Forty years ago, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein broke the story for the Washington Post about the members of President Nixon's staff playing a role in breaking into the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. Woodward and Bernstein recently reflected on the Watergate story on CBS' "Face the Nation":
Woodward said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Nixon never talked about what was good for the country. "It was always about Nixon," Woodward said, and Nixon's desire for personal revenge was strong.
The two legendary journalists discussed Watergate and Nixon's historic resignation as president one day after the 40th anniversary of his departure.
Bernstein said while it's possible to have empathy for the embattled former president, he added, "you also have to recognize the criminality from the beginning of the presidency to the end of the presidency."
Through the initial reporting of Woodward and Bernstein, as well as a formal Congressional investigation, it was learned that Nixon knew about the Watergate break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, despite his administration’s attempt to cover the president’s tracks.
While being impeached by the House, Nixon did resign before being convicted by the Senate, and received a presidential pardon from Gerald Ford. But other members of his administration were not quite so lucky. Some of those involved in the Watergate scandal served time in prison, others received reduced sentences in exchange for testimony. Many officials were not implicated at all.
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