Schieffer to Woodward: How Can Presidents Prevent Watergate-Type Scandals?

Schieffer to Woodward: How Can Presidents Prevent Watergate-Type Scandals? (Mediaite)

Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer asked the famed investigative duo Woodward and Bernstein if they learned anything from Watergate that could help future presidents can avoid political scandals.

Woodward had one piece of advice, gleamed from Robert McNamara’s lessons from Vietnam.

“The advisors to the president need to sit around with the president and argue with him,” he said, “and say, ‘Wait a minute, let’s look at all the options.’ You have to create a conflict situation. McNamara said what happens in the presidency is no one wants to argue with the president, particularly in front of other advisors. So the president gets isolated and lives in a bubble. And I think you can argue that happens to every president, including this one.”