Bob Woodward on Lincoln, The 2016 Presidential Race, Illinois’s Budget Stalemate

Iconic journalist - and Illinois native - Bob Woodward says that he wishes journalists were painting a better picture of the 2016 Presidential candidates.

Instead, the focus is often on the horse race - polls, the latest outrageous statement by Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, instead of deeper dives into the issues.

Photo Credit: Amanda Honigfort/WILL

The Washington Post Associate Editor, famous for his reporting that uncovered the Watergate scandal, said his latest book, The Last of the President's Men, is a warning not to "miss" the character of presidental hopefuls. 

"We skip over the real question voters are asking which is 'Who are these people?'," says Woodward, who is in town to deliver the inaugural New Lincoln Lecture series: Lincoln in the 21st Century, for the University of Illinois's College of Law. "Biography is character".

Woodward says prior to this lecture, he didn't know much about Abraham Lincoln. But as he researched the character and qualities of the country's 16th president, and compared them to the Presidents he's covered, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, he finds that Lincoln is the "most modern" of them all.

Woodward was born in Geneva, Illinois, and grew up in the Chicago-area suburb of Wheaton.