red-hot part of media" and books became "news" instead of history. Because the book was embargoed until publication day, there were no advance copies for reviewers. Simon & Schuster became known as the "

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

" publisher by following up ''All the President's Men'' with books by

, Maureen Dean, John Ehrlichman and John Mitchell.

References

External links

The Woodward and Bernstein Watergate Papers
— an exhibition at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

40 years later retrospective joint interview
on CBS
CBS News: Watergate: High Crimes in the White House, 50th Anniversary
{{Richard Nixon 1974 non-fiction books Books about journalism Books about the Watergate scandal Books by Bob Woodward Books by Carl Bernstein Collaborative non-fiction books English-language non-fiction books Non-fiction books adapted into films Simon & Schuster books The Washington Post Warner Bros. Pictures franchises