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Mapping the Filming Locations of All the President's Men

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The Watergate scandal remains the defining event that reshaped the understanding Americans have about those elected to positions of power. Watergate was the Rubicon, and given the current climate in D.C. a look back at All the President's Men seems appropriate. Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) are two Washington Post reporters who investigate the break-in and ensuing scandal. All the President's Men marks the third film in director Alan J. Pakula's paranoia trilogy. The film's screenplay was written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) with cinematography by the legendary Gordon Parks (Shaft).

Released two years after President Richard Nixon left office, All the President's Men is a contemplative film. There are no fast jump cuts and not a lot of action or cinematic tricks. Pakula simply asks the audience to sit and marinate on the idea of citizenship and governmental power. The paranoia builds slowly to a scene of Woodward and Bernstein in the Library of Congress reading room. The camera slowly pulls back and the beautiful circular design becomes a great wheel with spokes radiating out from the center, the locus of power. That wheel for Pakula is the wheel of government, and the driving question he asks is, "How we can change its direction?"


· All the President's Men (film) [Wikipedia]
· Watergate Complex [Wikipedia]
· Lafayette Park (Washington, D.C.) [Wikipedia]
· Library of Congress [Wikipedia]
· Thomas Jefferson Building [Wikipedia]
· Main Reading Room [Library of Congress]
· The Washington Post Company [Wikipedia]
· Alan J. Pakula [Wikipedia]
· Gordon Parks [Wikipedia]
· J. Edgar Hoover Building [Wikipedia]
· FBI Building May Soon Be Put Out Of Its Misery [NPR]
Greer Gladney

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The Watergate Hotel

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Construction was completed in 1971, only a year before the burglaries at the DNC headquarters occurred. The building still stands as one of the most “desirable” Washington addresses, despite being an everlasting symbol of corruption and the lengths that those in power will go to maintain that power. Photo by Raoul Pop.

Washington Post

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Alan J. Pakula filmed the exterior of The Washington Post building for All the President’s Men, but was not given permission to film in the newsroom. That was photographed measured and recreated on two Burbank, CA soundstages. Everything was reproduced in exacting detail, including purchasing desks from the same company The Washington Post used at the time. Photo by Dion Hinchcliffe.

Lafayette Square Park

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Constructed in 1804 the park was dedicated to the American Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824. It serves as an urban park, picnic spot and the staging grounds of countless protests and citizen demonstrations. Photo by Ted Eytan.

Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

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All the President’s Men made use of the reading room at the Thomas Jefferson Building. It is a Beaux-Arts style building designed by architect Paul J. Pelz in 1890 and completed in 1897. The reading room is one of the most beautiful public spaces in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Capitol.

J. Edgar Hoover Building — FBI

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Several of the people that Bernstein and Woodward interview worked here. The sprawling concrete monolith was commissioned by the Kennedy Admnistration in 1962 and completed in 1964. Stanislaw Z. Gladych was the chief architect, and the building is an example of Brutalist architecture that flourished from the 1950s through the 1970s. Juxtaposed against the neoclassical buildings further down on Pennsylvania Avenue, the FBI Building feels like an alien structure out of touch with the rest of the area, and the future of the building seems bleak. Recently the General Services administration has indicated that the building has outlived its use and is ready for a change. Photo by Flickr user OZinOH.

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The Watergate Hotel

Construction was completed in 1971, only a year before the burglaries at the DNC headquarters occurred. The building still stands as one of the most “desirable” Washington addresses, despite being an everlasting symbol of corruption and the lengths that those in power will go to maintain that power. Photo by Raoul Pop.

Washington Post

Alan J. Pakula filmed the exterior of The Washington Post building for All the President’s Men, but was not given permission to film in the newsroom. That was photographed measured and recreated on two Burbank, CA soundstages. Everything was reproduced in exacting detail, including purchasing desks from the same company The Washington Post used at the time. Photo by Dion Hinchcliffe.

Lafayette Square Park

Constructed in 1804 the park was dedicated to the American Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824. It serves as an urban park, picnic spot and the staging grounds of countless protests and citizen demonstrations. Photo by Ted Eytan.

Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

All the President’s Men made use of the reading room at the Thomas Jefferson Building. It is a Beaux-Arts style building designed by architect Paul J. Pelz in 1890 and completed in 1897. The reading room is one of the most beautiful public spaces in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Capitol.

J. Edgar Hoover Building — FBI

Several of the people that Bernstein and Woodward interview worked here. The sprawling concrete monolith was commissioned by the Kennedy Admnistration in 1962 and completed in 1964. Stanislaw Z. Gladych was the chief architect, and the building is an example of Brutalist architecture that flourished from the 1950s through the 1970s. Juxtaposed against the neoclassical buildings further down on Pennsylvania Avenue, the FBI Building feels like an alien structure out of touch with the rest of the area, and the future of the building seems bleak. Recently the General Services administration has indicated that the building has outlived its use and is ready for a change. Photo by Flickr user OZinOH.