Washington Post chief Katharine Graham dead

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JULY 18. MRs. Katharine Graham, Chairperson of the Executive Committee of The Washington Post Company, died in a hospital in Boise, Idaho. The 84 year old Ms. Graham had suffered a head injury on Saturday in Sun Valley, Idaho and was listed in a critical condition.

Mrs. Graham, a powerful force in American journalism, took over The Post Company in 1963 after the suicide of her husband, Philip Graham.

She has been seen as one of the leading forces behind the rise of The Washington Post to a powerful publishing institution in this country.

Mrs. Graham is especially remembered for the decision to go ahead and publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971 against legal advice, besides relentlessly pursuing the Watergate Scandal that eventually brought down the Richard Nixon Presidency in 1974.

A funeral service is being held on Monday at the Washington National Cathedral.

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Section  : International
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