Troubled at the Top

October 12, 2015  •  Leave a Comment

The Washington Post became the top paper in town during the reign of CEO Philip Graham. His marriage to Katharine Meyer brought him into the family that owned the paper, becoming publisher in 1946. Graham, at the center of social and political Washington in Georgetown of the 1950s and early 60s, was influential in Democratic Party politics as a close friend of John F. Kennedy. Brilliant and moody, also a heavy drinker, his highs and lows became more pronounced in the late 50s. He committed suicide in 1963, and it is likely that manic depression, now called bipolar disorder, contributed to his death at the early age of 48.

Graham was the second troubled man at the top of the Washington Post. Edward Beale McLean headed the paper until 1933, when his alcoholism and reckless spending and erratic behavior brought on its bankruptcy, and McLean was judged insane. He spent the remainder of his life in a sanatorium.

 

 

 

 


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