1.11.19: Nation – (Politics): Mr. Bob Woodward, the renowned investigative journalist who in 1972 co-wrote much of the original reporting on the Watergate scandal, in early September of last year added his name to a list of authors who’ve profiled the chaotic Trump presidency.
In its first week, Mr. Woodward’s literary effort, Fear: Inside the Trump White House, sold more than 1.1 million copies, which had the highest first-week sales of any book in Simon & Schuster’s 94-year history.
Compared to titles of similar content – such as Omarosa Manigault Newman’s Unhinged, which was also published by Simon & Schuster and only sold 34,000 copies in its first week – Mr. Woodward’s book is an undeniable hit, trailed only by Mr. Michael Wolf’s Fire and Fury, which sold 1.7 million copies across its first three weeks and which is said to have a sequel forthcoming.
Considered America’s most famous investigative journalist, Mr. Woodward told me last week by phone that his 448-page non-fiction book stands alone in a crowded marketplace. It’s the depth and specificity of what’s reported that allows Fear to present readers a unique value proposition, the 75-year-old associate editor of The Washington Post suggested.
President Donald Trump’s unfortunate temperament is no secret. Neither is the dysfunctional climate of the White House, which undoubtedly leads to the unnerving high staff turnover. But Mr. Woodward, who has written about nine U.S. presidents, said that before his book’s September 11th publishing, many shocking occurrences at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave were unknown.
It was not known that Mr. Gary Cohen, then the president’s economic advisor, was stealing documents off the president’s desk so that he wouldn’t sign them,
Mr. Woodward, referring to Mr. Trump’s rumored intention to exit from the North American Free Trade Agreement and a trade deal with South Korea, said to me on the 3rd of this month during a 30-minute phone call.
The Illinois-born, Yale University graduate also touted that his book illuminates the feelings that Mr. John Dowd, then the president’s lead lawyer handling responses to the Russia investigation, had for his client.
Mr. Dowd considered the president a “fucking liar” who would have ended up in an orange jumpsuit had he testified before Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the book alleges.
Mr. Dowd, who in March of 2018 resigned his post due to disagreements with the president over strategy, said Mr. Woodward misquoted him and that the allegation of a mock interview in which he acted as Mr. Mueller was false. However, the gray-haired and bespectacled author stands by his account, even repeating the expletive on Thursday night during a stop in Philadelphia to promote the book.
Here’s what he said in a conversation with WHYY’s Marty Moss-Coane.
I was able to get a lot of information about Trump first lawyer, John Dowd, who worked with Trump for eight months on the Mueller investigation. Dowd is very much someone who favors Trump, likes him, worked intimately with him, and finally concluded that he could not testify because he’s a lair. And, in fact, the last line in my book is… Dowd’s conclusion was, and he didn’t want to say it to Trump, but the conclusion was ‘you’re a fucking liar.’ Now that’s not Nancy Pelosi or someone on CNN or MSNBC. That’s his own lawyer.
On stage at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia, Mr. Woodward reiterated to Mrs. Moss-Coane many of the same things he said to me over the phone. He warned of an immediate governing crisis and lamented Mr. Trump’s impulsivity and lack of strategy. But what was new was the journalist’s public rebuke of the Republican Party.
The Republican party needs to find its conscious on the governing issue,
stated Mr. Woodward, who on Thursday recalled then Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona telling Mr. Richard Nixon that there were too many crimes and too many lies for he and others in the GOP to stand by him.
Mr. Nixon resigned the next day following his conversation with Mr. Goldwater,
Mr. Woodward said. But Mr. Woodward told me he doesn’t anticipate Mr. Trump resigning amid scandal. It all depends on what Mr. Mueller finds, he said.
But despite the chaos, Mr. Woodward doesn’t doubt the president’s love for America. And yesterday, he said he’s sure Mr. Trump doesn’t awake each day determined to screw up the country. Nonetheless, Mr. Woodward contends that in the Oval Office is a neophyte without a to-do list who is putting the country in jeopardy.
“It’s time to be worried,” Mr. Woodward told me.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® and I’m Drumming for Justice!™
Christopher “Flood the Drummer®” Norris is an award-winning journalist, online content producer and professional drummer currently serving as the CEO of Techbook Online, a Philadelphia-based news and event company, and the host of the Drumming for Justice podcast. Subscribe here.
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Image credit: Simon & Schuster
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