I'm Shirley Griffith.
I'm Doug Johnson with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about Katharine Graham. She was the owner and publisher of The
Washington Post newspaper.
Meyer Graham was once described as "the most powerful woman in America." She was not a government official or elected
representative. She owned and published
The Washington Post newspaper. Under her
leadership, it became one of the most important newspapers in the country.
Katharine Meyer was born in New York City in nineteen
seventeen. She was the daughter of
Eugene and Agnes Meyer. Her father was a
successful investment banker. He became
an important financial official. Her
family was very rich.
grew up in large houses in New York and Washington. Her parents were often away from home,
traveling and working. Katharine was
Katherine Meyer graduated from the University of
Chicago in Illinois in nineteen thirty-eight.
She got a job as a reporter for a newspaper in San Francisco,
nineteen thirty-three, Eugene Meyer had bought a failing newspaper, The
Washington Post. It was the least
successful of five newspapers in Washington.
Katharine returned to Washington and got a job editing
letters to the editor of her father's newspaper. She married Philip Graham. He was a lawyer and former assistant to two
Supreme Court justices. Mister Graham
soon accepted a job at his wife's father's newspaper.
In nineteen forty-six, Eugene Meyer left the newspaper
to become the first president of the World Bank. Philip Graham became publisher of The
Graham improved The Washington Post. He
bought Newsweek magazine and several television stations. He also established close ties with important
political leaders. However, Mister
Graham treated his wife badly. He made
her feel unimportant. He had a sexual relationship with a young reporter. For many years, Mister Graham suffered from
mental illness. He killed himself in
Katharine Graham had four children to raise and a
newspaper to operate. At first, she was
concerned only with finding a way to keep control of The Washington Post until
her sons were old enough to supervise it.
She was an insecure person.
She did not
think she had the ability to do an important job.
She had no training in business or experience in
operating a large company. In those
days, it was unusual for a woman to be the head of a business. Women were expected to supervise only their
homes and children.
Katharine Graham met with officials of The Post. She told them the paper would not be
sold. She said it would remain in her
family. She was elected president of The
Washington Post Company. She had no idea
about how to operate a newspaper. So she
decided to learn. She began by hiring
Benjamin Bradlee. He later became chief
editor. Mister Bradlee improved the
newspaper. He hired excellent reporters
and editors. They began doing important
investigative reporting. In nineteen
sixty-nine, Missus Graham became publisher as well as president of The
Washington Post Company.
the nineteen seventies, The Washington Post became famous around the world
because of two major successes. In
nineteen seventy-one, The New York Times newspaper started publishing secret
government documents about American involvement in the Vietnam War.
They were known as the Pentagon Papers. The administration of President Richard Nixon
appealed to the courts to stop the publication of the documents. It said publication would endanger national
security. A temporary restraining order
from a federal judge stopped The New York Times from publishing the documents.
Washington Post reporters also got a copy of the Pentagon
Papers. They also wanted to publish the
documents. Missus Graham had to decide
if the paper would publish the stories and risk possible punishment by the
government. The newspaper's lawyers
advised her not to publish them. Yet she
decided to publish the Pentagon Papers in The Washington Post. The Supreme Court finally decided the
issue. They ruled against the judge's
order restraining publication of the Pentagon Papers. That ruling was considered a major success
for freedom of the press.
next year, in nineteen seventy-two, The Washington Post had another major
success reporting on a different story.
Five men had
been arrested after breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National
Committee in the Watergate office building.
Reporters at The Post began an intense investigation of the
break-in. The Post published a series of
stories by two young reporters, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.
much investigation, the reporters linked the Watergate break-in to President
Nixon and his top advisers. Their
stories proved that the Nixon administration directed a plot. Its goals were to illegally gather
intelligence on the Democratic Party and dishonor opponents of the president.
Missus Graham supported her reporters and editors
through the long Watergate investigation.
The Post published the stories even though government officials
threatened Missus Graham and her company.
The newspaper was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service in
nineteen seventy-three for its Watergate reporting. The next year, President Nixon resigned from
Katharine Graham was recognized around the world as an
important leader in newspaper publishing.
She was the first woman to head a major American company.
expanded The Washington Post Company to include newspaper, magazine, broadcast
and cable companies.
Katharine Graham played an important role in supporting
women in the workforce. More women were
employed at The Post and at Newsweek magazine.
Missus Graham also was active in groups seeking to improve public
education in Washington. She traveled
around the country to make many public speeches about news media issues. She also traveled around the world to meet
with foreign leaders.
Graham was well known for having dinner parties at her home in Washington. She invited the most important people in the
city. An invitation to one of her
parties was almost as valuable as an invitation to dinner at the White
House. Missus Graham was a close friend
of American and world leaders. Her
friends included leaders in government, media, business and entertainment. They included presidents, prime ministers and
nineteen ninety-one, Donald Graham replaced his mother as publisher and the
chief official of The Washington Post Company.
At that time, the company was valued at almost two thousand million
When she was eighty years old, Katharine Graham wrote a
book about her life. It was called
"Personal History." She wrote about the
struggles and tragedies of her life as well as the successes. She wrote about how she battled her own
insecurities to move from a traditional job as homemaker to a position of
power. Critics praised the book for its
honesty. The book won a Pulitzer Prize
for biography in nineteen ninety-eight.
It was extremely popular.
Katharine Graham died of head injuries three years
later after a fall. She was
eighty-four. More than three thousand
people attended her funeral. They
included many government and business leaders.
Friends of Katharine Graham said she would be remembered as a woman who
had an important influence on events in the United States and the world. They said she used her intelligence and
bravery to improve the American media.
And they said everyone who cares about a free press would greatly miss
Graham once wrote: "A world without newspapers would not be the same kind of
world." After her death, the employees
of The Washington Post wrote: "A world without Katharine Graham will not be the
same at all."
This Special English program was written by Shelley
Gollust. It was produced by Caty
Weaver. I'm Doug Johnson.
I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next
week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.