Period 8
October 5, 2013

Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s investigative account of the Watergate cover-up scandal, All the President’s Men, reveals the corruption of President Nixon and his re-election committee by assiduously pursuing sources of information and indicting the guilty parties of sabotage of the opposing Democratic candidates. The two Washington Post reporters describe the process of uncovering the scandal with interviews from sources directly involved and evidence from the Watergate break-in. The reporters follow up on the retrieved evidence, address books, checks, and ledgers, to begin their investigation. They inquire the men charged with the break-in and analyze their bank statements to find a deep involvement of esteemed government officials in an illegal “slush fund”. Both Bernstein and Woodward obtain statements from anonymous sources within Nixon’s administration. Key inside sources such as the anonymous Deep Throat and Hugh Sloane were essential in providing the reporters with indirect clues leading to the truth. Although sources refuse to fully disclose specifics, through persistent investigation, the reporters are able to affirm their suspicions through the multiple accounts they attained. Through extensive interrogations and research, Bernstein and Woodward discover the involvement of the White House and the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) in the illegal campaigning tactics used to secure President Nixon’s reelection into office. Their articles accuse a number of officials in Nixon’s administration, known as the President’s Men, of using criminal methods such as political espionage and false documentation against the Democratic Party.