Bob Woodward — in an eye-opening excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, "Secrets," that's previewed in the new issue of The New Yorker — reveals that one of his best friends, the late Richard Darman, was also one of his best sources during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

  • "Darman was willing, even eager at times, to talk about the most sensitive intelligence matters, including N.S.A. intercepts and covert C.I.A. operations," Woodward writes in his book, out Nov. 15. "He was always careful not to talk about matters that would harm national security, I believed, but he would go right up to the edge — a reporter's dream source."

Why it matters: Woodward, 83 — who followed the blockbuster Watergate reporting of his youth with a shelf of revelatory books about American presidents — gives a searingly honest account of the collapse of his friendship with Darman after a Post series that was damaging to Bush. Woodward details a disappointment in his Washington Post career and, in the case of a story where he was the responsible editor, a "moral failing."

  • The New Yorker calls the Darman excerpt "A Dangerous Friendship," revealing the danger of "getting too close to a source." Woodward and Darman never reconciled, although "Secrets" describes their deathbed encounter.

Woodward writes in his New Yorker debut that he and Darman, who controlled the paper flow to Reagan as staff secretary and was budget director for Bush 41, "had countless long lunches together — Saturday or Sunday — at the Madison Hotel, across the street from the Post, discussing government, journalism, and ourselves":

"I felt like I was getting a master class in how government really operated. Plus, many scoops. In later years, Darman would drive out on weekends to our country house near Annapolis, Maryland, to spend large parts of the day with me and my wife, the journalist Elsa Walsh, who was particularly fond of him. Some people found him arrogant, but I loved his comfortable confidence as a friend and a source. It was part of what made him so extraordinary and valuable. He knew how to turn on the charm, and he did for both Elsa and me."

Behind the scenes: "From critical national-security information to the colorful office tales he shared, Darman provided me with a gold mine of information," Woodward recalls. "I interviewed him in at least fifty-eight meetings or phone conversations. I have boxes filled with hundreds of pages of notes on our discussions. After our most important conversations, as is my practice, I typed a memo of one to six pages, laying out in detail what he'd said."

  • Detailing Darman's "hatchet man" role, Woodward reveals that the "hardest of Darman's targets to dislodge was the First Lady, Nancy Reagan. While Darman poured scorn on her in private, describing her to me as a 'mean bitch,' he could not find a way to drive a stake into her heart."

After a hard-won legislative victory, Darman told Woodward, Reagan said: "Whew! Ever feel like you shit a pineapple?"

  • Keep reading ... Get "Secrets."