Ben Bradlee

Colorful, charismatic and courageous, Benjamin C. Bradlee may be the most influential newspaper editor of our time.

Bradlee's career as a journalist encompassed many of the most important events of the late 20th century, from World War II to Watergate, from the domestic revolution of the '60s to the international revolutions of the '90s. While serving as The Washington Post's executive editor from 1968 to 1997, the newspaper became a world-renowned and respected model of fearless and innovative journalism. During his turbulent tenure, the Post not only reported the news, it was the news.

In 1971, Bradlee risked legal censure by the Nixon administration to publish The Pentagon Papers, a secret history of the Vietnam War. But it was the newspaper's subsequent historic investigation of the Watergate scandal by reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that tested the editor's journalistic judgement. As one of his reporters wrote, "Bradlee set a tone of aggressive reporting, journalistic initiative, and independence from the Washington establishment."

Bradlee's memoir, titled A Good Life, was firmly on the bestseller lists. In this witty and candid memoir, Bradlee traces his path from Harvard to the battles of the Pacific War to the pinnacle of success as the editor of The Washington Post during the Watergate scandal and every other important event of the last three decades. Bradlee is also the author of two books on John F. Kennedy, That Special Grace and Conversations with Kennedy.