The Most Impressive, Glorious, Courageous, and Cool Katherine Graham--part one

 

I wonder if you have ever heard of this figure of American history.  In my less than humble opinion, she was as important as John Adams.  She also has, in common with Adams, the dubious honor of being the least lauded (at least on the west coast) and studied by scholars (i.e. historians).

• She was a devoted wife and mother.
• She was a devoted daughter (at least to her father).
• She was, in her youth, an intrepid journalist, specializing in reporting on labor issues.
• She was, in middle age, the publisher of the Washington Post, after the suicide of her husband Phil, who likely suffered from bi-polar disorder.
• She was, in short, one hell of an American

Mrs. Graham was born in 1917, and died in 2001.  A long life, and from what my research indicates, a good life. She was a daughter of wealth, born to Eugene and Agnes Meyer.  Eugene was a successful businessman, who eventually became Chairman of the Federal Reserve.  

Eugene Meyer was a man who was successful (and at times not so successful) in many businesses.  He was a magnate.  He was very wealthy.  In 1933, he made an interesting purchase, buying the Washington Post, which rather became something of a passion for him.

Mrs. Graham's mother, Agnes, was a strange mixture.  A bit of a bohemian, she loved art, philosophy, and activism.  Throughout her life, Agnes had some extraordinary friendships:  Auguste Rodin, Marie Curie (WOW), Albert Einstein, and John Dewey.  Quite an impressive list, yes?

I think her parents have good faces.  Interesting faces.  But, interesting isn't always a good thing.  In Mrs. Graham's early life, her parents were rarely ever there, leaving the children alone for extended periods, while they traveled and socialized.  A distant, but loving father, Eugene seems to have really connected with Katherine in her early adulthood.  She enjoyed a relatively close relationship with her father (remember that this was an era where parents rarely displayed affection towards their children, i.e. hugs, hand holding...).  However, this cannot be said of her relationship with her mother, who seems to have been (based on Graham's autobiography) largely concerned with her own interests and causes.

As a mother, Agnes was never going to win an award.  Throughout her life, she was a frustrated intellectual, seeming to be constantly in search of validation.  She was passionate about Asian art, modern philosophers, and Republican politics.  She was just not passionate about being a mother, which made this journey particularly difficult for her.  

While Katherine enjoyed a privileged life, her parents encouraged all of their children to study, work hard, and contribute to society in some way.  Yes, their expectations were high, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.  As a young girl, she attended a Montessori school, the Potomac school, and later attended both Vassar College and the University of Chicago.

After matriculating from university, Katherine worked as a cub reporter for a small San Francisco paper, where she began to work seriously on issues relating to labor.  I have to tell you that her salary varied between non-existent to embarrassing, but this "job" and other positions she held early on, had to have been rich in experience.  In 1938 she began working for The Post, and it was also around this time that she met her future husband, Phil Graham.  He was the child of a lower middle class family, who was, at that time, a graduate of Harvard Law School.  As a young man, Phil was intelligent, hard working, and charismatic.  After their marriage, he also seems (based on Katherine's autobiography) to have been a caring partner who loved to laugh.  

World War Two was only a hop, skip, and a jump away.  Phil went into the army--something he could have avoided, due to physical considerations (eyesight issues).  He entered as a private.  By war's end, however, he'd risen to the rank of major.  After a few domestic postings, he was eventually sent to the Pacific theater as an Air Force intelligence officer.  At this point, there was little or no indication of Phil's illness--severe bi-polar disorder.  His disease would become steadily worse in late middle age.

Katherine and Phil had four children (one daughter and four sons).  She had a devil of a time with her early pregnancies, even carrying one child to term, only to have it die at birth.  

In 1946, Phil Graham became publisher of his father-in-law's newspaper, The Washington Post.  It was a complete departure from his experience as a lawyer, but by all accounts he was successful in this new role.  The reason why he made such a dramatic shift in professions, is enigmatic.  But, in time, the paper did well under his leadership.

In this tumultuous time, the Grahams found themselves in the middle of Washington DC's social and political scene.  Mid-century was an exciting period in this country, socio-politically speaking, with war and the fear of a Communist plot (both abroad and domestic) to destroy the Earth.  Kidding.  

Katherine and Phil knew many of the most influential politicians of the time:  Jack and Jackie Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, LBJ, Robert McNamara, Henry Kissinger, and the Reagans.  Phil Graham was also an influential mover among our most prominent politicians--by way of illustration, there is a story that he was largely responsible for getting Lyndon Johnson to take the nomination for vice-president in 1960.  Quite a thing, eh?

Although their marriage was happy, in the early years, conditions changed for them in the fifties.  Phil's illness began to manifest itself with prolonged depressions and manic episodes.  He also tried to self medicate with alcohol.  You must understand, Dear Reader, that modern medicines were not around, at this time, to treat this type of mental illness.  Oh those so afflicted truly suffered, prior to the development of sophisticated mood stabilizers.  We should appreciate the fact that the treatment of mental illness has presently progressed beyond the lobotomy, or the straight jacket.

As his disease progressed (and, believe me I know from personal experience that this disease gets worse over time), Phil's behavior became increasingly erratic and public.  It was not until the late 50s that his condition manifested in any dramatic way.  He was briefly hospitalized and treated,  but ultimately without success.  Around this period, Phil entered into an affair with an Australian contract journalist working for Newsweek magazine named Robin Webb.  Their relationship progressed, and Phil left Katherine.  He began to speak of divorce. He was also adamant to take over the paper.  Kay balked at this, and dug in her heels. Things became increasingly acrimonious, and Phil moved in with his paramour. As is usual in such cases, friends had to choose sides—an impossible position.  

I think that Phil must have been under heavy pressure, and was also extremely conflicted over the affair.  In 1963, he traveled to a newspaper convention with Webb in tow.  He was scheduled for a presentation, and it was here that he publicly suffered his most serious breakdown.  While there aren't transcripts of his talk, attendees later said, that Phil told shocking stories about the various lovers of President Kennedy, and then tried to take his clothes off.  He was politely tackled by several friends in the audience, and quickly taken off stage.  He was then shipped by a special jet back East, where Katherine checked him into a private sanitorium.  In her autobiography, Katherine recounted how Phil got his doctors to give him a furlough for a few days, to visit their country home.  It was not a good idea.  Halfway through the visit, he went into a bathroom with a .28 gauge shotgun and killed himself.  He left no note.

Webb ultimately slipped into obscurity, and eventually married.  I wish I could tell you that I was bummed by this, but as I said earlier, I have a Victorian attitude towards infidelity (can you tell that it happened to me?).

After the suicide, Mrs. Graham was faced with the rather gargantuan task of taking over as publisher of The Washington Post.  Here, is where she would later have some of her greatest adventures....

But, that is for next time.