Journalism giant and former Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee died on Tuesday of natural causes at the age of 93, CBS News reported. He stayed dedicated to the story that eventually brought down President Richard Nixon, stood face-to-face with the U.S government and inspired a new wave of journalists.
Bradlee was born in Boston on Aug. 26, 1921 to a comfortable Crowninshield family. He attended Harvard University and married Jean Saltonstall while he was enrolled in classes. He entered the Navy after graduating from high school and went on to be part of the Office of Naval Intelligence.
Taking reign of the Washington Post newsroom in 1965, Bradlee greatly increased the paper's circulation by ensuring aggressive and accurate reporting, along with overseas writers bringing news from abroad back to the United States. He worked at The Post for 26 years, according to the New York Daily News.
He published the Pentagon Papers on the war in Indochina in 1971, defying a court injunction against its exposure. Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that media outlets were allowed to publish material from the Pentagon Papers. This was done with the backing of the paper's publisher, Katharine Graham.
Arguably, the most influential thing to happen at The Post under Bradlee was breaking the news of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation, catapulting Bradlee to public notoriety. Jason Robards played him in the movie "All the President's Men."
Bradlee let Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two rookie reporters, cover the Watergate story instead of assigning the story to more seasoned writers.
Woodward has said that Bradlee was the 20th century's greatest editor.
"He created an atmosphere in the newsroom of the Washington Post of... 'There are mysteries out there. There are things we don't know about. We're not getting to the bottom of it. Human behavior is hidden from us and so we have to keep digging at it,'" Woodward said, according to CBS News.
Bradlee did experience at least one mishap: the paper had to retract a falsified story about a child that was addicted to heroin, therefore forfeiting a Pulitzer Prize. But Bradlee's accomplishments at the paper include 19 Pulitzer Pirzers, and a Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
Bradlee is happily remembered by his wife Sally Quinn and his children Quinn, Dominic, Marina and Ben.
