First published 1995
Benjamin Bradlee stands at his desk in The Washington Post newsroom, the weight of American journalism on his shoulders. From his privileged start at Harvard through combat in the Pacific Theater, then wandering postwar Paris as a young correspondent, Bradlee carved an unlikely path to the top of the news business. He revolutionized how newspapers covered politics and changed the relationship between press and power in Washington. The Harvard graduate who survived wartime naval service found his calling in the chaos of breaking news and deadline pressure. Bradlee's rise to become America's most recognizable newspaper editor reveals the personal costs and public rewards of challenging presidents, exposing scandals, and redefining what journalism could accomplish. His story captures the transformation of both a man and a profession during the most turbulent decades of the twentieth century.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, american, 21st-century, journalism, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water
Setting: Washington Post, Washington DC, Paris
Period: Twentieth Century, World War II
512 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster