Katharine Graham, the first lady of American newspapers

She brought down US President Nixon with a newspaper and became a legend in the history of American journalism. She was the first female "chief executive" in a Fortune 500 company and the first female director of the Associated Press. She was a legend in the American press and was called the "most powerful woman in the press".

In the male-dominated Washington news and political world, Katharine Graham was dazzling and revered. Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, said: "It's amazing that such a shy woman has become such a powerful force in Washington." George W. Bush was more representative: "She was a true leader, a true lady, a legend."

The reason she is so highly regarded is not only because she is the most powerful woman in the world, but also because this woman represents a bygone era. It was a time when the noblest qualities of human nature, courage, and integrity, shone so brightly in the annals of history...

Came into the world with a golden key in his mouth

Katharine Graham dominated the American media, and her family background is inseparable.

She was born in New York on June 16, 1917, to a wealthy Jewish family. His father, Eugene Meir, made millions of dollars investing wisely and became a prominent Wall Street banker. Mr. Meir later entered public service, serving as chairman of the Federal Reserve under President Herbert Hoover. He served as the first president of the World Bank during the Truman administration.

Her father was busy all day, and her mother was a famous socialite. Soon after Katharine Graham was born, she simply said, "Why is the child so ugly?" and went on with her engagements.

Although born into a family with plenty of food and clothing, Catherine did not enjoy much love from her parents, because her appearance is average, and she has low self-esteem. In college, her classmates couldn't understand how the child of one of the wealthiest families in the United States only had two dresses and two sweaters, and she didn't care much because she ignored him for so long.

In 1933, Meir brokered a deal to buy the Post, which was founded in 1877, for $825,000 at a bankruptcy auction, and the then-minor newspaper became the property of the Meir family. With a daily circulation of only 50,000 and a loss of $1 million a year, the Washington Post was the worst, most loss-making, and least read of the five Washington newspapers that year, and no one could have imagined that it would become an American media empire.

Although she was not adequately cared for by her art-loving mother, Catherine grew up in privileged circumstances. She was studious and fond of writing, the only child in her family interested in journalism. She attended Chwasa Women's College before transferring to the University of Chicago two years later. After graduating from the University of Chicago in 1938, she worked as a reporter for the San Francisco News. The next year, her father summoned her back to Washington to become editor of the newspaper's letters section for $25 a month.

Around this time, Catherine met a young, charming lawyer who would become her husband, Philip Graham. When Philip asked her to marry him, she was shocked. She could hardly believe that such a personable and elite man, who had graduated from Harvard, would like his shyness and timidity. They were married in June 1940.

In 1945, Catherine's father handed over the REINS of the Washington Post to his son-in-law, and even gave him most of the equity, because he thought a woman was not suitable for journalism and should take care of her husband and children at home. Catherine, on the other hand, was uncomplaining and devoted to caring for her husband as a "housewife", raising four children and rarely appearing in public.

A strong woman leading a "man's world"

Under Philip's leadership, the Post grew in circulation and influence. In 1961 an ambitious Philip bought the respectable Newsweek, hoping that it would give him a run for his money against the mighty Time. Catherine, however, remained shy and hid behind her husband. As a result, she was always placed in an inconspicuous position at dinner parties, and even her own family ignored her too much. If life is so plain to go on, with no suspense, she may be a lifetime is an ordinary and shy woman.

By this time, however, Philip was suffering from severe mental depression, became increasingly dissatisfied with his wife, and at one point became very involved with a female journalist who worked for him, causing a lot of rumors. In August 1963, he shot himself in his farmhouse. The sudden turn of events left Catherine, 46, almost breathless.

After more than a month of adjustment. Catherine resolutely decided to continue running the Washington Post, becoming its boss. But no one thinks much of this lackluster woman, and almost everyone predicts that the company will be sold. As one commentator put it at the time, "There are many reasons why [the Post] is for sale -- a poorly run paper, an elderly owner with no heirs, only a widow..."

With Catherine at the helm. Inside the Washington Post, too, fear has spread that many editors and reporters are looking to jump ship. Catherine said in her autobiography that she was "on the edge of a cliff and jumped with her eyes closed. Surprisingly, I landed firmly on the ground.

In the United States at that time, although there were already some female journalists active in the press. But at the executive level, not to mention bosses, it is mostly men. How does a housewife support a newspaper? Catherine began to learn from the successful people around her about the basic business and methods of journalism. She put womanly magnanimity and selflessness at the heart of her management and, more importantly, learned to hire people better than herself.

In 1965, she made the momentous decision to promote Ben Bradley, a prominent journalist, to the Post's top job, and to empower executives, editors, and reporters to unleash their energies.

The first is to change the old-fashioned style of the newspaper. Bradley was a real talent. He didn't like to emphasize the responsibility of news, much less the pure information, and his short attention span made him intolerant of dullness. At Newsweek, he spent his days prodding young reporters to write funny stuff, and now he's bringing that style to the Post. Bradley liked the star reporter system, believing that newspapers' standards could be raised fastest by shining stars. He recruited young talent from everywhere, including The New York Times and Newsweek, and even three Pulitzer Prize winners, giving them free rein and enviable salaries.

In this way, a series of upheavals took place at the Washington Post. Conservatives left and the newspaper's political position changed dramatically, from always on the side of the government to more and more liberal.

She defeated the American president

During the administration of former US President Richard Nixon, two events changed the Washington Post and catapulted Catherine to the top of her career.

In 1971, reporters of the Washington Post obtained the Pentagon Papers, a secret study of the Vietnam War by the U.S. Department of Defense, after the New York Times. Editors and reporters of the Washington Post demanded immediate publication, but lawyers objected because the Nixon administration was taking the New York Times to court over the matter. More importantly, the Post's public offering is well underway. To report or not to report? The question was sharply put to Catherine, and even if she had said "no," no one would have disagreed, but once again the powerful woman stood up and said "yes." She was very nervous and scared, she later recalled, but she swallowed and said three "Go ahead" in a row --Go ahead, Go ahead, Go ahead, Let's Go. Let's publish!

Like a gambler, Catherine bet everything she had on a story. And she won! Since then, The Washington Post has ceased to be a tabloid. When people speak of it, they speak of it as if it were the New York Times.