Bob Woodward

Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward helped break the story of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Woodward and Carl Bernstein were young city beat reporters assigned to cover a 1972 burglary at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate Hotel. Their persistent investigation revealed a trail of political skullduggery that led directly to the White House and brought down Nixon two years later. Woodward and Bernstein summed up the story in All the President's Men, the 1974 best-selling book made into a 1976 film with Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein. (The book also introduced the world to Deep Throat, the shadowy informant who helped the reporters crack the story.) Woodward became one of America's most famous journalists, with fans who applaud his attention to detail and detractors who question his credibility. He has written or co-written several bestsellers, including The Final Days (1976, with Bernstein), The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court (1979, with Scott Armstrong), Veil: The Secret Wars of the C.I.A., 1981-1987 (1987) and The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House (1994). He gained unusual access to the White House during the administration of George W. Bush, resulting in three books about the war in Iraq. Bush at War (2002) and Plan of Attack (2004) were both viewed as positive reviews of Bush's presidency, but State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III (2006) depicted the president's leadership as clumsy at best.

Extra credit: Woodward graduated from Yale in 1965 and was a communications officer with the U.S. Navy before joining the Post in 1971... He has remained associated with the post, with the title of Assistant Managing Editor since 1981.