Hundreds of people descended on the Monterey Conference Center April 30, for the third installment of the Panetta Institute’s 2018 lecture series, which featured the two most famous journalists of the modern era, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who broke the Watergate story that led to the downfall of former President Richard Nixon.
Also featured was former longtime Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus, who served as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff until last July.
The topic du jour was the American presidency and how it impacts “the American Dream,” moderated by former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
Among the most unexpected answers of the night, to a question about who was the best president in their lifetime, came from Woodward, who named Gerald Ford. Surprisingly, it was for having pardoned Nixon, which Woodward later came to understand, when interviewing Ford, was done to unify the nation – at the cost of Ford’s re-election hopes. Channeling Ford, Woodward said, “This is a job of stewardship.”
Priebus drew derision from the crowd when he said Trump is delivering on his promises. “You’re all hissing and booing over immaterial garbage,” Priebus told the crowd. “Enjoy your tax cuts in Monterey.”
On the topic of communication, Bernstein said he’s happy Trump tweets so much – “[It’s] Trump at his most truthful.”
Woodward said he was struck when interviewing Trump two years ago when he asked how he defined power. “Real power is fear,” he recalls Trump telling him.
“He scares people,” Woodward said. “He scared the hell out of Kim Jong Un.”