Ladies and john but we welcome to the podium. [inaudible] hi everybody, it has been so wonderful tonight to meet so many old friends, and reconnect with so many people. So tonight we salute the talented journalists who have signed up to work their hearts out, undaunted by the financial gloom and our industry. So lets raise a glass to those who keep telling amazing stories, and showing us why we must continue to care. Your jobs require more knowledge, more skill than ever. And the wellbeing of our citizens depends on your success. So as you know, the u. S. Military believes it should never send an officer on a Difficult Mission without proper training. They dont say, as before and correspondence were once told, off you go, youll figure it out. Oh and file before you land. Our journalists are in a fight for their life. And they deserve all of the training and support we can possibly muster to help them cover and ever more complex world. Here is what nps is doing to help. The National Press foundation is training and educating journalist paired mpf logs Record Number of training days in 2019 teaching journalist about issues from az. It took reported to the Pacific Ocean to learn about the impact of Climate Change on oceans in the region. Gabe reported to deep dive on Dementia Research and care. We brought reporters uptodate on vaccines and infectious diseases. We taught them about science and agriculture and how food gets from farm to table. We looked up laws and reforms in the criminal Justice System and we brought statehouse and local government reporters to washington to learn about tools and resources they can use back home. Our paul muller fellowship is given the next generation of report is a ninemonth tutorial on how to cover washington, congress, white house, and executive agencies like the pentagon. I think this program is give me a wealth of knowledge and not in terms of context but data thats available out there. A lot of insights and resources at a perspective that is going to help me better protas and report on some of these stories. I already have two or three specific story ideas i am ready to pursue us into the radio back. This program really puts into perspective some of the data on issues that i report on. Two or three weeks after we learn how to cover courts and the department of justice, there were packets mailed to congress and i had to cover the justice department. I was only able to do that because of the great session on how to approach them for reporting trade so enjoy the people who really take times to walk us through regulatory systems but it would take a long time to figure out on your own. These are actually stories people want and need. And then i can provide them tillman thats a great feeling. [applause] before we move onto the rest of tonights awards, we would like to pause for a moment to recognize the incredible contributions that our retiring president , Sandy Johnson, has made to the National Press foundation. Heres a short video that talks about her impressive career. As president of the npf, sandy has made Journalism Training Program the Gold Standard in getting journalists the tools and knowledge they need. She has worked tirelessly to extend the foundations reach. Bringing a new financial support, recruiting and moving a strong effective team. And representing, always the highest values of our craft. Her claim to fame is a call that she didnt make in the 2000 election. There is a lot of pressure on her to call the state of florida and the election for george bush. She said the numbers didnt add up. There were votes missing and she held off. A decision that proved to be rights, and demonstrated her commitment to accuracy and integrity. For her fax matters, words matter. Sandy, you have impacted the lives of thousands of journalists. Our profession is better because of you. On behalf of them and your legions, friends, and admirers, congratulations, thank you and best luck in the future. It has been an honor serving sandy and mpf. By feel like i received more than i got gave. She is organized and hardworking and has been a great example of consensus in leading a group of smart accomplished opinionated folks. There are three things that we all know that Sandy Johnson loves. Her family, quality journalism and baseball and we would hate to rank them. All of us on the npf board have enjoyed working with the over the past 15 years. First as a colleague, then as a board chair, and then your leadership is the National Press foundation. You bring to the table quality journalism, leadership skills, and a sense of humor. Well miss all of that and wish you well next phase of your life. [applause] [applause] we are not done yet. Thank you for your tireless dedication to our mission at the National Press foundation, and for your lifetime of contributions to great journalism in washington. We have some things for you. First,. [inaudible] [laughter] sorry. [laughter] so in recognition of your service as a long time and cf board member and president , we called on politicos worker two is here with us tonight. [applause] the previous winner of the npf award to create a portrait of you which we have right here. [applause] [laughter] so we hope you can find a place for it. Would you like to say anything . Thank you very much, its very much appreciated but lets get this program back on track. [laughter] she is always like that. Anyway we will now continue with the awards presentation. Ladies gentlemen, donna vice chair of the National PressFoundation Board of directors. [applause] are a close enough. Good evening everyone i hope you enjoyed your dinner so far. This is the inaugural year for the Heinrich Foundation award for distinguished reporting on trade. We are so honored that merle heinrich has placed his support for journalism and the National PressClub Foundations hands. And now it is my very great privilege to present the very first heinrich award to my former colleague paul wiseman, joe mcdonald and of the associated press. [applause] National PressFoundation Judges praise the ap series for its big picture historical look at americas trade history. And the reporters for their ability to cut through the political rhetoric with clear, colorful and lively writing. Here to accept their award on behalf of the team are paul and. [applause] first i want to take think the Heinrich Foundation and the National Press foundation and say how proud i am to share with and joe. They are real pros, reporters reporters both of them. Thanks to to aps economics editor. Into Business Editor brad for letting me do this work and for making it better. Hard to believe that for five years ago, trade reporting is almost an afterthought. The u. S. Trade representative was always calling us trying to get us to write about trade. That is not a problem now. [laughter] President Trump has upended trade policies so thoroughly and with such speed, that it is sometimes hard to keep your bearings. I remember a day a couple of years ago word came out he was threatening to put tariffs on 100 billion in chinese imports. It sounded insane. In previous trade battles, sanctions were measured in millions not billions of dollars. Surely it was a bluff. But it wasnt. Things have just escalated from there, the United States is now taxing 360 billion in chinese imports and wall street is just happy it isnt more. The reality has changed, its hard to keep up with the days events, let alone to try to come up with a context that makes sense to readers. At ap we have been looking for unique ways to tell the story, we compared china today to the United States in the late 1700s an early 1800s. Both were dens of intellectual thievery. We look at how businesses respond to trumps their spice shifting out of china and sometimes cheating. We look at trades that fly under the radar. Disputes over turkish cherry tarts and rubber bands from thailand. We will continue to look for angles that provide context and may be are a little bit fun. Some trade watchers expect 2020 to be a quieter year now that has assigned a trade one phase agreement with china. I would not count on it. To live like to say thanks again to the hind direct foundation in the National Press foundation for recognizing a beat should have never been an afterthought and certainly is not one anymore. [applause] this award for excellence in journalism is given annually to u. S. Broadcasters whose body of work represents the highest standard of journalism. Judges praise this years winner, danna basch of cnn good fan climbed there judges praised her for her consistent excellence and reporting in her commitment to fairness. She is a threetime winner of the National Winner of the award. Please join me and honoring danna basch. Two i am danna basch from washington washington doesnt take weekends off and neither do we. You to the question i do the answer welcome to politics am danna basch so danna basch is getting award for excellence in broadcast journalism. That surprises no one. I wish they were giving out awards for great people, great mothers, great friends. You deserved those awards too. And especially this on. Im going to take to the next level and be an activist. You have memory of that moment that you got the email . You also made an accusation the president spending money. [inaudible] what would cnn talk about, there talk a lot more about the issues. My offices next door to dan as an theres lots of shoes, throw pillows and fuzzy blankets on her couch. And a huge wonder woman poster that speaks volumes. But the real live wonder woman as you danna and what you bring to work every single day. Repeal replaces something terrific. Mr. President what was going to your mind it north korean a . What is that speech mean to you . We met what you doing to rig the election . If i told i might have to kill you. Good evening and welcome dana basch, its danna for some reason. A stock about you dumping me for handsome film star. [laughter] i also want to congratulate you on your award, thank you for all you do. You are surely the best of the best. On behalf of the acting president of the United States, i want to congratulate you on this award. Thank god you are there, we need you. Sue maggie are probably the first person in American History or World History to make a joke about your you know what on a debate stage. I only made a joke about my hands, i very powerful hands. Congratulations on this distinguished award. So high danna its brian grandson i wish i could be there with you tonight at the National Press foundations award to you which you so richly deserve. It is now my disembodied friend and i will be talking. [laughter] Dana Bach Fishburne just wanted to congratulate you interNational Press foundation award. Way to go girl. Congratulations to my spirit animal and role model, dana bach known deserves it more. Went to congratulate you interNational Press foundation award. I have to say no ones gotten such this prestigious award kudos my friend. Congratulations on this very welldeserved monarch, are viewers are so lucky to have your excellent reporting and i am truly lucky to call you my friend. We all love you. [applause] [applause] wow, that was incredible. I would see people who knew me well did that because you got all aspects of my life and my very eclectic interest. So thank you from cnn for doing that. Thank you so much, donna, thank you so much Sandy Johnson, congratulations on an incredible term. Think is much the National Press foundation it has been terrific to sit with bob tonight to learn about your father, and your grandfather for whom this award is named. And i know that he, your grandfather specially was so focused on the free and fair media and press, and that is why this award exist. Im so incredibly honored to be here because my son who is actually here tonight he will attest to the fact that when sandy called to tell me about this, we were in the car and i almost drove off the road. I was so surprised because i know the company that i am in tonight. My idols, my mentors, Andrea Mitchell late great trail brazing women Cokie Roberts gwen ifill its really hard to wrap my mind and my head around this. I am just hoping that you guys didnt use the Iowa Democratic party aptitude calculate the votes. [laughter] and if you did, just erase it and will pretend like it never happened. This is really special to me because of where journalism is right now. We heard about how hard it is but i want to look at it from the positive side. That is that i am stopped on a regular basis from the supermarket to the airport were people safe thank you. I just want to thank thank you and shake your hand and they say it which such sincerity and deep emotion, im sure this happens to a lot of people in this room. For me i have to be honest is a little bit jarring at first its not like i am an emergency room doctor, i am not a firefighter, i am not saving lives for a living i am just a person new talks on tv and reports the news. But as time has gone on, these times have gone on, i realize people get it, they do, they get what journalism means more than they have in a direct and trent generation then you bob woodward, and your colleague investigated and broke the watergate stories. And you change the generation and inspired a generation of young people to get into this business. Most people i encounter really understand at a deep level how important it is to get the facts, to get the truth, and even the face of the tax not just on the truth but on those of us who try to tell the truth. I am a really, really lucky to work it in a place where facts matter and they matter a lot. Orchard is guarded, it is protected, and is not taken for granted. I wanted say a special thank you to jeff for leading me and ill make colleagues at cnn and that mission of reporting the facts. Thank you. [applause] so this is my 207th year at cnn. Im a secondgeneration broadcast journalist, my dad was a producer at abc news. [applause] he was a producer at abc news for 40 years and my whole childhood i doubt i was not going to get into this crazy business. I was at the beach as a kid when the pope died we had to leave. [laughter] late nights, early morning, i grew up seeing up close theyre down side of your lives being completely dictated by world events out of your control. But he obviously saw the upside. I grew up and control rooms, i grew up around the rush of adrenaline when news was breaking. It was in my dna, ended a certain point in college i just stopped fighting it. I tried some internships and tv news and really loved it. And i have to say this was a very big surprise to my parents. Lets just say i was a late bloomer and had a little too much fun in high school. My dad likes to say that he is convinced i graduated from high School Without knowing there were three branches of government. [laughter] my mother said he journalism to and like my dad graduated northwestern. But a woman breaking into news, tv news especially in 1967 it was not easy. She graduated with honors from a prestigious university, billing job my mom could get was at a secretary with the local news station where she was expected to iron her bosses pants. She did have a brief stance as an anchor at one of the original cable outlets in chicago but left the business soon after it went on to find her calling as a jewish academic educator. Mom i am so honored to carry the torch, so thankful to you and dad for teaching me so much for this business, but most importantly leading by example and showing me what it means to strive to be a good person and every part of our lives. Thank you. [applause] and speaking of moms, that is my favorite title. It is my favorite job. Thank you to my son jonah, he is here tonight, for making me not just a mom but a very, very proud mom every single day. Thank you. I also want to thank everyone i work with at cnn, anyone who works in tv news knows that the team sport. I want to thank those who i worked with ted barrett i spent a decade within congress. We just heard talk about the estrogen suite where we are in the d. C. Bureau. All of my colleagues, on the Political Team and beyond who are the most collaborative, smart, and really, really fun people that anyone could work with. Thank you dispenser, my cheerleader and person, and all of my dear friends mike old friends who are here and came evening. Lastly i just want to tell you about this locket i am wearing tonight. This was my great grandmother matildas locket and insider pictures in it. She gave it to my grandmother terry my grandmother terry, her daughter. It was the last time they saw each other during world war ii. My grandparents were escaping now to europe to come to america and her parents were proud hungarians and they thought they were going to be safe there. But eventually hitler invaded hungary just like hitler invaded so many countries before, rounded up the jews and matilda my great grandmother, my greatgrandfather rudolph, their daughter and my great aunts, mother were all taken to al switch. Thats where they perished. Last month, it was a 75th anniversary of the liberation and my greatgrandparents didnt make it but their descendents did. We are here, we are thriving, we are living in the greatest democracy in the world. We are helping to make sure truth and facts always prevail. And i thank you for that. Thank you for this award. [applause] ladies and gentlemen welcome to the podium sissy baker. Thank you all very much. The first thing we do play a clip and its a clip of my grandfather. We started these awards in 1980 in honor of best reporting of congress and in his name. So tonights clip, i found, in a piece by abcs howard k smith. It was done in 1969 and he is asked about common light of todays very appropriate. He was asked about how often he was able to change senators minds and how they vote. And at first he was enthusiastic about the answer. And then he sighed again and you will see it in this clip. You think any votes or minds are ever changed on the floor be there house . Oyez not often but sometimes. It depends on the nature of the subject matter and obviously on the type of his speech you make. I think it has happened twice to me. Once uncivil rights because i have dug out that quote from hugo allegedly written the night he died in his diary. When his dad said there is an idea was time to comment stronger than all the armies on earth. Is not a great guy or what. Can you imagine growing up his granddaughter . He always gave me history lessons and speeches about Abraham Lincoln and democracy. I was like 13 or ten actually and i was there and hed go on and id say okay okay, lincoln. And now, today, those things mean so much to me and i am an ardent of Everett Dirksen that never ends. So back to dirksen. This years award goes to michael cruz of politico. [applause] the judges michaels piece was on mickey sherrill, who the story was entitled the most important new woman in congress is not who you think. And it really was, i told michael earlier it was a fantastic piece of journalism that shows the local and the National Implication of any election and how much impact it can have on washington. The judges said, cruz skillfully described how the congressional process works to the lens of a firstyear representative mickey sherrill. And more specifically how moderates like sherrill slowly pivoted towards impeachment. His reporting and writing revealed the tensions within the democratic caucus. Michael, i present you with the dirksen award. [applause] thank you. So i really appreciate watching that video and being here tonight. Up until now, dirksen mainly has billion of building on capitol hill, one of many i get lost in. So it my first jobs out of school were editing an annual magazine about college basketball. And scouting High School Prospects while playing sort of a middleman between them and the coaches who coveted them. That was going on 20 years ago. Five years ago when i came to politico, i knew really know more about politics than any other diligent newspaper reading american. So candidly, i am surprised to be standing here in this room, in this company, and for this reason. Im really grateful, grateful to the National Press foundation for this unexpected honor. Honored to work at a place like politico and an institution with the mites and nerve to do ambitious, important to work. A place that lets me, makes me keep trying to get better. Thank you to Robert Albritton and mike harris booed off brown steve huizinga, so many others that politico thank you to susan glasser, peter canalis, Garrett Graff who brought me to it politico in the first place really had no reason to bring me to it politico but i appreciate him doing that. Thank you build during a who is been the editor not only my entire time it politico, but most of my time in florida at the st. Petersburg times. We have been working on stories together now for nearly a decade and a half. And that. , but especially in a time of such turn is such an uncommon gift. When i started politico, there was so much to adjust to, to d. C. , to the materials, to the competition, to the pace. Really the only thing i didnt have to adjust to was working with bill. At least we knew how to work together. So honestly, i dont know if i would have survived the first six or so months at politico without bill. Work together for good long while, as we have, you can start to cut to the chase. John the first couple days after the midterms in 2018, i said to bill Something Like he said i said mikey sherrill he said something to me not justice story but a series of stories, right about everything. State of the Democratic Party stated policies, whatever comes up. Which turned out to be impeachment. Through the lens of biking sherrill and we did. And here we are. Thank you finally to my family, my wife lauren, my daughters Adrian Harper who give me something to come home too. Who put up with me when i am home. You know, harper knows for better or worse the tea parties happen after i get off the phone with bill. I sometimes say bye to avery, gotta go to iowa today, new hampshire, new jersey, wherever. Its always something somewhere but we do our best and try again tomorrow. Thank you again. [applause] ladies and gentlemen mike kiplinger editor emeritus at kiplinger. [applause] good evening, 437 years, the National Press foundation is offered its highest honor, kind of a Lifetime Achievement award to a remarkable array of men and women from every corner of journalism and publishing. Both print and broadcasting. Past honorees read like a whos who of mid to late 20th century media. We have honored great newspaper editors like abe rosenthal. Ben bradley, clark hoyt, jean roberts, john psych and dollar, eugene patterson, and bill cabbage. Just to name a few. And distinguished publishers to let gill grosvenor, john johnson, catherine graham, and al newhart. An broadcast journalist robert siegel, judy woodruff, and diane ream. We have honored wise and provocative columnist, the likes of matt, tom freedman, david broder, clarence page, and william safire. Even art buchwald and ann landers. Some of our past honorees are those Versatile Media stars who crossed effortlessly back and forth between prints, pungent tree and broadcasting. Like al hunt, frank to forge, carl rowen injector month. Many of these past kiplinger honorees started out as superb hard news reporters, but they achieved greater fame as editors and columnists, tv personalities and publishers. Relatively few of our past honorees, im thinking inside hurst and helen thomas, remained reporters pure and simple for their whole careers. Our honoree tonight, bob woodward, is a reporter. And it seems like this is all he ever wanted to be. Not an editorinchief, not a bureau chief, not a regular columnist, not a talkshow, just a hard digging reporter. And what a reporter he is. Arguably the greatest investigative washington reporter of our era, may be of alltime. In five decades of a washington coverage in the pages of the washington post, and in countless best selling books, bob is taken us inside some of the most opaque institutions of government, the white house, the supreme courts, the fed, the pentagon, the cia, he has told us important things we already did not know, but badly needed to know. Bob has an amazing knack for getting people to tell him things they probably shouldnt. He rewards their trust and keeps them talking. By not revealing their nays. His use of unnamed sources is to have credibility with us, his readers, we have to believe his sources are real, and the information they are giving us through him is true. And it usually is, especially the most important facts. And bobs work, going all the way back to watergate, this credibility required confirmation of any one sources story with at least one or two more corroborating sources. And this is what bob woodward has always done. Because his owns high standards and those of his editors at the post demanded it. Now the reliance of journalists on an named sources did not start with watergate. It has been a staple of washington reporting for decades. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, it was actually much more controversy all that it is today, indeed frowned upon. One of the earliest and most successful users of unnamed sources in his regular work was the man for whom this award is named. Wm kiplinger, my grandfather. He resigned from the associated press, Washington Bureau in 1919 in part because of his editors resistance to his use of unnamed sources. To give his readers a more accurate picture of government policy, then top officials were saying publicly. A bit of a heresy back then. He wasnt dogged, careful, and nonpartisan. His forecast of radical new policies coming out of fdrs new deal in the pages of his weekly kiplinger letter, were startling. And because these unnamed sources were key members of fdrs brain trust, the forecasts were accurate. Establish air agenda establishing kiplinger is one of the most influential journalists in washington to come. Now our profession of journalism almost lost Bob Woodwards talents before it had ever been revealed. Fifty years ago, we almost lost bob woodward to a different profession, law. Which his father, a lawyer and judge back in illinois was pressuring him to pursue. He had just finished serving five years in the u. S. Navy, right after college rotc. And he got a crazy idea that it would be fascinating to be a newspaper reporter. Amazingly, he talked his way into a tryout with the post. But two weeks into the tryouts, metro editor Harry Rosenfeld told him he was not ready for the big time. He ought to go get some shoe leather experience at a small newspaper. Maybe the Montgomery County maryland sentinel in rockville. A legendary incubator for ambitious young reporters. A footnote, two weeks ago the last print edition of the weekly sentinel rolled off the presses. So one morning in the fall of 1970, a guy walked into the newsroom of the sentinel in rockville and he said he was therefore an interview with the editor roger. I was 202 years old, the most junior reporter on the sentinel staff, sitting at my desk by the door of the newsroom. I pointed across the newsroom to the Editors Office. A half hour or so later, the guy left. Later, roger came out and we chatted. Roger told me he wished he had an opening for this applicant. Because he sensed the guy had a burning ambition to be a reporter. And he was trying to postpone a law school acceptance. But the small reporting staff at the sentinel was full. Full until a week later when i went into the Editors Office and told him i would be leaving the sentinel to take a job offer at a small news service on capitol hill, griffin larrabee to be a stringer for several outoftown papers. Roger told me, i am sorry to see you go, but im going to call that guy who was in here last week and see if he is still available. He says he wants this job is so bad he can taste it. A few days later, that guy came back to the sentinel newsroom, his name was bob woodward. We introduced ourselves, i took him to lunch at the county Office Cafeteria and introduced him to a couple of my sources in the rockville city government. This is big stuff. [laughter] my leaving the sentinel 50 years ago was a lucky break for bob woodward, it was a lucky break for the sentinel, and a great break for our profession. In fact, the best thing i ever did from the sentinel was resigned. [laughter] bob woodward hit the deck running and broke many big stories there over the following year. Some of which were picked up the next day by the washington post. A day after the weekly paper came out on thursday. I year later, bob was hired by the metro section of the post. He had been at the post just nine months, shorter than his sentinel career, when he and a fellow metro reporter named Carl Bernstein were assigned to find out a rather puzzling burglary at the Democratic NationalCommittee Headquarters office at the Watergate Office building. The rest, they say, is history. Wm kiplinger once said with a bit of hyperbole i might say, a good reporter is the noblest work of god. Our honoree tonight is just that. A good reporter and damned good reporter. Please welcome bob woodward. [applause] [applause] nono on. [applause thank you night for the brief introduction. I am tempted to go back to 1919 and start this story. [laughter] but i want to tell an old story that i think, at this time is worth retelling. And it goes way back to september 8, 1974. Sunday, gerald ford was president , nixon had resigned 30 days earlier, and on that sunday he went on television very early announcing he was giving nixon a full pardon for watergate. I think ford went on early sunday morning hoping that no one would notice. But it was noticed but not by me, i was asleep. And my colleague, Carl Bernstein called me up and said did you hear . I said no i was asleep. And carl, who then and still has the ability to say what occurred with the fewest words in the most drama, said the son of bits pardon the son of a bitch. [laughter] i felt very good that i was able to decode. [laughter] what carl had said. And i remember thinking at the moment it is perfect. Ford gets the presidency, nixon gets a pardon, i was sure it was the final corruption of watergate. That was affirmed i think two years later when ford ran against jimmy carter and carter beat forward because of the pardon it was really never explain, there is an aroma about it. So 205 years after the pardon, i undertook one of my book projects, a book called shadow about the legacy of watergate. In the presidencies of ford through clinton, and i called ford up, i had never met him. Never interviewed him in the newsroom at the post they had a big smiling picture of ford that the classified Ad Department had put up. Remember when newspapers had classified ads . [laughter] was a picture of ford saying i got my job through the washington post. [laughter] shameless marketing, and finally somebody had the wisdom to take it down. And so i decided for the book shadow, to call ford. So this is the 90s, 97 or 98. And i thought he would not want to talk about the pardon, i was totally wrong. Ford turned out to be one of the most honest, forthright persons i have ever dealt with in washington. In this excursion into history, 205 years after it occurred, i had the luxury of time, i did in the end for the book shadow and then later because i went and interviewed ford some more, did seven interviews and kept asking the question, what happened . Why did you pardon nixon . And i remember the last interview at his home in california, he and his wife betty had a little bungalow there. We were sitting with a tape recorder on the desk for history. I again asked her why did you pardon nixon . He said you keep asking that question and i said i just dont think youve answered it. On to my surprise he said, you are right. Ive never told the full story, i never even told betty. And then opened a monologue it was almost a mind entry for ford, explaining what had happened. And he said, i never wanted to be president. I wanted to be speaker of the house. But agnew resigned so nixon picked me as a Vice President. And then, watergate kept growing and on august 1, 1974, as Vice President , al haig came to see ford and that being nixons chief of staff, and haig and ford had talked about this meeting and fudged it up of course. And ford said what really happened in that meeting is al haig said look, if you agree to pardon nixon, he will resign and you get the presidency. I am sitting there on it is on the tape i said holy ships. [laughter] there was a deal. And ford, you can hear his hand on the tape and said there was no deal. And then he said let me take you through what happened. Yes haig became and he offered a deal i could never tell this because then there would be more investigations. Haig would deny it, but he said i rejected that deal because it would be corrupt. And let me take you to the world i was living in, ford said. It was a very kind of unburdening of what its like to be at the perch in the presidency. And he becomes president , and everything was about nixon. What about nixons tapes . Is kissinger going to come . I remember ford said he is president , i had to deal with kissinger every day coming in saying mr. President the world is going to blow up. Unless you take my advice. [laughter] the economy was in trouble, ford said he had a letter from the special prosecutor saying nixon was going to be investigated as a private citizen. So ford said we are going to have two or three more years of watergate. The country could not stand it. He said in this voice i needed my own presidency. Where was the off switch . For nixon. The pardon, constitution gave him the power to pardon anyone thats unreviewable. And he said, so i acted and pardoned nixon, but it wasnt corrupt. I was not taking the deal. He said now remember at this point nixons final tapes were coming out. And nixon was finished. If it was a deal, i was going to get my and of the bargain. But it was not a deal. I had to from that perch of the presidency, asked the question what is the National Interest . And i had to act on it. He said i knew and pardoning nixon i was finished in politics. But i had to do it for at larger interest. In shadow i wrote about instead of it being corrupt. What ford did was actually quite gutsy. After the book came out, caroline kennedy, the daughter of john f. Kennedy called me up and said she and her uncle Teddy Kennedy had read this. And agreed that it was gutsy and she said we are going to give the profiles encourage award, thats given each year from the Kennedy Library to somebody in politics who does what the eight senators and her fathers are her late father, jf kennedys did. Were they essentially self sabotage their own career in the interests of the country. In the National Interest. So they gave the ceremony gave this award to ford. I did not go but was videoed. And i distinctly remember watching this. Ford, somewhat vindicated Teddy Kennedy saying at the time, the pardon was almost a crime. But i now realize i was wrong. This was a courageous act in the tradition of my late brothers book, encourage. So i am watching fords is somewhat vindicated and what a cold shower to look at this, because i, 1974 would have staked my life that this was corrupt. And then you relook at it 205 years later through the lens of history and what i was sure was corrupt turns out to be the opposite, courage. Humbling, humiliating, and to be so wrong. And so the lesson i think is we are never sure. There is always more reporting to do. Maybe like at that time have a completely wrong and upside down. I believe at this time whats the best for the National Interest . Where is it who can express it . Who can believe in it . And where does it reside . Of course thats our job in the media and to do more reporting, not to jump to the conclusion of the moment and say off, this is what it is because so easy, so often we have it not just wrong, but sometimes upside down. Thank you very much. [applause] [applause] thank you bob, for that wonderful speech. And thanks to all of our outstanding winners and to all of you for your continuing support of an pf. Its been a great honor to leave this organization at a time of increasing challenges to journalism which weve heard a lot about tonight. But it is time for me to it go. Tonight marks the end of the term of my chairman of mpf. Beginning tomorrow those duties will be taken over by our very able vice chair. So please enjoy the rest of the evening and join us upstairs in the restaurant for the after Party Sponsored by politico. We are adjourned. Thank you very much. [applause] [background noises] [background noises] [background noises]