Personal History: A Memoir

Born into privilege, Katharine Graham’s life was defined by and devoted to her family’s company, The Washington Post. While she could have taken it easy and led a life of leisure (she didn’t know how to fold her own clothes in college because “that was always done for me”) she instead took on the stress and challenges of operating a Fortune 500 company. She did this despite her obvious lack of experience and being the only women in the room, pretty much all the time. “Since I regarded myself as inferior,” she wrote, “I failed to distinguish between, on the one hand, male condescension because I was a woman and, on the other hand, a valid view that the only reason I had my job was the good luck of my birth and the bad luck of my husband’s death.” There was plenty of both, but Graham managed to find success through sheer determination and a deep desire to bring good journalism to the people. While her start at The Washington Post was rocky, her confidence grew over the years as she grew into the job and began to accumulate some successes. She covered many presidents (and knew a few personally) from JFK and LBJ to Nixon and eventually Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.Graham’s autobiography is also a biography of The Washington Post newspaper and company—the family owned Newsweek magazine for many years in addition to a few local television and radio stations in select cities around the country. The paper, originally founded in 1877, was sold to Graham’s father at auction in 1933. Keeping it in the family, he eventually passed ownership on to Katharine’s husband Philip in 1946. The burdens of the job (and an undiagnosed mental illness) would eventually lead Phil to take his own life in 1963, catapulting Katharine into the position of president and CEO, one which she held for nearly thirty years before eventually passing the family torch once again to her own son Donald.While ownership of the company passed from one generation to the next, Graham always did her best to maintain her integrity with her readership and insisted on impartial journalism. Today, much of journalism feels as though it is written with a specific ideology behind it, but that was not always the case in the United States. “People who may disagree on politics must still be able to communicate, and it’s crucial for all of us in the press to listen to all sides,” she writes of her time at the newspaper. “I consider it the role of the head of a newspaper to be bipartisan and to bring journalists together with people from government. I think that an easy relationship is constructive and useful for both sides: it helps the publication by opening doors, and provides those who are covered in the news with the knowledge of whom they can suggest ideas to, complain to, and generally deal with.” As a means of honoring their bipartisanship, The Post maintained a precedent of not endorsing political candidates for many years, until eventually breaking this pattern in the 1976 election when they officially endorsed Jimmy Carter.The relationship between government and press is a vital one to a free and open society, and as one of the most prominent news sources in the capital city of Washington D.C. Graham and her associates at The Post had an important job: keeping those in power in check. While her career spanned many important years, there are two distinct events that had massive impact on her tenure. The first was the publication of the Pentagon Papers—which revealed the US’s involvement in Vietnam to be much more vast and devastating than the public originally knew about—and the second was the Watergate Scandal. Watergate, which progressively unfolded from 1972-1974 and eventually culminated in President Nixon’s resignation from office, was a political scandal unlike any other. “Its sheer magnitude and reach put it on a scale altogether different from past political scandals,” Graham remembers, “in part because of the unparalleled involvement of so many men so close to the president and because of the large amounts of money raised, stashed, and spent in covert and illegal ways.” The story revealed the depths of corruption throughout the different branches of government and the lengths to which Nixon was willing to go to cover it all up. Graham herself spent much of her time during the scandal as one of the top names on Nixon’s list of public enemies. Despite the immense pressure to drop the investigation, Graham pushed her reporters to continue pulling at the strings until the entire sweater unravelled. “As astounding as Watergate was to the country and the government, it underscored the crucial role of a free, able, and energetic press.”In conclusion, I found two important take-aways from reading this entertaining and informative book: The importance of a free press in keeping those in power in check, and the importance of leading a life of purpose. Graham could have easily taken her family’s money and done whatever she wanted with her life, including nothing at all. Instead, her parents pushed her (and her four siblings) to live lives of fulfillment and productivity. She then passed these same sentiments on to her own children. Playing a central role in the production of news and the diagnosing of politics led Graham to live an extraordinary life, one of equal parts joy and hardship. Her mark on history was made in the face of gender-discrimination and is a shining example to us all of the importance of leading a life of purpose.

Interesting story, to be sure. And easy to read. The level of detail and her ability to organize the sheer volume of it were remarkable. As others have noted, this book would have benefited from an editor--to shorten it (the entire book and many of the sentences within) and to correct grammar and word usage where needed. Ms. Graham spoke frequently of her lack of self-confidence. Maybe that's what drove her to make almost everyone she met a friend and to deny she 'hated' Nixon. Just yesterday, a guest on the Diane Rehm show (NPR) who worked for Ms. Graham commented on how much she 'hated' Nixon. As I said, interesting.

This book is phenomenal. I believe that I have found the inspiration for Forrest Gump. Born into very serious privilege, Katherine Graham's introspective autobiography spans the Gilded age to the 1980s, from her parents' childhoods, to how they met, to her childhood, marriage, and life beyond marriage and kids. Besides a jaw-dropping list of family friends ranging from Rodin to Kissinger (and all presidents between Roosevelt and Carter) and Curie to Buffet, Ms. Graham occupied a rarified strata where she didn't know how to fold her clothes in college "because that was always done for me." Despite her incredible privilege, Ms. Graham was a hard-working and earnest person who engaged in her marriage and motherhood enthusiastically, if not, according to her, somewhat less than completely adeptly. Her story is one of a woman born in the early 1900s, widowed in the 1960s and heading up an F500 company, her family's paper the Washington Post, at a time where she was the only female in the boardroom. Kind of ever. She relates interesting anecdotes about her insecurities in running a company, particularly in an age where women were encouraged to stay and home and raise children. In her memoir is a compelling story of a woman persisting in a man's world, relying upon her sensibilities and succeeding despite her propensity to "burst into tears" when confronted with aggressiveness or bad news. I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written and engaging memoir for its historical perspective, its insight into privilege and its trajectory of a very impressive person who was also a woman. I highly, highly recommend this book - it is readable, entertaining and edifying - the trifecta of an excellent book.

My husband got me this book as a surprise, since he had heard Warren Buffet mention it. I knew next to nothing about Katherine Graham (this may be different to those who were her contemporary fellows) - her background, her marriage, her Post career - and did not even read the synopsis: All of this made for an excellent read as turns and twists were truly surprising.Therefore, don't continue reading this review if you were like me - just go ahead and read the first couple of pages and you'll get hooked:I would say this book breaks down into three parts, her upbringing, her marriage and her years as a professional working woman. I loved all three parts.The first one (her upbringing) was the most entertaining part written with wit, humor and a good amount of self-depreciation. In a refreshing way, she tells of complex family relationships - something I think anyone can relate to. And she does so with respect to each family member, yet openly and candidly and also with a good amount of self-criticism looking back from her 79 years' old vantage point.The second one tells the story of her own family life and no doubt the very painful downward spiral of her marriage and ensuring tragedy. She does not hold back, but again with full respect of all individuals involved. It was a very very powerful read and no doubt sharing her very intimate story will be helpful to those in similar situations. No money, no privilege can bar you from mental health issues.The last point was the most interesting read from my professional end-thirties point of view. She tells of her experience as the only woman in a corporate man's world and looks back again with a good amount of introspection. She admits of beliefs she held that no doubt are uncomfortable to admit, and hence it makes for a candid and powerful read. Of her self-doubts, feelings of inadequacy, insecurities - and yet she made it in a marvelous way. It will remind every woman that there is no perfection, and that - yes, you too can climb up the corporate latter, because every leader has their doubts. Nobody is perfect but women often think they should be, especially at the top of a company.On the downside, the writing of the last third part felt more like a summary of events, less than a story. She tells about watergate, the Pentagon papers and the pressmen's strike, but more descriptive, less psychologically insightful. I also missed parts of the family stories that made the first part of the book so special, but I understand she did so out of respect of people's privacy.All in all, this was one of the best 'surprise reads'. I did not know what to expect, got hooked within the first three pages, and was well-rewarded.

For people who love history and politics, this book is fascinating (not to mention the very compelling personal aspect of the author's life). Especially powerful has been reading about how she took the reins as leader of the WP because in her mind there was simply no other option, stepping into gigantic shoes very reticently, but nonetheless with the obvious underlying confidence that it could (and had) to be done. It's a story that is equal parts fascination and inspiration.

Simplesmente maravilhoso. Narrativa sincera, envolvente, muito bem escrita. Sempre admirei muito a Katharine Graham, mas ultrapassou as expectativas. Excelente, Adorei.

Una historia maravillosa, creo que vale toda la pena saber la historia de este personaje tan controversial. Les resultará fascinanteAltamente recomendado

Es muy interesante lo que cuenta.