Bradlee, Ben

Ben Bradlee, in full Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee, (born August 26, 1921, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died October 21, 2014, Washington, D.C.), American journalist and newspaper editor who set exacting standards and promoted an aggressive newsroom style as the executive editor (1968–91) of The Washington Post.

Bradlee began reporting for a local paper at age 15. In 1942 he graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in English and Greek. Following the completion of his military service, he helped found (1945) the New Hampshire Sunday News, a weekly newspaper, and then became (1948) a reporter for The Washington Post. Bradlee served (1951–53) as the press attaché at the U.S. embassy in Paris before becoming a foreign correspondent (1954–57) for Newsweek magazine. After Bradlee prompted Post owner Philip Graham to purchase Newsweek (1961), he started working as a reporter (1957–61) for the magazine’s Washington bureau and eventually became its chief (1961–65).

Following Graham’s suicide (1963), Graham’s widow, Katharine, brought Bradlee back to the Post as managing editor (1965) and (from 1968) executive editor. With her support, Bradlee oversaw the publication of excerpts from the Pentagon Papers (government documents concerning the Vietnam War), despite the fact that a court injunction had blocked The New York Times from doing so. He also authorized Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to continue to delve into the Watergate scandal, an investigation that eventually implicated U.S. Pres. Richard Nixon in illegal activities and forced his resignation. In addition, Bradlee encouraged more-extensive foreign reporting and the introduction (1969) of a Style section, which covered cultural news. His revitalization was credited with almost doubling the paper’s circulation and with earning it 18 Pulitzer Prizes.

Bradlee’s books include Conversations with Kennedy (1975) and the memoir A Good Life (1995). In 2013 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.