|
|
|
| SPRING 2008 | Volume 16 Number 1 |
|
Cohen and Woodward Visit UMaine |
|
|
|
|
| SPRING 2008 | Volume 16 Number 1 |
|
Cohen and Woodward Visit UMaine |
|
| In this issue: |
Despite the fact that it was the defining moment at the beginning of
their careers, and despite a long friendship brought about as a direct
result of those events, Bill Cohen and Bob Woodward had never discussed
Watergate with each other. The recent occasion of that first
conversation was a day of events celebrating the tenth anniversary of
Cohen’s donation of his political papers to the University of Maine. |
| Cohen
and Woodward spoke earnestly and modestly about their prominent roles in
uncovering the tangled web that led to President Nixon’s impeachment and
resignation. Carrigan was a young reporter at the time and one of his
first assignments was to cover Cohen’s role on the House Judiciary
Committee. Even with 500 people in the auditorium, Woodward and Cohen
displayed a genuine rapport with each other, drawing the audience in
with their thoughtful reflections and self-effacing banter. The discussion was preceded by welcoming remarks by Dean Joyce Rumery and an introductory video entitled Watergate: Keepers of the Flame, that sought to place the events in context using primary documents and photographs from the Cohen Papers and other historical repositories. Secretary Cohen traditionally invites a well-known figure to address the University of Maine community on a topic of current affairs for the Cohen Lecture. With Bob Woodward as his guest for the 2007 lecture, he particularly requested that we plan a Library event which would highlight the Cohen Papers. The collection includes thirty two boxes of documents generated by Cohen and his staff as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment inquiry beginning in 1973 during Cohen’s first term in Congress. |
|
