Watergate-era Infighting at the Washington Post

By Amanda Ruggeri, Washington Whispers

There are still Watergate tales to be told, it seems. The latest comes from Leonard Downie, the just retired Washington Post editor who was the metro desk boss of Watergate scoop-men Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. While the duo sometimes tangled for control of the daily lead, Downie reveals that the national and metro news desks also fought over the story that ended Richard Nixon's presidency. When the story got big, the Post's national desk editor tried to take it. "I nearly decked him," Downie says. Of course, top editor Ben Bradlee let "Woodstein" keep the story. "And that's where some of the egos were bruised on the national staff," says Downie.

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