[Descendants of these publishers still run their respective papers, and the attitude that they have an obligation to provide covert help to the CIA persists to the present era. In 1988, Post owner Katharine Graham, Phil's widow, gave a speech at the CIA's Langley, Va. headquarters.] We live in a dirty and dangerous world, ... There are some things the general public does not need to know and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows. |
[In August 1966 the Post 's owner, Katharine Graham, discussed the war with a writer in line to take charge of the newspaper's editorial page.] We agreed that the Post ought to work its way out of the very supportive editorial position it had taken, but that we couldn't be precipitate; we had to move away gradually from where we had been, ... be precipitate. |
A mistake is simply another way of doing things. |
Bromidic though it may sound, some questions don't have answers, which is a terribly difficult lesson to learn. |
If one is rich and one's a woman, one can be quite misunderstood. |
If we had failed to pursue the facts as far as they led, we would have denied the public any knowledge of an unprecedented scheme of political surveillance and sabotage. |
No one can avoid aging, but aging productively is something else |
Once, power was considered a masculine attribute. In fact, power has no sex. |
Personal History ... I loved the first few chapters where she describes America's wealthy politicians and their inner circles. And the tracing of American politics... |
So few grown women like their lives |
These cool or antagonistic relationships are part of life in Washington and are accepted as such, but I often think how self-defeating they are and how much better polite professional relationships would serve political figures and journalists in situations like this. I agreed with a charming message I got from George McGovern after he had been defeated for the presidency. He recalled making some bitter remarks about a couple of our columnists at a dinner party; but wrote me, 'I have regretted that outburst and I have also established that the maximum time I can carry a grudge is about three months. This note is simply to say that I have now forgotten all campaign grudges. It is just too difficult trying to remember which people I'm supposed to shun.' |
To love what you do and feel that it matters how could anything be more fun? |
With rare exceptions, I feel strongly that McGovern's rule is an appropriate one for us all. The longer I live, the more I observe that carrying around anger is most debilitating to the person who bears it. |