All the President's Men Revisited

Man: GOOD EVENING.

PRESIDENT NIXON REPORTEDLY WILL ANNOUNCE

HIS RESIGNATION TONIGHT.

VICE PRESIDENT FORD WILL BECOME

THE NATION'S 38th PRESIDENT TOMORROW.

THAT WORD COMES UNOFFICIALLY FROM AIDES AND ASSOCIATES...

Man #2: THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN PART OF POLITICS

FOR 28 YEARS NOW,

PART OF THE NATIONAL POLITICAL SCENE

FOR ABOUT 24 OF THOSE YEARS,

AND THIS APPEARS TO BE

THE FINAL DAY OF HIS ADMINISTRATION.

Man #3: TONIGHT AT 9:00 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

WILL ADDRESS THE NATION

CONCERNING DEVELOPMENTS TODAY AND OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS.

THIS HAS, OF COURSE, BEEN A DIFFICULT TIME.

Man #4: THIS IS INDEED AN HISTORIC DAY,

THE ONLY TIME A PRESIDENT HAS EVER RESIGNED FROM OFFICE

IN OUR NEARLY 200 YEARS OF HISTORY.

YOU SEE THE WHITE HOUSE THERE.

IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS NOW,

PRESIDENT NIXON WILL BE APPEARING BEFORE THE PEOPLE,

PERHAPS FOR THE LAST TIME AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

HAVE YOU GOT AN EXTRA CAMERA IN CASE THE LIGHTS GO OUT?

Man:

15 seconds to air, please.

I KNOW.

THIS WAS MUCH WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.

NIXON WAS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.

WHAT HAPPENED WAS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.

Brokaw: HE VIOLATED THE LAW,

HE COMPROMISED THE OFFICE,

AND HE LEFT A DEEP AND WIDE BLACK MARK

IN AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY.

NO, THERE WILL BE NO PICTURE.

JUST TAKE IT RIGHT NOW.

THIS IS RIGHT AFTER THE BROADCAST.

YOU GOT IT?

COME ON.

OKAY.

THAT'S ENOUGH.

THANKS.

MY FRIEND OLLIE ALWAYS WANTS TO TAKE A LOT OF PICTURES.

I'M AFRAID HE'LL CATCH ME PICKING MY NOSE.

Maddow: I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT

THAT GUY WAS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

BECAUSE HE IS JUST BRANDED

IN OUR NATIONAL MEMORY AS A CROOK,

AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND

THE WRONG APPROACH TO EXECUTIVE POWER

THAT LED NIXON TO THOSE CRIMES.

OH, YOU WANT A LEVEL, DON'T YOU?

YES, YES.

GOOD EVENING.

THIS IS THE 37th TIME

I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU FROM THIS OFFICE,

WHERE SO MANY DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE

THAT SHAPED THE HISTORY OF OUR NATION.

NEED ANY MORE?

Bradlee: THERE WAS GOOD IN HIM.

HE HAD BEEN A GOOD VICE PRESIDENT,

BUT HE WAS A FATALLY FLAWED MAN

AND A FATALLY FLAWED PRESIDENT.

Scarborough: RICHARD NIXON, A GUY WHO HAD BEEN

A HERO TO MILLIONS OF AMERICANS --

HERE'S A GUY WHO RECEIVED MORE VOTES THAN ANYBODY ELSE

IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY,

BUT THE RICHARD NIXON THAT THEY SUPPORTED THROUGH THE YEARS

WAS NOT THE RICHARD NIXON THAT THEY THOUGHT THEY KNEW.

EVERY GENERATION HAS TO LOSE THEIR VIRGINITY,

AND IT WAS JUST THE DAY THAT MY GENERATION DID,

BUT TO THINK THAT WE'RE THE ONLY GENERATION

THAT HAD THAT EXPERIENCE

IS PROBABLY THE MISTAKE THAT A LOT OF GENERATIONS MAKE.

Man: HE IS READY BEFORE THE CAMERAS NOW.

PRESIDENT RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON,

37th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

THROUGHOUT THE LONG AND DIFFICULT PERIOD OF WATERGATE,

I HAVE FELT IT WAS MY DUTY TO PERSEVERE.

WATERGATE DOESN'T GO AWAY

BECAUSE IT WAS SO EXTRAORDINARY.

IT WAS SO HIDDEN.

Carville: WE ACT LIKE IT CAN'T HAPPEN AGAIN,

AND THEY DID A LOT OF STUFF AFTER IT.

THERE WAS A LOT OF HOO-HA-ing

AND PASSING LAWS AND GIVING SPEECHES,

BUT IF YOU ASK ME DO I THINK WE LEARNED ANYTHING FROM IT?

NO.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN A QUITTER.

TO LEAVE OFFICE BEFORE MY TERM IS COMPLETED

IS ABHORRENT TO EVERY INSTINCT IN MY BODY.

BUT AS PRESIDENT,

I MUST PUT THE INTERESTS OF AMERICA FIRST.

Redford: A PRESIDENT HAD BEEN DRIVEN FROM OFFICE

BECAUSE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

HAD LEARNED THE TRUTH ABOUT RICHARD NIXON.

BUT HOW WE LEARNED THE TRUTH -- THAT FASCINATED ME.

NIXON'S DOWNFALL HAD BEGUN TWO YEARS EARLIER,

WHEN FIVE MEN WERE CAUGHT SPYING AND WIRETAPPING

AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS

AT AN OFFICE COMPLEX CALLED WATERGATE.

OVER AT THE WASHINGTON POST, TWO ROOKIE REPORTERS,

BOB WOODWARD AND CARL BERNSTEIN, PICKED UP THE STORY.

THEIR INVESTIGATION WOULD UNFOLD LIKE A POLITICAL THRILLER.

AND SO I THOUGHT THAT THE PART THAT THEY PLAYED

IN EXPOSING THE SCANDAL WOULD MAKE A MOVIE --

MAYBE EVEN A GOOD MOVIE.

Man: ALL RIGHT, ROB. ACTION.

IN HOLLYWOOD TERMS,

WOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN WERE THE GOOD GUYS,

AND THEIR WEAPON WAS THE WRITTEN WORD.

DID HE CONFIRM IT? ABSOLUTELY.

WE'VE GOT TO TELL BRADLEE.

I PLAYED BOB WOODWARD IN THE FILM.

CARL BERNSTEIN WAS PLAYED BY DUSTIN HOFFMAN.

Hoffman: ONE OF THE THINGS I HAD OBSERVED WITH CARL

IS THAT HE SMOKED SO INCESSANTLY,

AND CARL WAS ALWAYS --

ALWAYS HAD ASHES ON HIS TIE AND HIS SHIRT,

AND I SAID, "THAT'S GOT TO BE IN THE MOVIE."

IS THERE ANY PLACE YOU DON'T SMOKE?

Redford: 40 YEARS LATER, THE TWO INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS

ARE BACK IN THE WASHINGTON POST NEWSROOM.

I JOINED THEM FOR A REUNION WITH BEN BRADLEE...

I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU.

...THEIR FORMER EDITOR.

YOU'RE LOOKING LIKE A WORKING REPORTER.

IT'S THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES WE'VE ALL BEEN TOGETHER.

HELLO, ROBERT.

HOW ARE YOU?

IT'S TEMPTING TO THINK

THAT WATERGATE COULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN,

BUT THESE TWO REPORTERS AND THEIR EDITOR KNOW BETTER.

Bradlee: COME ON. I LOOK PRETTY DAMN GOOD, CONSIDERING.

Woodward: YES. IT WAS ONLY 40 YEARS AGO.

I WANTED TO DIG DEEPER INTO THEIR STORY

AND TO SEE WHAT, IF ANY, IMPACT IT HAD

ON OUR CULTURE TODAY.

Leibovitz: OKAY. SO, CARL...

LET ME GET THESE GUYS OUT OF THEIR MISERY.

VANITY FAIR PHOTOGRAPHER ANNIE LEIBOVITZ IS HERE

TO DOCUMENT THE THREE MEN WHO TOOK ON A PRESIDENT.

FOR BOB WOODWARD, WATERGATE STARTED

MUCH THE SAME WAY MOST STORIES DO --

WITH A PHONE CALL FROM HIS EDITOR.

THE MOMENT -- THE TIME I GOT THE CALL,

00 A.M. ON SATURDAY MORNING, JUNE 17th...

THAT'S GOOD.

...NO ONE FLASHED A MESSAGE TO ME,

"THIS IS GONNA BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DAYS

OF YOUR LIFE."

Bernstein: I WAS IN THE OFFICE THAT DAY,

AND I SAW ALL THIS COMMOTION

AROUND THE CITY DESK ON THIS SATURDAY MORNING.

I WENT TO FIND OUT WHAT IT WAS,

AND THERE WAS THIS MOMENT IN HISTORY

THAT BECAME KNOWN AS WATERGATE.

Brokaw: WOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN,

FOR THOSE OF US WHO WERE IN THE PROFESSION --

I THINK WE WERE QUICKLY IN AWE OF WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

Abramson: I BECAME TRULY INSPIRED

BY BOTH THEIR INCREDIBLE INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

AND THEIR STORYTELLING.

Redford: I REMEMBER THINKING

WHEN I FIRST READ THE WOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN ARTICLES,

"WHERE'S THIS GOING?"

ESPECIALLY COMING IN THE MIDST

OF ALL THE TURMOIL THAT WAS PLAYING OUT

IN THE STREETS AROUND THE COUNTRY.

[ SIREN WAILS, INDISTINCT SHOUTING ]

PRESIDENT NIXON'S FIRST TERM IN OFFICE HAD BEEN MARRED

BY LOUD, FREQUENT, AND SOMETIMES VIOLENT PROTESTS,

LARGELY AGAINST THE VIETNAM WAR.

IT REALLY DID SEEM LIKE THE WORLD WAS UNRAVELING.

GROWING UP IN A SUBURBAN EXISTENCE WITH PARENTS,

YOU SAW CHICAGO IN 1968 ERUPT INTO FLAMES,

SAW PEOPLE BURNING THEIR DRAFT CARDS,

SAW SEXUAL REVOLUTION,

SAW A DRUG REVOLUTION,

SAW WOODSTOCK COME INTO THEIR HOMES.

AND VIETNAM IS THE AMERICAN...

Krogh: WHEN I JOINED THE NIXON WHITE HOUSE,

THERE WERE A LOT OF DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE WAR.

IT PROBABLY WAS SOME OF THE MOST INTENSE TIMES

I THINK OUR COUNTRY HAD EVER FACED.

I MEAN, OFTEN WE WERE FEELING

LIKE WE WERE IN A STATE OF SIEGE.

Man: HOLD ON! HOLD ON!

YOU FELT IT PHYSICALLY.

Man #2: GET DOWN! GET HIM OUT OF HERE!

AND WE KNEW THAT WE WERE GONNA HAVE TO PROTECT THE WHITE HOUSE.

THERE WAS A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT USING TROOPS

DIRECTLY FACING THE DEMONSTRATORS,

WHICH I FELT COULD LEAD TO DIRECT CONFRONTATIONS

AND CONFLICTS,

AND SO IT CAME TO ME --

WHY DON'T WE DO WHAT JOHN WAYNE DID?

LET'S JUST CIRCLE THE WHITE HOUSE WITH BUSES --

NOT WAGONS, BUT WITH BUSES, WHICH IS WHAT WE DID.