Graham, Katharine

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Graham, Katharine

(1917-2001)
The Washington Post Company

Overview

Katharine Meyer Graham is world renowned for her leadership, particularly during her 10–year reign as publisher of the internationally acclaimed Washington Post. During that time, Graham won a United States Supreme Court decision to publish excerpts from the United States government's classified Pentagon study, known as "The Pentagon Papers." She also supported investigative reporting of Watergate, resulting in the resignation of then U.S. President Richard Nixon. "Kay was an extraordinary person," said former CBS News Anchor Walter Cronkite to CNN. "As a bereaved widow, she surprised everyone with her strength to take over the Washington Post to make it one of the world's great newspapers. She is greatly admired, of course, everywhere in the very competitive world of politics and publishing."

Personal Life

Katharine Meyer was born on June 16, 1917, into a prominent New York City multi–millionaire family of Jewish and German decent. Her father, Eugene Meyer, was a banker who purchased the newspaper Washington Post as a hobby and built up a lucrative publishing empire. Her mother, Agnes (Ernst) Meyer, was an author and philanthropist. Katharine's education included the elite Madeira School in Greenway, Virginia, where she pursued her growing interest in journalism by working on the school paper. Her higher education included a year at Vassar College. But she became critical of what she felt was Vassar's conservative climate and transferred to the University of Chicago, considered radical in the 1930s. During summer vacations, Katharine worked at the Post, but after she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in history, she moved to California and worked as a waterfront reporter for the San Francisco News. She covered a strike on the waterfront, which would later serve as a valuable learning experience. A year later, Katharine followed through on her father's suggestion to return to Washington, where she became part of the editorial staff on the Washington Post. Earning $25 a week, she handled the "Letters to the Editor" department and also wrote some 100 editorials.

In 1939 Katharine met the love of her life, Philip Graham. Philip, two years Katharine's junior, was not a stranger to poverty. His family had struggled until they achieved a more prosperous lifestyle. His father, Ernest Graham, became a successful dairy farmer, later winning a seat in the Florida state senate. His mother, Florence, was a former schoolteacher who instilled in Philip a lifelong love of learning. Bright, eager, and with an unaffected, easy–going manner, Philip did extremely well at the University of Florida and went on to Harvard Law School. He later became a law clerk to Supreme Court justice Stanley Reed and then to Felix Frankfurter. Katharine met him at a party where the aggressive and funny Philip immediately got the attention of the more subdued Katharine. According to the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Philip told her, "He was going to marry her, and did not want her father's money." Instead, they would ". . . move to Florida. He would go into politics and they would be so poor she would have only two dresses." The couple was married on June 5, 1940.

Katharine was unprepared for the traditional role of wife. Because of her wealthy upbringing, she had never learned to cook, but she persevered, determined to be a model wife. She willingly deferred to her husband while he encouraged her to retain her job. At the same time, Katharine's father, Eugene, encouraged Philip to consider taking over the Washington Post. But when World War II broke out, Philip enlisted. Although Philip's dream was to have a career in politics, he agreed to his father–in–law's offer before he went overseas. Meanwhile, Katharine's father continually ignored his own daughter's interest in the paper. After distinguishing himself in the U.S. army, where he was awarded the legion of merit for decoding Japanese military strategy and identifying bombing sites in the Philippines, Philip returned as a major. Subsequently, he became publisher of the Washington Post, and he and Katharine were given 5000 shares of voting stock by her father, assuring the newspaper would remain in the family. Philip received the majority of the stock, while Katharine received the lesser share. Together the couple had four children, and Katharine settled into the role of wife and mother.

Philip had many opportunities to capitalize on his leadership skills and enhance his reputation as a dynamic publisher. He confronted McCarthyism, the unwarranted anti–communism campaign that ultimately persecuted innocent people, with a scathing editorial that likened Senator Joseph McCarthy to a Salem witch hunter. This set the paper's more liberal tone and associated the paper with the Democratic Party. At the same time, Philip aggressively expanded the publishing company over the years, acquiring Newsweek, the News Service, and several broadcast stations.

Despite his successes, however, Philip became increasingly ill with manic depression, a psychiatric disease little understood in that era. Over the next five years, he engaged in promiscuous behavior, verbal attacks against his wife, outrageous actions, and suicidal thoughts. Although the family provided Philip with the best care then available, he succumbed to depression and shot himself on August 3, 1963. His death left his widow with the doubly formidable task of raising four children and taking care of her family business.

Career Details

After her husband's death, Katharine Graham became president of the publishing business, focusing special attention on the Washington Post. One of her most significant changes at the paper was to appoint the innovative Benjamin C. Bradlee as editor. With Bradlee at the helm, the paper attracted fresh new reporting talent. This affected news coverage and gained the Washington Post worldwide attention. The paper's reputation was further enhanced when, in 1971, Graham defied a restraining order and pursued publication of the famous "Pentagon Papers," revealing U.S. government involvement in the Vietnam War. Graham fought government efforts to censor the material, which led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the right for the Washington Post to publish the story.

Another opportunity to report controversy came with the 1972 investigation of a burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington's Watergate complex. Courageous Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered the story. After the investigative reporting revealed illegal governmental involvement, a national scandal erupted, and President Richard Nixon was forced to resign to avoid impeachment proceedings. In 1973 the Post received a Pulitzer Prize for public service.

Graham's leadership at the Washington Post helped to enhance the paper's reputation and boost circulation. When she decided in 1971 to change the privately owned publishing company to a public corporation, her efforts to attract investors succeeded and stock value soared.

Graham made the news again in 1975 when she was faced with a 139–day pressmen strike that disabled presses. Determined to keep the press running, she hired non–union pressmen—a controversial move characteristic of Graham's decisive management style. Editor & Publisher reported Graham's remarks on this topic to members of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association in 1997: "We were not out to bust unions . . . [but] we had to make the fateful decision to replace the union and make sure it was legal. And it was very traumatic . . . It was a really awful thing to have 200 families out of jobs. And we offered them to come back if they would resign from the union, and only 20 did . . . ."

In 1979 Graham turned the title of publisher over to her son, Donald, but remained an enthusiastic advisor and consultant on all aspects of the corporation. She continued as chairwoman of the Washington Post until 1993, and even after retirement she remained active as a speaker. At 81 years of age, she authored a best selling and Pulitzer Prize–winning autobiography titled Personal History.

Chronology: Katharine Graham

1917: Born.

1963: Became president of Washington Post Company.

1969: Became publisher of the Washington Post.

1972: Supported Woodward and Bernstein reporting Watergate.

1973: Became CEO of The Washington Post Company.

1973: Washington Post wins Pulitzer Prize for public service in uncovering the Watergate conspiracy.

1979: Became chairman of Washington Post Company; ceased to be publisher of Washington Post; became first woman publisher elected president of American Newspaper Publishers' Association.

1989: Fortune magazine named the Post Company one of 20 most profitable corporations.

1993: Retired as chairman of Washington Post Company.

1998: Won Pulitzer Prize for best–selling autobiography Personal History.

2001: Died.

Graham passed away on the July 18, 2001, while hospitalized for head injuries sustained from falling on a walk in Sun Valley, Idaho. She was in Idaho for a business conference, still very active and involved at age 84.Washington Post concluded of her, "Katharine Graham's life ended the way she said she wanted it to: 'The only thing I think any of us want,' she once said, 'is to last as long as we're any good. And then not.'"

Thousands gathered for Graham's funeral. The mourners ran the gamut from the halls of power to friends and fans alike. Such notable statesman and dignitaries included former president Clinton, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, former secretary of defense Robert McNamara, and President Bush remembered Graham as "the beloved first lady of Washington journalism."

Social and Economic Impact

Katharine Meyer Graham transcended the initial disrespect of her male peers in publishing to become one of the most powerful women in America. Emphasizing freedom of the press, she strengthened the role of newspapers in exposing government actions. Her insistence in publishing the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate story made her a force to be reckoned with in journalism. Graham also exercised effective leadership, developing a reputation as a woman "who mastered the intricacies of profit margins [and] strategic planning," according to the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Graham built the Washington Post Company into a thriving media company and secured the Washington Post's reputation as one of the country's leading newspapers.

After breaking the 1975 strike, the Washington Post promoted the hiring of minorities and women, and Graham welcomed the newly diverse workforce. She stated at a Women in Communications luncheon in 1984 that she recognized that for women to get ahead in business their close relationships sometimes suffered, adding, "But men in power have always been willing to pay this price." Despite such hard–headed words, Graham remains known as an editor who maintained excellence by supporting her reporters and encouraging those who worked for her.