Founder connections
- Bill GatesRecommendedSelected for his 2025 summer memoir list. Gates praises Graham’s account of her life and leadership at The Washington Post.Source
Summary
Katharine Graham recounts her family life and the path that led her to run The Washington Post after her husband’s death. Her memoir follows the personal doubts and workplace barriers she faced, alongside the newspaper’s role in the Pentagon Papers and Watergate. It brings the private life of a publisher together with major events in American journalism and politics.
Why read it Our view
Study Graham’s takeover and management of The Washington Post. The Pentagon Papers and Watergate decisions provide cases for examining how a publishing-company leader handles pressure around the firm’s core work.