The Story of a Start

A young Woodward (on the right) with partner Carl Bernstein

Today, Bob Woodward is recognized as one of the finest investigative reporters of his era (Although he prefers the title in-depth reporter).  However, before he could earn that title he had to learn his craft. And before he could learn his craft, he had to get hired. That 1st hiring was no easy task. In fact, if it hadn't been for the wife of a Washington Post editor, Woodward might never had been at the Post to chronicle the Watergate story which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

During a conversation tonight at The Newseum, Woodward detailed the tale of persistence and pluck that led to his Post hiring.

After completing his Navy career, Woodward, the son of a Midwestern attorney, considered the idea of law school. However, he also liked to write and since he was living only a few blocks from the Washington Post, he decided to ask for a job at the paper.

Woodward directed his request to editor Harry Rosenfeld. As Woodward remembers, Rosenfeld was so amused that a reporter want-to-be with no experience would seek a job at the Post, that he called other editors over to check out this brazen candidate. But Rosenfeld agreed to give Woodward a 2-week trial.

"I wrote some stories, but none of them were any good and they didn't make the paper," Woodward said. Rosenfeld said that Woodward wasn't ready for the Post, but the editor did help him get a job at a small weekly in the Maryland suburbs.

During his year at the weekly, Woodward kept besieging Rosenfeld for a job. Woodward said he obtained the editor's home phone and called him on the weekend.

He reached Rosenfeld's wife, Sylvia, who said she would go get her husband. After a long wait, Rosenfeld came on the phone. He had been up on the roof and he was mad. "What kind of idiot are you?" Rosenfeld hollered over the phone. "Stop bothering me." After abruptly hanging up, Rosenfeld told Woodward's story to Sylvia. She looked at him and said "Harry, you're always saying your reporters don't work hard and aren't persistent. It seems this is the guy you should be hiring." Rosenfeld considered his wife's words, called Woodward back, and offered him a job at $156 a week..

"Sylvia has a prominent place in my will," Woodward said with a laugh.

Two qualities that a successful reporter needs are curiosity and the ability to get people to open up with information and Woodward addressed both in his remarks.

During his early years, Woodward worked as a janitor at his father's law office. Working at night, he began looking at papers and files left on desks. Eventually, he graduated to exploring old case files, many of them involving former classmates. "I learned that most people have secrets," Woodward said.

So how to you get people to talk about those secrets? Woodward's short answer - "The key is to take people as seriously as they take themselves," he says.

As an example, he cited an in-depth interview he was able to arrange with President George W. Bush. In preparation for that interview, Woodward read tremendous amounts of background material which he then synthesized in a 21-page memo he sent to President. His fellow editors scoffed. "Bush hasn't read that much material in life. What makes you think he'll start now?," they offered. But apparently Bush was impressed with Woodward's thoroughness. When the president met with Woodward, he said he was "astonished that someone took such an interest in what he did."

But in the end, good reporting mostly comes down to hard work, Woodward says. "What a reporter does is obtain the best obtainable version of the truth (at the time)," he said. ""If you don't do the work, you're going to get it wrong.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips

A young Bob Woodward wanna-be, 3rd from right with hand on chin

All of us have a story about how we got our 1st job. Woodward's appears above. Mine is somewhat similar. And like Woodward's it is about reporting. In June of 1974 (3 years after Woodward was hired by the Post), I had an English degree from Villanova University, a wife, and a 1-year-old son, but no permanent job. Desperate, I began walking down the main street of the small South Jersey town where I lived, literally going door-to-door asking for work. One of my last stops was the local newspaper. I was able to finagle an interview with the managing editor Joe Garwood. He asked me 3 questions. Did I have any experience? No. Did I have a journalism degree? No. Could I type? No. Garwood said that while he liked to hire locally, I really had nothing to offer. Despondent, I returned home. That night, at 7 p.m. Garwood called, saying that a reporter had suffered a stroke and he would start me tomorrow on a two-week trial. I would make $80 a week. I readily agreed. At the end of the 2 weeks, Garwood agreed to hire me permanently and gave me a $20 raise. For the next 10 years, I worked as a reporter/bureau chief/editor for The Bridgeton Evening News, The Press of Atlantic City, and the Philadelphia Bulletin. So, in one way, I guess I could claim I was more successful than Bob Woodward. I passed my 2-week trial and he didn't. But when it comes to talent, production, fame, and money, I suppose I have to give the reporter's edge to Woodward.