Ben Bradlee

Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor and later as executive editor of The Washington Post, from 1965 to 1991. and younger sister Constance. The children grew up in a wealthy family with domestic staff.

With the help of wealthy relatives, Bradlee was able to continue his education at Dexter School, and to finish high school at St. Mark's School, where he played varsity baseball.

Early career in journalism At loose ends after the war, Bradlee was recruited by a high school classmate in 1946 to work at the New Hampshire Sunday News, a new Sunday paper in Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1951, Bradlee became assistant press attaché in the American embassy in Paris. two years before Bradlee, and lived nearby. In 1960, Bradlee toured with both Kennedy and Richard Nixon in their presidential campaigns. He later wrote a book, Conversations With Kennedy (W.W. Norton, 1975), recounting their relationship during those years. Bradlee was, at this point, Washington Bureau chief for Newsweek, a position from which he helped negotiate the sale of the magazine to The Washington Post holding company.

Career at The Washington Post Bradlee remained with Newsweek until he was promoted to managing editor at the Post in 1965. He became executive editor in 1968.

Under Bradlee's leadership, The Washington Post took on major challenges during the Nixon administration. In 1971 he hid a team of lawyers, editors and writers led by him and Ben Bagdikian in Bradlee's own Georgetown home, and supervised the team's resulting publication of the Pentagon Papers. The New York Times and the Post successfully challenged the government over the right to publish the Papers.

One year later, Bradlee backed reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they probed the break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel.

Ensuing investigations of suspected cover-ups led inexorably to congressional committees, conflicting testimonies, and ultimately to the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974. For decades, Bradlee was one of only four publicly known people who knew the true identity of press informant Deep Throat, the other three being Woodward, Bernstein, and Deep Throat himself, who later revealed himself to be Nixon's FBI associate director Mark Felt.

In 1981, Post reporter Janet Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize for "Jimmy's World", a profile of an eight-year-old heroin addict. Cooke's article turned out to be fiction — there was no such addict. As executive editor, Bradlee was roundly criticized in many circles for failing to ensure the article's accuracy. After questions about the story's veracity arose, Bradlee (along with publisher Donald Graham) ordered a "full disclosure" investigation to ascertain the truth. Bradlee personally apologized to Mayor Marion Barry and the chief of police of Washington, D.C., for the Posts fictitious article. Cooke, meanwhile, was forced to resign from the Post and relinquish the Pulitzer.

Activities and awards after retirement Bradlee retired as the executive editor of The Washington Post in September 1991 but continued to serve as vice president at large until his death.

In 1991, Bradlee delivered the Theodore H. White lecture at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. His message: Lying in Washington, whether in the White House or the Congress, is wrong, immoral, tearing at the fiber of our national instincts and institutions — and must stop. He said, "Lying has reached such epidemic proportions in our culture and among our institutions in recent years, that we've all become immunized to it." He suggested that the deceit was degrading the respect for the truth.

Bradlee had an acting role in Born Yesterday, the 1993 remake of the 1950 romantic comedy.

In 1988, Bradlee received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

His autobiography, A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures, was published in 1995.

In recognition of his work as editor of The Washington Post, Bradlee won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 1998.

In the fall of 2005, Jim Lehrer interviewed Bradlee for six hours on topics from the responsibilities of the press to Watergate to the Valerie Plame affair. The interviews were edited for an hour-long documentary, Free Speech: Jim Lehrer and Ben Bradlee, which premiered on PBS on , 2006.

On , 2006, Bradlee received a Doctor of Humane Letters from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Prior to receiving the honorary degree, he taught occasional journalism courses at Georgetown. Bradlee received the French Legion of Honor, the highest award given by the French government, at a ceremony in 2007 in Paris.

Bradlee was named as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on , 2013, and was presented the medal at a White House ceremony on , 2013.

Marriages and children Bradlee was married three times. His first marriage was to Jean Saltonstall. Like Bradlee, Saltonstall also came from a wealthy and prominent Boston family. They married on , 1942, the same day Bradlee graduated from Harvard and entered the Navy. who later became first a reporter, then a deputy managing editor at The Boston Globe.

Bradlee and his first wife divorced while he was an overseas correspondent for Newsweek. In 1957, he married Antoinette 'Tony' Pinchot Pittman (sister of Mary Pinchot Meyer). Together, they had a son, Dominic, and a daughter, Marina. In late September 2014, he entered hospice care due to declining health. He died , 2014, at his home in Washington, D.C., at the age of 93. His funeral was held at the Washington National Cathedral. He was buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

In popular culture Actor Jason Robards portrayed Bradlee in the 1976 film All the President's Men, winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance. Henderson Forsythe played Bradlee in the 1989 romantic comedy Chances Are. G. D. Spradlin played the role of Bradlee in Dick, a 1999 spoof of Watergate. Éric Soubelet portrayed Bradlee in the 2016 historical drama Jackie. Tom Hanks portrayed Bradlee in director Steven Spielberg's 2017 historical drama The Post. Alfred Molina played Bradlee in the 2018 historical drama The Front Runner.

Books Bradlee, Ben. Conversations With Kennedy (W W Norton & Co Inc, , 1984) Bradlee, Ben. A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures (Simon & Schuster, October, 1995)