All The President's Book Sellers

Once again, primo Washington D.C., political snoop Bob Woodward pestered folks in his Rolodex in pursuit of a book. And once again, reasonable people might wonder: WTF? 

CNN obtained an advance copy of Woodward’s forthcoming tree killer, War, a peek behind the curtains at our current leaders as they dealt with conflicts around the globe. The book follows Woodward’s standard m.o. of remarkable access and scrupulous reporting from inside the rooms where discussions occurred and decisions made. He conducted hundreds of hours of interviews, and accounts come from aides and confidants and may come from the principals themselves, under cover of anonymity or confirmed in what’s referred to in the reporting biz as “on background.” 

There are descriptions of salty, unvarnished language that President Joe Biden used in reference to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian president Vladimir Putin. That’s more salacious than substantial, as both men could prompt priests to spout off like dock workers. More concerning is the revelation that former president Donald Trump quietly sent COVID testing machines to Putin for his personal use during the height of the pandemic, when such tests were difficult to come by, and has had multiple conversations with Vladdy since leaving the Oval Office. 

Trump’s admiration of Putin is no secret, or at least his regard for a guy who calls all the shots, turfs opponents with impunity and isn’t bound by pesky details such as co-equal branches of government and laws. Woodward is a legend and, at 81, remains nominally an associate editor at the Washington Post, where he made his bones fifty years ago with the Watergate scandal. But most of his efforts for the past forty years have been directed toward books about presidents and the D.C. political elite. Again, it’s fair to ask where Woodward’s priorities lay, reporting news or book sales? 

As the site’s media grump, I’ve hoe’d this row before. In a previous book, Rage, he reported conversations with Trump in which the Prez admitted that he was informed of the potential seriousness of COVID in early 2020, but intentionally downplayed and dismissed the virus, hoping that it would dissipate by fall because he didn’t want it to tank the economy or hurt his re-election chances. As tens of thousands died that summer and many more were affected, Woodward sat on those conversations and left them in book galleys for later release, when releasing them might have affected policy and saved lives. 

Four years later, credible reporting says that Trump extended a favor to an adversary who’d like nothing better than for America to chase its tail and leave him to his autocratic f*ckery. This isn’t historians Michael Beschloss or Douglas Brinkley digging through archives and personal correspondence to paint a picture years later. It’s not even Woodward protecting the identity of his famous Watergate source, Deep Throat, until after he died. It’s current, real-time actions by a man running for president for the third time, the standard bearer for the Republican Party. 

Granted, sending virus tests to Moscow doesn’t rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors or even make the top 10 of the Orange Oaf’s acts and remarks that should be disqualifying. It is, however, part of the bigger picture, and I’d argue that the public has the right to know. What folks choose to do with that knowledge is their choice, but I’m generally in favor of more, not less, information. One might argue that the book’s Oct. 15 release date means that Woodward’s reporting about Trump hits the public sphere before the election, so that voters may factor it into their choices. Or, that it isn’t important enough to change anyone’s mind. But again, the nature of reporting includes elements of timing and immediacy. Woodward almost certainly learned of, or confirmed, Trump’s actions months ago. 

Books such as his require lengthy fact checking, as well as the legal and liability car wash. Perhaps that would have been early enough to affect the conversation and nomination process. He has said of the potential conflict between daily journalism and book reporting, that if he unearthed significant news that “the paper comes first.” That metric suggests that he didn’t think Trump’s largesse toward Putin merited mention before the book dropped. 

Woodward is painstakingly neutral in his books; he often explains that he prefers to describe events or quote people, and let readers make up their own minds. Deciding what and what not to publish, however, is a choice that reporters and editors make every day. Most of those choices don’t involve former presidents and presidential candidates. Most of those reporters aren’t Bob Freakin’ Woodward, who has the luxury of access as well as one of the nation’s most powerful daily platforms at his disposal. To not use it and instead to hoard information for books released at opportune times feeds into the mercenary lean of everyday life and feels less than helpful to the citizenry, something Watergate-era Bob Woodward might have had a few thoughts about.