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5.0 out of 5 stars
Why she was "one of the greatest publishers of the last two centuries", October 20, 2005
This review is from: Katharine Graham: The Leadership Journey of an American Icon (Hardcover)
Why read this book? A convincing answer is provided by Jim Collins in the Foreword, and I quote: "If I were forced to pick one business leader from whom to draw professional learning and personal aspirations, that one leader would very likely be Katharine Graham." As is the case with other great leaders, Collins explains, she delivered great results during her tenure, achieved a distinctive impact on the world "by creating a a role model that others follow," presided over "a significant crisis or renewal, in part by creating a role model that others follow," and finally, she left a legacy that "transcends her own tenure, and ultimately beyond her life." High praise indeed and wholly justified by Graham's professional achievements and personal integrity.
What we have in this volume is Robin Gerber's probing, illuminating analysis of a woman who once observed that she led "what I thought of as two separate lives. Wife and mother for twenty-three years, and then working person for thirty." It is her career as CEO of the Washington Post Company which has attracted the most attention but only by understanding her as a daughter, wife, mother, and widow, however, can we possibly appreciate both her personal growth and professional achievements. Of course, in her own memoirs (Personal History and Katharine Graham's Washington) she shares much of the same material which Gerber covers also. Here are what I consider to be especially significant facts:
1. Until her husband, Philip, committed suicide, Graham had had almost no direct involvement in the business world.
2. Following his death, she refused to sell the company and became its CEO, relying heavily on the management team to face a series of crises.
3. First, whether or not to publish the Pentagon Papers and thereby risk prosecution under the Espionage Act, jeopardize the company's IPO, and perhaps its lucrative television licenses. She decided to publish.
4. Then, whether or not to support Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's investigation of the Watergate break-in and thereby incur the full wrath of the Nixon administration. She provided that support although, as she later admitted, "I was terrified" and "quaking in my boots."
Gerber skillfully examines each of these and other stressful situations and defining moments. Of greatest interest to me is Graham's gradual, sometimes painful acquisition of business acumen despite the shock and grief caused by her husband's death, especially at a time when the Post Company was going through its own serious difficulties. As countless others have already pointed out, Graham eventually developed outstanding leadership qualities and management skills without at any time compromising her personal decency and integrity. At the time of her death, those who knew her best loved her as much as they respected her.
If you share my high regard for Gerber's book, I urge you to read those which Graham wrote, "in her own words" and apparently without professional assistance. She was genuinely astonished by the fact that Personal History immediately became and then remained a bestseller. Few others were. Certainly no one among more than 4,000 who attended her funeral service on Monday, July 23, 2001, at Washington National Cathedral.
Robert McNamara served as a pallbearer with Vernon Jordan and her brother-in-law, Senator Robert Graham of Florida. Herbert Allen, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mike Nichols, Jim Lehrer, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, and Bob Woodward were among the ushers. Senators arrived in a bus as did hundreds of her associates at the Washington Post. In his eulogy, Ben Bradlee fondly referred to her as "Brenda Starr, girl reporter, [always] at the scene and ready to go." Probably better than anyone else did, Bradlee understood why having both "the heart of a journalist" and "the head of a businesswomen" made Katharine Graham "one of the greatest publishers of the last two centuries."
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