Bob Woodward

Bob Woodward is an associate editor of The Washington Post, where he has worked since 1971, and the author of more than 20 nonfiction books on the presidency, 15 of which have reached #1 on The New York Times bestseller list.

Based in Washington, D.C. Org The Washington Post Role Associate Editor & Author

Notable work and positions

The Washington Post — Associate Editor (since 1971)
All the President's Men, The Final Days (with Carl Bernstein) — Author
Fear, Rage, Peril (Trump White House trilogy) — Author
War (2024) — Author

Biography

Bob Woodward was born Robert Upshur Woodward on March 26, 1943, in Geneva, Illinois. He graduated from Yale University in 1965 and served five years as a communications officer in the U.S. Navy before beginning his journalism career at the Montgomery County (Maryland) Sentinel, where he worked as a reporter for about a year before joining The Washington Post's staff in 1971. In 1972, Woodward and colleague Carl Bernstein were assigned to cover the break-in at the Democratic National Committee's Watergate headquarters, and their subsequent reporting on the Nixon administration's cover-up contributed to The Washington Post's 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and Nixon's 1974 resignation. Woodward and Bernstein recounted their reporting in All the President's Men (1974) and the end of the Nixon presidency in The Final Days (1976).

Woodward went on to hold senior editing roles at the Post, including metropolitan editor and, later, assistant managing editor for investigative reporting, before becoming an associate editor, the title he has held since. In 2002, he shared in a second Pulitzer Prize, for National Affairs reporting, as the lead reporter on the Post's coverage of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and their aftermath. Alongside his newspaper work, Woodward has written more than 20 nonfiction books, most examining the workings of the White House and national security establishment across every presidential administration from Richard Nixon to Joe Biden; 15 of his books have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, more than any other contemporary nonfiction author. His titles include The Brethren (1979, with Scott Armstrong), about the Supreme Court; Veil (1987), on the CIA under William Casey; Bush at War (2002) and Plan of Attack (2004), on the Iraq War; State of Denial (2006); and Obama's Wars (2010).

Woodward's reporting on the Trump administration produced three consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers: Fear: Trump in the White House (2018), Rage (2020) and Peril (2021), the last co-authored with Robert Costa; Rage drew on recorded interviews Woodward conducted with Trump, portions of which were later released as the audiobook The Trump Tapes (2022). His most recent book, War, published in October 2024, examines the Biden administration's handling of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East alongside Trump's parallel political comeback.

Career highlights

1. Watergate reporting, 1972–1974With Carl Bernstein, exposed the Nixon administration's abuses of power and cover-up, contributing to The Washington Post's 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and Nixon's resignation.

2. September 11 coverage, Pulitzer Prize, 2002Served as lead reporter on the Post's National Affairs Pulitzer-winning coverage of the September 11 attacks and their aftermath.

3. Trump White House trilogy, 2018–2021Fear, Rage and Peril each debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, drawing on extensive access including recorded interviews with Trump himself.

4. 15 #1 New York Times bestsellersMore than any other contemporary nonfiction author, across more than 20 books spanning nine presidential administrations.