All the President's Men quotes

View Quote Bernstein: The General Accounting report said there was a 350 thousand cash slush fund in Stans' safe. Did you know about that from the beginning?
Bookkeeper: There are too many people watching me--they know I know a lot.
Bernstein: It was all in hundreds, wasn't it?
Bookkeeper: A lot of it was. I just thought it was sort of an all-purpose political fund--you know, for taking fat cats to dinner, things like that.
Bernstein: Could buy a lot of steaks, 350,000 dollars.
Bookkeeper: I can't be positive that it was used for the break-in but people sure are worried.
Bernstein: Which people?
Bookkeeper: The ones who could disburse the money....I don't want to say anymore.
...
Bernstein: You haven't finished telling me about the money.
Bookkeeper: Omigod, there was so much of it, six million came in one two-day period--six million cash, we couldn't find enough places to put it. I thought it was all legal, I guess I did, til after the break-in, when I remembered Gordon got so much of it.
Bernstein: Gordon Liddy, you mean?
Bookkeeper: [nods] It was all so crazy--the day after the break-in he gave us a speech, bouncing up and down on his heels in that loony way of his--Gordon told us not to let Jim McCord ruin everything--don't let one bad apple spoil the barrel, he said. You just know that when Gordon Liddy's calling someone a bad apple, something's wrong somewhere. It's all so rotten... and getting worse... and all I care about is Hugh Sloan. His wife was going to leave him if he didn't stand up and do what was right. And he quit. He quit because he saw it and didn't want any part of it.
Bernstein: Think Sloan's being set up as a fall guy for John Mitchell? Sometimes it looks that way.
Bookkeeper: If you guys... if you guys could just get John Mitchell... that would be beautiful.

View Quote Debbie Sloan: This is an honest house.
Woodward: That's why we'd like to see your husband.
Bernstein: Facing certain criminal charges that might be brought against some people that are innocent, we just feel that it would be...
Woodward: It's really for his benefit.
Debbie Sloan: No, it's not.
Woodward: [long pause] No, it's not.

View Quote Bernstein: We were hoping that maybe now you could... We know why you left the Committee. We know you're not guilty of anything. But we know you know who is.
Sloan: Look, come in. We'll have to be quiet--my wife's asleep...I'd like to talk to you, I really would, but my lawyers say I shouldn't until after the Watergate trial.
Woodward: You handed out the money. Maybe there's a legitimate explanation for the way it was done.
Bernstein: Then again, maybe things are even worse than we've written...
Sloan: They're worse. That's why I quit.

View Quote Sloan: Try and understand this. I'm a decent Republican. I believe in Richard Nixon. I worked in the White House four years--so did my wife. What happened on June 17 I don't think the President knew anything about. Some of his men I'm not so sure of.
Bernstein: Do you think the truth will come out at the trial?
Sloan: That's another of the things I'm not so sure of.
Bernstein: Because people at the Committee were told to lie to the prosecutors?
Sloan: We were never told flat out "Don't talk." But the message was clear.
Bernstein: To cover up?
Sloan: Well, they sure didn't ask us to come forward and tell the truth.
Woodward: Does "they" mean the White House?
Sloan: As opposed to the Committee? The Committee's not an independent operation. Everything is cleared with the White House. I don't think that the FBI or the prosecutors understand that.

View Quote Bradlee: All non-denial denials--we're dirty guys and they doubt we were ever virgins but they don't say the story is inaccurate.
Bernstein: What's a real denial?
Bradlee: If they ever start calling us goddamn liars, it's time to start circling the wagons.

View Quote Segretti: I'm a lawyer, and I'll probably go to jail, and be disbarred, and what did I do that was so awful? None of it was my idea, Carl--I didn't go looking for the job.
Bernstein: Chapin did contact you then?
Segretti: Sure--off the record.
Bernstein: On the orders of Haldeman?
Segretti: I don't know anything about Haldeman, except, Dwight's frightened of him--everybody's frightened of him--Christ, I wish I'd never gotten messed around with this--all I wanna do is sit in the sun; sit, swim, see some girls.
Bernstein: It gets interesting if it was Haldeman, because our word is that when Chapin says something, he's gotten the OK from Haldeman, and when Haldeman says something, he's gotten the OK from the President.
Segretti: Can't help you.
Benrstein: At USC, you had a word for this--screwing up the opposition you all did it at college and called it rat****ing. [Segretti smiles and nods] Ever wonder if Nixon might turn out to be the biggest rat****er of them all?

View Quote Deep Throat: What's the topic for tonight?
Woodward: Rat****ing.
Deep Throat: In my day, it was simply called the double cross. I believe the CIA refers to it as Mind****. In our context, it simply means infiltration of the Democrats.
Woodward: I know what it means--Segretti wouldn't go on the record, but if he would, we know he'd implicate Chapin. And that would put us inside the White House.
Deep Throat: Yes, the little rat****ers are now running our government.
Woodward: Who?--be specific. How high up?
Deep Throat: You'll have to find that out, won't you.

View Quote Deep Throat: You were doing so well and then you got stupid, you went too fast--Christ, what a royal screw up.
Woodward: I know, I know, the pressure's off the White House and it's all back on the Post.
Deep Throat: You've done worse than let Haldeman slip away: you've got people feeling sorry for him. I didn't think that was possible. In a conspiracy like this, you build from the outer edges and go step by step. If you shoot too high and miss, everybody feels more secure. You've put the investigation back months.
Woodward: Yes, we know that. And if we're wrong, we're resigning. Were we wrong?
Deep Throat: You'll have to find that out, won't you?
Woodward: I'm tired of your chickenshit games. I don't want hints, I want what you know!