10 Average Questions about All the President's Men

Answer: Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman

"All the President's Men" was released in April 1974. For Hoffman, it was his first appearance on screen in almost a year and a half, after Lenny in late 1974. For Redford, it was basically the opposite; other than a brief cameo in Richard Attenborough's 1977 war epic "A Bridge Too Far", this film would mark Redford's last appearance on screen for more than three years, until "The Electric Horseman" came out in late 1979.

Answer: Jason Robards

Robards would win the Best Supporting Actor award for this film, and again in 1977 for his portrayal of Dashiell Hammett in the film "Julia." Although Martin Balsam was not the winner in this instance, he did win Best Supporting Actor in 1965 for his work in "A Thousand Clowns", which just happened to star,-you guessed it - Jason Robards.

Answer: One of the men arrested admits to being former CIA.

The five men arrested in the June 1972 break-in were Bernard Barker, Virgilio González, Eugenio Martinez, James McCord, and Frank Sturgis. Both in the film and in real life, McCord is the one who admitted to being former CIA. This admission, in addition to other oddities at the arraignment, makes Woodward suspect that this is no typical break-in.

Answer: Bernstein rewrites one of Woodward's articles without asking.

This scene sets the tone for the Woodward/Bernstein relationship throughout the film. In addition to the tension between the reporters, it shows Bernstein as being somewhat impulsive and not always respectful of protocol, while Woodward is more controlled and ethical. Toward the end of the film, the two actually start to adopt some of each other's traits.

Answer: Deep Throat

The nickname is given because Woodward and Bernstein will not reveal the source's actual identity. In real life, the two reporters kept this secret for more than 30 years, until Deep Throat himself admitted his identity in 2005. He turned out to be Mark Felt, Associate Director of the FBI at the time of the Watergate investigation.

Answer: The shooting of George Wallace

George Wallace was governor of Alabama in 1972, and was running for President. At a campaign stop in Maryland in May of that year, he was shot by a man named Arthur Bremer. Woodward was working for the "Washington Post" at the time, and would later write that he did talk to Deep Throat about Wallace.

Answer: Jane Alexander

"All the President's Men" is one of three films that Jane Alexander appeared in with Robert Redford and/or Dustin Hoffman. She appeared alongside Redford in 1980 in "Brubaker" and with Hoffman in 1979 in "Kramer vs. Kramer". She received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress for both "All the President's Men" and "Kramer vs. Kramer".

Answer: Woodstein

Both Jack Warden and Jason Robards use the term at different points in the film. Warden uses it without anger; Robards, not so much.

Answer: The writing of the Canuck letter

In the movie the female coworker is a reporter named Sally Aiken, who simply tells Bernstein that the Deputy Director claimed to write the letter; in real life, the female reporter was Marilyn Berger, and Woodward and Bernstein did publish an article about her claim.

The Canuck letter was real; it was first made public in February 1972 and implied that then-Presidential candidate Edmund Muskie was biased against Americans of French-Canadian ancestry. This contributed to the collapse of Muskie's campaign.

The FBI would later insist that the letter was part of a 'dirty tricks' campaign coordinated by Nixon's re-election committee.

Answer: H.R. Haldeman

H.R. Haldeman was Nixon's Chief of Staff from January 1969 until he was forced to resign in April 1973. The confirmation of Haldeman is thus a major breakthrough in the story, and sets up the conclusion of the film.