Katharine the Great: Katharine Graham and the Washington Post

I was really quite surprised at this bio of Katharine Graham, owner of The Washington Post (and Madison Council member of the Library of Congress). I did not realize just how filthy rich this woman was. I found the story of her family (as well as the Jewish heritage) quite fascinating. I did not know, for instance, that her father was responsible for the way stocks are now weighted. That he was able to come up with a scientific (or qualifiable) means to rate stocks was truly revolutionary. It was due to this wealth that Katharine was introduced to the high and mighty at an early age. Being born self-confident and rich always gives people an edge. I was impressed with her education in that, unlike many rich people, she actually tried to make a difference while at school. What is most disturbing is the background on how intelligence agencies completely took over the print media. That individuals like Phil Graham and Ben Bradlee were intelligence agents and believed the press should advance government positions shows just how depraved these individuals really were. Not one of them bothered to read or understand the Constitution and the need for a free press. After Graham died (a tad convenient, don't you think?), Katharine became one of the worst suck-ups to the government. As on page 249, Ward Just was reporting on how badly the Vietnam War was going. Can't have that, you know. Bradlee and Katharine replaced his defeatist reporting with uber-hawk, hack scribbler, and future Library of Congress Director of Communications (brought in by CIA Billington) Peter Braestrup. His take on the Tet Offensive, The Big Story, is always good for a laugh. There is, because of this, much speculation regarding who did Nixon in. Was it a CIA plot? Katharine's relations with the CIA went beyond Phil Graham and Bradlee. Even Bob Woodward was a former intelligence officer. After reading this book you do wonder why these CIA types can't be satisfied with writing their reports from Langley. This book can be a bit weak on sources, but it certainly does give a good overview of just what this woman was really all about.

I have read this book and find it to be both entertaiining and informative.It works on the both the level of biography and media criitique. What Davis has done is to record the history of the Graham family fortune along with the liberal ideological adornments that almost makes the familiy and Katharine Graham somewhat sympathic personages. Almost is good choice with respect to this bunch. Because, as the author does so well in outlining the byzsantine grap for political influence of the Post and its owner, we become aware that the Graham liberalism follows the same path as described by J.S. Mill and smowhat more. Classic liberalism seeks power just as the conservative money class does but with a singular difference that ,it is the message not the methods that makes the difference between the two. The classic liberal, and Graham was cetainly cut from that cloth, wants to promote the cut of fairness, individual rights and the rule of law. In other words the liberal wants everyone to feel equal and that the game of capitalism is a fair game. Thus we have the Washington Post , guardian of fairness, publishing the Pentagon Papers, exposing America's shameful war. Or so goes the myth. But Davis puts the lie to this myth and exposes the CIA links and other covert operative connections in the Post. She exposes the CIA connection with Ben Bradlee, editor of the Post. As we now know, the media in America is far from free( and this applies so much so to the money class who own the media) but as Davis shows the media is infiltrated by government operatives ( especially at the national level) . So as anyone who reads this book will see the media and press must be taken with a grain of doubt.