Book Presentation

In The Secret Man, Woodward reveals the identity of Deep Throat, the confidential source behind his investigative reporting on the Watergate scandal. Breaking his 33-year secrecy of guarding journalism’s best-kept secret, Woodward names Mark Felt, who was then the Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Secret Man takes the form of a personal narrative in which Woodward recalls how his initial friendship developed into the clandestine relationship, complete with secret meetings in an underground parking garage, where Felt funneled him crucial inside information that helped Woodward and fellow reporter Carl Bernstein make their most significant breaks on the Watergate case. Woodward speculates upon Felt’s motivations as well as his own, discussing his struggles with the decision to preserve Felt’s confidentiality over the last 30 years. He speaks emphatically about the importance of confidential sources to the integrity of journalism and he also addresses the difficulty of his recent decision to go public now that the senescent Felt has admitted his own identity.

Bob Woodward is currently a nationally known reporter and assistant managing editor at the Washington Post, where he began his life-long career in 1971. Woodward has published 10 books and has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes for the Post’s coverage of Watergate in 1973, and more recently for his Post contributions covering the aftermath of 9/11.

This is a summary and not a critique or a review of the book. It does not offer judgment or opinion on the content of the book.  This summary may not be organized chapter-wise but is an overview of the main ideas, viewpoints and arguments from the book as a whole. This means that the organization of this summary is not a representation of the book.