Carl Bernstein Biography
A native of Washington, D.C, Carl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist and author. He is known for the 1972 original news reporting on the Watergate scandal.
He did the reporting together with Bob Woodward at The Washington Post.
Their investigative work on the scandals led to the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon after numerous government investigations.
Journalist Gene Roberts described the work of Woodward and Bernstein as, “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.”
Carl Bernstein Age
Bernstein was born on February 14th, 1944 in Washington, D.C, USA. He is 76 years old as of 2020.
Carl Bernstein Family
Bernstein is the son of Sylvia (Walker) and Alfred Bernstein. He was born to a Jewish family. There is no more information available about Bernstein’s parents.
He went to Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he worked as circulation and exchange manager for the school’s newspaper Silver Chips.
Carl Bernstein Wife
Bernstein has been married 3 times. He was first married to a fellow reporter at The Washington Post, Carol Honsa in 1968 but they separated in 1972.
In 1976, he got married to Nora Nephron, a writer and director. During his marriage to Ephron Bernstein met Margaret Jay, daughter of British Prime Minister James Callaghan, and the two had an extramarital affair in 1979. By then Bernstein and Ephron had an infant son, Jacob and Ephron were pregnant with their second son, Max.
On learning of her husband’s affair with Jay, Ephron delivered Max prematurely. They divorced in 1980. These events inspired Ephron to write the 1983 novel Heartburn, which was made into a 1986 film with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep starring. In 2003, Bernstein married Christine Kuehbeck and the couple now lives in New York. He has two children from his previous marriage with Ephron; Jacob and Max.
Carl Bernstein Education and Career
He started his journalism career at the age of 16 when he became a copy boy for The Washington Star. However, The Star required a college degree to write for the paper.
Since he had dropped out from the University of Maryland where he was a reporter for the school’s independent daily, The Diamondback and did not intend to finish, Bernstein left to become a full-time reporter for the Elizabeth Daily Journal in New Jersey in 1965.
While at the Elizabeth Daily Journal he won first prize in New Jersey’s press association for investigative reporting, feature writing, and news on a deadline. Bernstein left New Jersey in 1966 and began reporting for The Washington Post, where he covered every aspect of local news and became known as one of the paper’s best writing stylists.
Carl Bernstein Watergate / Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
On a Saturday in June 1972, Bernstein was paired with Bob Woodward, to cover a break-in at the Watergate office complex that had occurred earlier the same morning. Five robbers had been caught red-handed in the complex. This was where the Democratic National Committee had its headquarters.
One of the burglars turned out to be an ex-CIA agent who did security work for the Republicans. In the series of stories that followed, Bernstein and Woodward were able to eventually connect the burglars to a massive slush fund and a corrupt attorney general.
Bernstein was the first to suspect that President Nixon was involved. He later found a laundered check that linked Nixon to the burglary. Bernstein and Woodward’s discoveries led to further investigations of President Nixon and on August 9, 1974, amid hearings by the House Judiciary Committee, Nixon resigned in order to avoid facing impeachment.
Two years after the Watergate burglary and two months before Nixon resigned in 1974, Bernstein and Woodward released the book All the President’s Men. The book drew upon the notes and research accumulated while writing articles about the scandal for the Post.
It remained on best-seller lists for six months. In 1975 it was turned into a movie with Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein and Robert Redford as Woodward. It was later went nominated in multiple Oscar including Best Picture nomination, Golden Globe and BAFTA categories.
A second book, The Final Days, was published by Bernstein and Woodward in 1976 as a follow-up of Nixon’s last days in office.
Carl Bernstein Net Worth
He has a net worth of $5 Million.
Carl Bernstein Height
Carl’s height is unknown.
Carl Bernstein Books
Bernstein has written 6 books. These are;
- All The President’s Men
- The Final Days
- The Secret Man
- His Holiness: John Paul II
- History of Our Time
- A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Loyalties
Carl Bernstein Twitter