Bob Woodward's new book tells story of Biden's "three wars"
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Cover: Simon & Schuster
Bob Woodward will be out Oct. 15 with "War," telling the "behind-the-scenes story of three wars: Ukraine, the Middle East, and the struggle for the American Presidency."
Why it matters: It was widely known in Washington that Woodward was working on a pre-election book, but details were secret. White House officials spotted the 81-year-old icon strolling into the West Wing, and wondered what he was up to. Now they know.
How it happened: Woodward told Axios in an interview that his reporting for the book began in 2021, the first year of Biden's presidency, and before Russia invaded Ukraine in what he called a "war of territorial conquest."
- "If the Russians get Ukraine, next on the menu is Poland and Europe," Woodward told me.
After the terrorist attack of Oct. 7, Woodward realized Israel-Gaza was another war of consequence that fit thematically.
- "I confess to being a foreign-policy junkie," said Woodward, whose books include "The Commanders" (about the first Gulf War) and, on President George W. Bush, "Bush at War," "Plan of Attack," and "State of Denial" and "The War Within," followed by "Obama's Wars," then "Fear" and "Rage," on Donald Trump.
- In Woodward's "Peril," written with Robert Costa, then-Vice President Biden is quoted as saying privately about Afghanistan in 2009: "The military doesn't f--k around with me."
Then the third war — at home. "Political contests are wars, and so it kind of threads together what's going on," Woodward said. "The divisions — it's stunning. So I think there is a kind of mental frame in the country and the world about combat, war."
- Jonathan Karp, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster, acquired world rights and audio rights to "War" from Robert Barnett of Williams & Connolly.
