Bob Woodward

Robert Upshur "Bob" Woodward is the assistant managing editor for Investigative News for The Washington Post. Woodward and Carl Bernstein are the "reporters of the Washington Post [who] investigated the Watergate break-in and first cracked the Watergate scandal in August 1972, which led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in 1974." 

Prior to this however, Woodward worked "as communications watch officer at the Pentagon in 1970, which led him to act as a courier between the military and the White House. His work brought him into close contact with General Alexander Haig, who worked for the National Security Council and whom he frequently briefed. Operating in this environment had much more to do with his future evolution as a journalist than anything else, including his work on exposing Watergate."

Woodward's most recent publication, State of Denial: Bush at War, published by Simon & Schuster, was released September 30, 2006 (ISBN 0743272234). Woodward's Plan of Attack was released in April 2004.


 * Governing Council, Miller Center of Public Affairs

Trial of Scooter Libby
On February 12, 2007, Woodward testified that "former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage disclosed the identity of a C.I.A. agent to him in June 2003, but that I. Lewis Libby Jr. said nothing about the agent when Mr. Woodward talked to him two weeks later," David Stout reported in the New York Times.

Also see:
 * emptywheel, "Libby Live: Woodward One," Firedoglake, February 12, 2007.
 * David Stout, "Woodward Says He Didn’t Discuss Agent With Libby," New York Times, February 12, 2007.
 * Matt Apuzzo, "Woodward Tapes Reveal Leak," Associated Press (San Francisco Chronicle), February 12, 2007.
 * "Libby jurors hear Armitage leak CIA agent's ID. Journalist Novak likely to testify Monday, NBC's Mitchell possible Tuesday," NBC News (MSNBC), February 12, 2007.

"Some Other Dude Did It"
"The source who informed Woodward of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name and occupation weeks before it was (as far as we know) slipped to any other reporter was not indicted former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby or, according to the New York Times (which gave the Woodward story the sort of instant front-page attention it so long denied the actions of its own 'embedded' reporter Judy Miller), President Bush, or White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, or Card's counselor Dan Bartlett, or former Secretary of State Colin Powell, or the former director of the CIA George Tenet, or his deputy John E. McLaughlin, or, for that matter, Karl Rove. It's someone other." --Elizabeth de la Vega, Tom Dispatch, November 18, 2005.

Undisclosed "Source"
According to a statement released November 15, 2005, by Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward, in a more than two-hour deposition under oath November 14th, he told Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald that a "senior administration official [casually] told him in mid-June 2003 that [Valerie] Plame worked as a CIA analyst on weapons of mass destruction, and that he did not believe the information to be classified or sensitive."

"A lawyer in the case said Woodward's source had not previously testified before a grand jury in the leak case." 

"Citing a confidentiality agreement in which the source freed Woodward to testify but would not allow him to discuss their conversations publicly, Woodward and Post editors refused to disclose the official's name or provide crucial details about the testimony. Woodward did not share the information with Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. until last month, and the only Post reporter whom Woodward said he remembers telling in the summer of 2003 does not recall the conversation taking place." 

"So now we have a situation where an icon of the journalistic fraternity intentionally sat on a story for over two years, while a special prosecutor investigated whether a criminal betrayal of the national security of our country occurred." --Joe Wilson, TPM Cafe, November 18, 2005.

"Woodward's disclosure was motivated not by a sudden pang of conscience, as it turns out, but by the sudden necessity of testifying under oath before a federal grand jury." --Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2005.

Related Links

 * Murray Waas, "Some initial thoughts about W. Mark Felt and Watergate," Whatever Already!, June 2, 2005: "Whatever one thinks about the current day Bob Woodward, the Washington Post's Watergate reporting was a watershed event in American journalism. ... Whatever one thinks of Woodward's reporting itself, he is still doing reporting. ... As to [David] Sirota's comment that Woodward's reporting has become one of simply telling power's story, I would add that, unfortunately, it has become not only one of simply telling power's story, but celebrating power's story."
 * Murray Waas "Exclusive: Plame Game Over?" American Prospect, April 6, 2005.
 * Timothy Noah, "Woodstein's Misdirections. Lying to protect Mark Felt from being exposed," Slate, June 2, 2005.
 * Douglas McCollam, "Attack At The Source. Why the Plame case is so scary," Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2005: "Bob Woodward, perhaps the preeminent investigative reporter of his time, believes in supporting journalists who are protecting sources. Yet he sees the use of confidentiality in this case — to hide the sources who identified Valerie Plame — as a weak reed to lean on. 'I use confidential sources more than most anyone,' Woodward concedes, 'but it has to be worth the risk involved. I don’t think outing Plame was worth the risk.'"
 * Josh Marshall, "Bob Woodward's Reporting Skills," TPM Cafe, July 10, 2005.
 * "Bob Woodward's 'Secret Man'," CBS News The Early Show, July 12, 2005. Scroll down to discussion re Novak, etc.
 * Joe Strupp, "Bob Woodward Offers to Serve Judith Miller's Jail Time," Editor & Publisher (Free Republic), July 13, 2005.
 * Transcript: Interview With Matt Cooper; Interview With Bob Woodward, CNN, July 17, 2005.
 * Transcript: Meet the Press: Matt Cooper, John Podesta, Ken Mehlman, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, MSNBC, July 17, 2005.
 * "Bob Woodward: Leave no Bush Administration Critic Unsmeared" and "Bob Woodward: Even Worse Than I Thought," The Left Coaster, August 1, 2005. Video link "Bob Woodward’s Integrity Hits Rockbottom," Crooks and Liars website.
 * "Wash. Post's Woodward baselessly alleged a 'contradiction' in Wilson's Iraq-Niger report," Media Matters for America, August 1, 2005.
 * Catherine Lutz, "Woodward offers insight on Bush, Nixon, politics," The Aspen Times, August 10, 2005.
 * Transcript: Larry King Live, October 27, 2005: Woodward: "They did a damage assessment within the CIA, looking at what this did that Joe Wilson's wife was outed. And turned out it was quite minimal damage. They did not have to pull anyone out undercover abroad. They didn't have to resettle anyone. There was no physical danger to anyone and there was just some embarrassment."
 * R.J. Eskow, "either woodward's lying, or there's a new leak scandal," Night Light, October 29, 2005.
 * Larry Johnson, "Bob Woodward, Lost in Cronyism?" TPM Cafe, October 30, 2005.
 * "Woodward v. Washington Post on CIA assessment of leak damage," Media Matters for America, October 31, 2005.
 * Atrios, "The Booby Files", November 13, 2005:
 * "'Twas the Night Before Fitzmas. And all through CNN's house, Booby was bleating...Larry King, 10/27/2005
 * Booby: "numerous media appearances Booby made trying to throw cold water on this story without bothering to reveal his little conflict."
 * Larry King, 7/11/2005
 * Blitzer, 7/11/2005
 * Hardball, 7/11/2005
 * Fresh Air, 7/7/2005
 * Chris Matthews, 5/2/2004 and Larry King, 6/4/2004
 * Larry King, 10/27/2005


 * Jim VandeHei and Carol D. Leonnig, "Woodward Was Told of Plame More Than Two Years Ago," Washington Post, November 15, 2005.
 * Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, November 15, 2005.
 * "Woodward and Plame: Was it Cheney?" Crooks and Liars, November 15, 2005.
 * Sydney H. Schanberg, "Woodward's Dis. Watergate-era hero reporter on plamegate story? He can put it down," The Village Voice, November 15, 2005.
 * Armando, "Parsing Woodward" and "Woodward's Descent," Daily Kos, November 15, 2005.
 * R.J. Eskow, "'Embedded Crony': Bob Woodward Shows His True Colors," The Huffington Post, November 15, 2005.
 * Jane Hamsher, "Bobby Has a Secret," firedoglake, November 15, 2005.
 * Steve Soto, "Woodward Now Implicated In Plame Inquiry - Testified Yesterday To Grand Jury," The Left Coaster, November 15, 2005.
 * John Aravosis, "Bob Woodward's explanation of why he didn't come clean with his executive editor does not add up," AMERICAblog, November 16, 2005.
 * Joe Strupp, "Pincus: Woodward 'Asked Me to Keep Him Out' of Plame Reporting," Editor & Publisher, November 16, 2005. re Walter Pincus
 * Joe Strupp, "Ben Bradlee Defends Woodward's Actions in Plame Case," Editor & Publisher, November 16, 2005.
 * "Woodward Had Recently Denied He Had 'Bombshell' and Downplayed Plame Probe," Editor & Publisher, November 16, 2005.
 * Steve Clemons, "Bob Woodward's Confession: Vanity? Need for Limelight? Or Just Stupidity?" The Washington Note, November 16, 2005.
 * Jim VandeHei and Carol D. Leonnig, "Woodward testifies in CIA leak case. Editor says senior administration official told him about Plame," Washington Post (MSNBC), November 16, 2005.
 * Larisa Alexandrovna and Jason Leopold, "National Security Adviser was Woodward's source, attorneys say," The Raw Story, November 16, 2005: National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley was "the senior administration official who told Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward that Valerie Plame Wilson was a CIA officer, attorneys close to the investigation and intelligence officials" told Raw Story.
 * Howard Kurtz, "Woodward Apologizes to Post for Withholding Knowledge of Plame," Washington Post, November 16, 2005 (1:18 PM EST).
 * "Woodward Says His Plame Source Not Libby," Associated Press (Free Republic), November 16, 2005.
 * Eric Lichtblau, "Journalists Said to Figure in Strategy in Leak Case," New York Times, November 16, 2005.
 * Maria Newman, "Washington Post's Woodward Apologizes for Lapse on Leak," New York Times, November 16, 2005.
 * Billmon, "Judy Woodward," Whiskey Bar, November 16, 2005.
 * "Bob Woodward Deposed by Fitzgerald," Talk Left, November 16, 2005.
 * Transcript: Wolf Blitzer/Situation Room: Bob Woodward Says Official Leaked Name Two Years Ago ... Interview With Leonard Downie, CNN, November 16, 2005.
 * Matthew Yglesias, "Woodward and Libby," TPM Cafe, November 16, 2005.
 * Greg Anrig, Jr., "Woodward's Fatal Flaw," TPM Cafe, November 16, 2005.
 * Digby, "All the President's Stooges" and "Hard Target," Hullabaloo, November 16, 2005.
 * John Aravosis, "Growing signs of a criminal conspiracy over PlameGate at the White House," AMERICAblog, November 16, 2005: "... we now have Karl, Scooter, and a third senior official all just 'happening' to be telling numerous journalists that Amb. Wilson's wife is a CIA agent, yet we're to believe that this is NOT part of a coordinated conspiracy to spread that info?"
 * Toni Loci and Pete Yost, "Woodward Claim on CIA Leak Disputes Charge," Associated Press (Yahoo! News), November 16, 2005.
 * Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, "From Reporter to Courtier. The Decline of Bob Woodward," CounterPunch, November 16, 2005.
 * Will Bunch, "Bob and me," Attytood, November 16, 2005.
 * Steve Soto, "Hadley Was Woodward's Source - Bad News For Bush," The Left Coaster, November 16, 2005.
 * Michael J.W. Stickings, "The unbearable arrogance of Bob Woodward," The Reaction, November 16, 2005.
 * Antonia Zerbisia, "To the woodshed," Toronto Star blog, November 16, 2005: "Here's the extra special sleazy part: Woodward admits that none of this would have come out had his mysterious source not spilled the beans to the Special Counsel."
 * Todd S. Purdum, "New Disclosure Could Prolong Inquiry on Leak," New York Times, November 17, 2005.
 * Carol D. Leonnig and Jim VandeHei, "Woodward Could Be a Boon to Libby," Washington Post, November 17, 2005.
 * John Aravosis, "Washington Post conveniently twists the truth to come to the rescue of Scooter and Woodward," AMERICAblog, November 17, 2005.
 * Howard Kurtz, "The Woodward Bombshell," Washington Post, November 17, 2005.
 * Juan Cole, "Woodward and Insider Trading," Informed Comment, November 17, 2005.
 * Adam Entous, "Plame's husband wants Post to probe Woodward," Reuters (Yahoo! News), November 17, 2005.
 * Arianna Huffington, "15 Questions for Bob Woodward," The Huffington Post, November 17, 2005.
 * "A Leaky Post Newsroom," fishbowl DC, November 17, 2005.
 * Arianna Huffington, "Woodward: From Watergate Hero to Plamegate Goat," The Huffington Post (Common Dreams), November 17, 2005.
 * John Solomon, "Source: Cheney Isn't Woodward's Source," Associated Press (Salon), November 18, 2005.
 * Joe in DC, "Stephen Hadley 'coy' about being Woodward's source," AMERICAblog, November 18, 2005.
 * BREAKING: "Hadley Being Coy About Whether He’s Woodward’s Source," Think Progress, November 18, 2005. See:
 * White House News Release: Press Briefing with National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley on APEC Summit Meetings, Commodore Hotel, Busan, Republic of Korea, November 18, 2005.
 * "Hadley Coy on Whether He's Woodward Source," Associated Press (Salon), November 18, 2005. Also posted on Yahoo! News website.


 * Joe Wilson, "If It's Good Enough for the Times ...," TPM Cafe, November 18, 2005.
 * Carol D. Leonnig and Jim VandeHei, "Another Grand Jury for Leak Case. Move Follows Woodward Talks," Washington Post, November 19, 2005.
 * Rob Christensen, Barbara Barrett, Jane Stancill and Dan Kane, "Bush can settle CIA leak riddle, Novak says," Raleigh News-Observer, December 14, 2005.
 * ReddHedd, "Revelations," firedoglake, December 14, 2005.
 * Swopa, "Return to the planet of the accidental leaker," Needlenose, December 14, 2005.
 * Jane Hamsher, "Dawn of the Dead," firedoglake, December 14, 2005.
 * Digby, "Losing His Woody," Hullabaloo, December 14, 2005.
 * Carol D. Leonnig, "Columnist Says Bush Knows Who Leaked Name," Washington Post, December 15, 2005.
 * Matt Welch,"From Bob Woodward to Judith Miller. The country’s most reviled reporter is a direct descendant of its most beloved," Reason Online, January 2006.
 * Murray Waas, "Did the White House Authorize Leaks to Bob Woodward?," Huffington Post, February 24, 2006.
 * Jay Rosen, "Murray Waas is Our Woodward Now," Press Watch, April 9 2006.
 * Matt Apuzzo and John Solomon, "Calendars Show Armitage Met Reporter," Associated Press (ABC News), August 21, 2006.
 * Jeff Lomonaco and Murray Waas, "The United States v. I. Lewis Libby," Union Square Press, Feb. 2, 2007.

Biographical Profile
Woodward, born March 26, 1943, in Geneva, Illinois, graduated from Yale University in 1965 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1965 to 1970. 

"Woodward joined the Post in 1971 from the Montgomery County, Maryland, Sentinel, where he had been a reporter and in 1979, he became assistant managing editor of Metropolitan News. Prior to reporting, Woodward served in the U.S. Navy as a communications officer." 

Woodward reported the Watergate scandal from 1972 to 1974, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973. He was promoted to assistant managing editor of the Washington Post in 1981. 

Also see Woodward's Harry Walker Agency Biography.

Published Works

 * All the President's Men (with Carl Bernstein) (1974)
 * The Final Days (with Carl Bernstein) (1976)
 * The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court (with Scott Armstrong) (1979)
 * Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi (1984)
 * Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA (1987)
 * The Commanders (1991)
 * The Man Who Would Be President: Dan Quayle
 * The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House (1994)
 * The Choice (1996)
 * Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate (1999/2000)
 * Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom (2001)
 * The Commanders (2002)
 * Bush At War (2002)
 * Plan of Attack (2004)
 * State of Denial (2006)
 * The War Within (2008)

Biographical

 * Lisa Pease, "Bob Woodward," Probe, January/February 1996.
 * "Interview with Bob Woodward," PBS Frontline, July 29, 1996.
 * "Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein," Heroism Project.
 * Meet the Authors: Bob Woodward, Barnes & Noble .com.

2002

 * Mike Wallace, Interview with Bob Woodward: "A Rare Glimpse Inside Bush's Cabinet," CBS' 60 Minutes, November 17, 2002.
 * Julian Borger, "President's man?," Guardian/UK, November 26, 2002: "Ever since the Watergate scandal, reporter Bob Woodward has been a scourge of the White House. But critics say his latest book is soft on George W. Bush. Has he got too close to the president?"

2003

 * Eric Alterman, "Abrams and Novak and Rove? Oh My!" The Nation, October 16, 2003.

2005

 * Timothy Noah, "Oedipus Bob. It's no picnic being Bob Woodward's daddy," Slate, July 7, 2005.
 * Michael Petrelis, "Woodward Paid $25K for Nov. Talk to Resort Developers," The Petrelis Files, November 16, 2005.
 * Michael Petrelis, "IRS Files: Bob Woodward's Foundation," The Petrelis Files, November 18, 2005.
 * Editorial: "Mr. Woodward's Sources," Washington Post, November 19, 2005.
 * Tim Rutten, "Woodward Joins a Decadent Dance," Los Angeles Times (Common Dreams), November 19, 2005.
 * John Aravosis, "Is Woodward going to lie again on Larry King, Monday at 9pm Eastern?" AMERICAblog, November 20, 2005.
 * Faiz, "Woodward Reveals Important Clues About White House Smear Campaign," Think Progress, November 21, 2005. re "Larry King Live", November 20, 2005: Transcript from MediaBistro; Video: "I've got a leak to sell you" posted by Crooks and Liars; and AMERICAblog live-blogged the telecast. Faiz: "So, at some point along this chain, someone in the Bush administration changed Valerie Plame’s job affiliation with the CIA, possibly to convince reporters that it was OK to report on her. Were Woodward, Miller, Novak, and Cooper all intentionally deceived about Plame’s status? If so, it strongly suggests the outing of Valerie Plame was not unintentional."
 * Greg Mitchell, "King, for a Day: Woodward on TV Defends Role in Plame Case," Editor & Publisher, November 21, 2005.
 * James Carroll, "The fall of Bob Woodward," Boston Globe, November 21, 2005.
 * Robert Kuttner, "Woodward’s Work. We were on to this guy's act a long time ago. Here, a review of his book, Plan of Attack, from our June 7, 2004, issue," The American Prospect, November 21, 2005.
 * Tom Engelhardt, "Tomgram: Judith Coburn on the Return of Watergate," Tom Dispatch/The Nation, November 22, 2005. Scroll down for Coburn's "Worse than Watergate? The Mother of All Constitutional Crises."
 * David Iqbal, "Newsweek's Fineman blasts Bob Woodward. Political reporter says famed journalist's mission has changed," Daily Record, December 13, 2005.

2006

 * Matt Welch, "From Bob Woodward to Judith Miller. The country’s most reviled reporter is a direct descendant of its most beloved," Reason Online, January 2006.
 * Murray Waas "Did the White House Authorize Leaks to Woodward?," Huffington Post, Feb. 24, 2006.
 * Elizabeth Halloran, "A Muckraker's Day in the Sun," U.S. News & World Report, May 15, 2006.
 * Jay Rosen, "Murray Waas is Our Woodward Now," Press Watch, April 9 2006.
 * Matt Apuzzo and John Solomon, "Calendars Show Armitage Met Reporter," Associated Press (ABC News), August 21, 2006.
 * "Woodward documents Bush's many lies about Iraq war," Bush Leagues/Capitol Hill Blue, September 30, 2006.
 * News Release: "Myth/Fact: Five Key Myths in Bob Woodward's Book," White House, September 30, 2006.
 * Michael Gawenda, "Woodward's book damns Bush team," Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), October 2, 2006.
 * News Release: "The Rest of the Story: The Rice-Tenet Meeting," White House, October 3, 2006.
 * News Release: "Setting the Record Straight: Bob Woodward," White House, October 4, 2006.
 * News Release: "Setting the Record Straight: Bob Woodward On 'Meet The Press'," White House, October 9, 2006.
 * Evan Thomas and Richard Wolffe, "The Woodward War. Another book, another political blow. How the Bush team is handling the rain of bad news on Iraq, and what it means for Secretary Rumsfeld's future," Newsweek (MSNBC), October 9, 2006 (issue).