Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (born August 26, 1921) is the vice president of The Washington Post. As executive editor of the Post from 1965 to 1991, he challenged the federal government over the right to publish the Pentagon papers. He became famous for overseeing the publication of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's stories documenting the Watergate scandal. For decades, Bradlee was one of only four publicly known people who knew the true identity of Deep Throat, the other three being Woodward, Bernstein, and Deep Throat himself. Bradlee presently resides at Grey Gardens, the former East Hampton estate of the Bouvier family. is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... The Pentagon Papers is the colloquial term for United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, a 47 volume, 7,000-page, top-secret United States Department of Defense history of the United States political and military involvement in the Vietnam War from 1945... Bob Woodward signs his book State of Denial after a talk in March 2007. ... Carl Bernstein (left) and Bob Woodward (right)This image is pending deletion. ... Watergate redirects here. ... W. Mark Felt, on the set of CBSs Face the Nation in 1976. ... East Hampton is the name of some places in the United States of America: East Hampton, Connecticut East Hampton, New York - Town of East Hampton East Hampton, New York - Village of East Hampton These should not be confused with places named Easthampton. ... First official White House portrait. ...

Early life

A member of the Boston Brahmin Crowninshield family, Benjamin Bradlee, whose great-great-great-great-grandmother was Princess Johanna Dorothea of Reuss, Germany, and is a third cousin of Queen Victoria, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was Frederick Josiah Bradlee Jr., an All American football player at Harvard, and is a direct descendant of a John Bradley who came to America in 1630. Bradlee's maternal grandfather, Carl de Gersdorff, was a famed New York lawyer; his brother, Frederic Josiah Bradlee III, traced the de Gersdorff ancestry back to Count and Margrave Gero I (c.900-965), also known as "The Great," who was a Margrave, or Prince, of the Holy Roman Empire. Bradlee attended Harvard College, where he majored in classical Greek, was a member of the AD Club, a prominent final club and graduated in 1942. He married Jean Saltonstall, and after graduating, joined the Office of Naval Intelligence and worked as a communications officer in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. The main ship on which Bradlee served was the USS Philip (DD-498). He fought off the shores of Guam and arrived at Guadalcanal with the Second Fleet; his main battles were Saipan, Tinian, and Bougainville. Bradlee's duties included handling classified and coded cables. After the war, in 1946, he became a reporter at the New Hampshire Sunday News, a venture he helped launch, then started working for the Washington Post in 1948 as a reporter. Bradlee also got to know Philip Graham, Eugene Meyer's son-in-law, and associate publisher of the newspaper. In 1951 Graham helped Bradlee become assistant press attaché in the American embassy in Paris. Boston Brahmins, also called the First Families of Boston, are the class of New Englanders who claim hereditary and cultural descent from the English Protestants who founded the city of Boston, Massachusetts and settled New England. ... The Crowninshields are an American family prominent in seafaring and in political and military leadership as well as the literary world. ... Boston redirects here. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... A final club or finals club is an all-male undergraduate social club at Harvard College. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ... USS Philip (DD/DDE-498), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral John W. Philip (1840–1900). ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Eugene Isaac Meyer (October 31, 1875 – July 17, 1959) was an American financier, public official, publisher of the Washington Post newspaper, and the father of Katharine Graham. ...

Government work

In 1952 Bradlee joined the staff of the Office of U.S. Information and Educational Exchange (USIE), the embassy's propaganda unit. USIE produced films, magazines, research, speeches, and news items for use by the CIA throughout Europe. USIE (later known as USIA) also controlled the Voice of America, a means of disseminating pro-American "cultural information" worldwide. While at the USIE, according to a Justice Department memo from an assistant U.S. attorney in the Rosenberg Trial, Bradlee was helping the CIA manage European propaganda regarding the spying conviction and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on June 19, 1953. The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... Voice of America logo Voice of America (VOA), is the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States federal government. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American Communists who received international attention when they were executed for passing nuclear weapons secrets to the Soviet Union. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ...

Bradlee was officially employed by USIE until 1953, when he began working for Newsweek. While based in France, Bradlee divorced his first wife and married Antoinette Pinchot. At the time of the marriage, Antoinette's sister, Mary Pinchot Meyer, was married to Cord Meyer, a key figure in Operation Mockingbird, a CIA program to influence the media. Mary Pinchot (14 October 1920-12 October 1964) was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, United States. ... Cord Meyer, Jr. ... Operation Mockingbird is a Central Intelligence Agency operation to influence domestic and foreign media, whose activities were made public during the Church Committee investigation in 1975 (published 1976). ...

Antoinette Bradlee was also a close friend of Cicely d'Autremont, who was married to James Jesus Angleton. Bradlee worked closely with Angleton in Paris. At the time, Angleton was liaison for all Allied intelligence in Europe. His deputy was Richard Ober, a fellow student of Bradlee at Harvard University. This article is about the CIA official. ...

In 1957, now working as a reporter for Newsweek, Bradlee created a great deal of controversy when he interviewed members of the FLN. They were Algerian guerrillas who were in rebellion against the French government at the time. According to Deborah Davis, author of Katharine the Great about Katharine Graham, this had all the "earmarks of an intelligence operation." As a result of these interviews, Bradlee was given an expulsion order from France; however, the order was suspesended and finally repealed before being carried out. The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ... The National Liberation Front , (Arabic: Jabhat al-Taḩrīr al-Waţanī, French: Front de Libération Nationale aka FLN) is a socialist political party in Algeria. ... Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was the head of The Washington Post newspaper for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period, the Watergate coverage that helped bring down President Richard Nixon. ...

Washington Post

As a reporter in the 1950s, Bradlee became close friends with Senator John F. Kennedy, who lived nearby. He served as a reporter in various assignments at the Post until becoming a senior editor in 1961. Bradlee maintained that position until being promoted to managing editor in 1965. He became vice president and executive editor in 1968 and married fellow reporter Sally Quinn in 1978. Bradlee retired as executive editor in September 1991 but continues to serve as vice president of the paper. John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sally Quinn (born July 1, 1941) is an American author and journalist. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...

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 based on faked information: 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. At one point during the investigation, Bradlee angrily compared Cooke with Richard Nixon over her attempted coverup of the fake story. Bradlee personally apologized to Mayor Marion Barry and the chief of police of Washington, DC, for the Post's fictitious article. Cooke, meanwhile, was forced to resign and relinquish the Pulitzer. Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Janet Cooke (born 1958) was an American journalist who became infamous when she won a Pulitzer Prize for a fabricated story that she wrote for The Washington Post. ... For other uses, see Heroin (disambiguation). ... Donald E. Graham Donald E. Graham is chief executive officer and chairman of the board of The Washington Post Company. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. ...

Bradlee published an autobiography in 1995, A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures. He had an acting role in Born Yesterday, the 1993 remake of the 1950 romantic comedy. He also appears as a character in the 1976 film All the President's Men, where he is portrayed by Jason Robards, who won an Academy Award for his performance. Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Born Yesterday is a 1993 remake of the 1950 film based on Born Yesterday, a play by Garson Kanin. ... The year 1993 in film involved many significant films. ... This article is about the 1976 film. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

On May 3, 2006, Bradlee received a Doctor of Humane Letters from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Prior to receiving the honorary degree, he taught occasional journalism courses at Georgetown. is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Georgetown University is an elite private research university located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., United States. ...

In the fall of 2005, Jim Lehrer conducted 3 two-hour interviews with Bradlee on a variety of topics from the responsibilities of the press to the differences between Watergate and the Valerie Plame case. The interviews were edited for an hour-long documentary called Free Speech: Jim Lehrer and Ben Bradlee, which premiered on PBS on June 19, 2006. Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... James Charles Lehrer (pronounced ) (born May 19, 1934) is the news anchor for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. Lehrer is also an acclaimed author, writing both non-fiction and fiction which draws on his life experiences and his interests in history and politics. ... The Watergate building. ... Valerie Elise Plame Wilson (born Valerie Elise Plame 19 April 1963, in Anchorage, Alaska), known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA officer who worked as a classified covert intelligence agent for over twenty years and the wife of former Ambassador... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In a recent interview on BBC news program Hardtalk, he was asked by journalist Stephen Sackur the following: For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Hardtalk is the flagship one-on-one interview programme telecast Monday through Thursday everyweek on BBC World and BBC News 24. ... Stephen Sackur appearing on the Nine OClock News in 1996. ...

"But if you look at the phenomena Wikipedia, for example, people on that site are providing information, and to many people news in an entirely new way! And I just wonder whether you worry, that 20 years from now the idea of receiving that 'traditional news paper' through the letter box in the morning may be dead!?" Wikipedia (IPA: , or ( ) is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization. ...

To which Ben Bradlee answered:

"That isn't what I'd worry... If I were Don Graham, and running this paper, I wouldn't worry about er... Wikipedia! I would take notice of it - but the idea that a whole lot of amateurs can get up on a... and er... file things into the blue; and have some people take it seriously: 'as news' ... I'm not gonna worry about that!" Donald E. Graham Chairman of the Board and CEO, The Washington Post Company Chairman, The Washington Post Elected to the Board September 11, 1974. ... Wikipedia (IPA: , or ( ) is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization. ...

Mr. Bradlee's long-time executive assistant at The Washington Post was Carol Leggitt.

External links

• Bill Green, Washington Post Ombudsman 19 April 1981

• Website for Free Speech: Jim Lehrer with Ben Bradlee 19 June 2006

• Interv on the BBC news programme -Hardtalk - Nov. 2, 2006