Journalists

Ben Bradlee

Bill Thompson

Fifty years ago this week a group of burglars broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, DC.

They were sent there by – and paid by – operatives working to re-elect President Richard M. Nixon.

Those DNC offices were located in a Washington complex called The Watergate, where a security guard. found the burglars and caught them.

And the whole thing might have been successfully covered up, if not for the relentless pursuit of the story but two young Washington Post reporters, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

Backed by their editor Ben Bradlee, and the paper’s publisher, Katharine Graham, Woodward and Bernstein eventually unraveled the scandal now known simply as Watergate.

It was a time that changed American politics, and American journalism, permanently.

Each of the interviews will be featuring this week on Now. I’ve Heard Everything is centered on one figure from the Watergate scandal.

On Wednesday, my conversations with the former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, who was a central figure in the conspiracy and cover-up.

And then on Friday, the man often called the mastermind of the DNC break-in, former FBI agent and Nixon operative G. Gordon Liddy.

But first, in today’s episode, the iconic and renowned Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. He took over at the Post in 1965, in the thick of Vietnam, the civil Rights movement and a changing journalism landscape.

And although Watergate may be the thing he is best remembered for now, it was not the only major story he was involved in.

I met Ben Bradlee in 1995, when he wrote his autobiography, a book called A Good Life.

So here now, from 1995, Ben Bradlee.

Ben Bradlee died in 2014. He was 93.

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Helen Thomas
Sam Donaldson

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Mika Brzezinski

Bill Thompson
Photo: World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

She is one of the most visible faces in television news. For 15 years she has co-hosted MSNBC’s Morning Joe program.

But before that, Mika Brzezinski ;s future in television news was anything but certain. In fact, she wasn’t sure she had a future.

Through a little bit of luck, a lot of hard work, and a persistence that just wouldn’t give up, Brzezinski earned her way back into TV news, and eventually the Morning Joe co-host slot.

I met her in 2010 when she wrote a memoir that was also a motivational book for women called All Things at Once.

So here now, from 2010, Mika Brzezinski .

Mika Brzezinski celebrated her 55th birthday last month. She and her first husband divorced in 2016. She’s been married to her MSNBC co-host Joe Scarborough since 2018.

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Joan Lunden
Deborah Norville

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Framl Deford

Bill Thompson
Photo: Bridgeport Conn. Public Library

For more than half a century, Frank Deford wrote for Sports Illustrated magazine and for 37 of those years he was also heard regularly on NPR, and seen on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Six times, Deford was voted national sports writer of the year by the National Sportscasters and Sports Writers Association.

But after all those years it took him until 2012 to finally write his memoir, a book. He called Over Time.

I had met Frank a couple of times before that, but it was nice to see him again to talk about his book as we sat and chatted in a Washington DC hotel lobby.

So here now, from 2012, Frank Deford.

Framl Deford died in 2017. He was 78.

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Tom Boswell
Roy Firestone

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Helen Thomas

Bill Thompson

At most news organizations, the White House beat is a coveted plum assignment.

But it’s a difficult, stressful, and highly competitive job. Most correspondence last only a few years at best.

One exception was UPI correspondent Helen Thomas. She covered the White House for over 50 years, and covered 10 presidents from Kennedy to Obama.

I met her in 1999 when, at the age of 79, she wrote a memoir called Front Row At The White House

So here now from 1999, Helen Thomas.

Helen Thomas died in 2013 at age 92.

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Sam Donaldson
Jim Brady

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Deborah Norville

Bill Thompson
Photo: Stuart Ramson/InsiderImages for Scholastic

Have you counted your blessings today?

If you haven’t, maybe you should. It might be good for your health.

So says TV journalist. Deborah Norville.

In 2007, the anchor of inside edition wrote a book about gratitude, thankfulness, and how that can actually change. Not just your attitude, but you’re very health.

I have the chance to speak with her for a few minutes about that book. So here now, from 2007, Deborah Norville.

Deborah Norville is 63. She’s been anchor of TV’s “Inside Edition” since 1995

Tom Boswell

Bill Thompson

In 1969, shortly after he graduated from college, Thomas Boswell joined the staff of the Washington Post. Over the next 15 years he honed his craft as a sportswriter, eventually earning his own column in the post in 1984.

What Boswell brought to his columns was more than just an account of balls and Strikes, touchdowns and field goals, holes-in-one or hat-tricks.

He brought a literary sensibility, often diving deep into the personal lives of the sports stars, and would be stars, that he covered.

Oh, he knew all the technical stuff, but his real strength was his ability to bring out the personalities.

I interviewed Tom Boswell many times over the years, including this interview from 1994, for his book Crackimg The Show.

And, like all of Tom Boswell’s columns, I think this interview has stood the test of time. Well, you tell me.

So here now, from 1994, Tom Boswell.

Tom Boswell is 73 now. He retired from the Washington Post at the end of June this year, after 52 years never working for any paper other than the Washington Post.

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David Brinkley

Bill Thompson

Young journalist David Brinkley first came to Washington, D.C. in 1943, just as World War II was transforming the nation’s capital.

The sleepy Southern town that had been home to a small federal government suddenly burgeoned into a major city filled with office buildings, bureaucracy, lobbyists, and lots of money.

After the wa, in 1956, NBC paired Brinkley with Chet Huntley to co-anchor their nightly news.

After leaving NBC in the 1970s, Brinkley joined ABC, where he was the founding host of the Sunday morning show “This Week.” He retired in 1997.

It was in the late 1980s that Brinkley wrote his first book, on account of the War years called Washington Goes to War. It became a major bestseller. And that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1989, David Brinkley.

David Brinkley died in 2003. He was 82.

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Carl T. Rowan

Bill Thompson

As a young journalist in the 1950s, Carl T. Rowan covered the emerging civil rights movement, and its leaders, including people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

The reputation he built came to the attention of President John F. Kennedy, who, in 1961, name Rowan to a high level position in the State Department.

And in 1963, Kennedy appointed Rowan ambassador to Finland.

Row and remain in the government for three years after Kennedy’s assassination, before resuming what would be a long and acclaimed journalism career.

I first met him in 1991, what he wrote a memoir called Breaking Barriers.

In this interview, you’ll also hear a reference to “thje gun incident” — in 1988 Rowan confronted an intruder at his home, and shot and wounded him with what turned out to be an unregistered handgun.

So here now, from 1991, Carl T. Rowan.

Carl T, Rowan died in 2000, at age 75.

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Roger Mudd

Bill Thompson

If you were in network TV news 50 or 60 years ago, the place to be was the CBS News Washington DC bureau.

CBS was long considered the gold standard of television news – after all, Edward R, Murrow helped shape and define it.

Among the roster of journalism heavyweights in the bureau was Roger Mudd. He had a front-row seat to that historic 20-year period from 1960 to 1980, which he wrote about in a 2008 memoir. That’s when I met him.

So here now, from 2008, Rodger Mudd

Roger Mudd died 10 days ago. He was 93.

Joan Lunden

Bill Thompson

For nearly 20 years Joan Lunden was the co-host of ABC’s Good Morning America. Millions woke up every morning to her cheerful, reassuring, and professional presence.

As a journalist, Lunden interviewed presidents and royalyu. She covered the Olympics. She bungee-jumped.

In 1997. she left the show — and was a bit taken aback by what other people assumed she must have been feeling.

I met her just a little over a year aftrer her last brodcast on GMA. She had written a book called A Bend in the Road is Not The End of the Road.

So here now, from 1998, Joan Lunden:

Joan Lunden is 70 now. Since leaving GMA, Lundern has written eight books. And since 2014 she’s been a special correspondent for NBC’s Today Show.