6. Katharine Graham
Katharine Graham’s father, Eugene Meyer, turned the newspaper his family-owned, the Washington Post over to her husband in 1946. She later claimed to have felt no resentment that her husband gained control of the paper, rather than herself. In 1959 Katharine’s husband, Philip Graham, became chairman of the Post’s holding company. In 1963 Philip, after years of philandering, alcoholism, and mental illness took his own life. Katharine became just the second female publisher of a major newspaper in America. By 1972 Katharine was publisher, chaired the board of the holding company, and the first female Fortune 500 CEO in history.
As publisher of the Post Katharine made the decision to publish the Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, known popularly as the Pentagon Papers. The decision led to legal action against the Post and The New York Times, in which the newspapers prevailed under the First Amendment. Just a few months later, Graham again refused to give in to pressure from the White House and the Attorney General and continued its investigation and reporting of the role of the Nixon Administration in the collection of scandals known collectively as Watergate. Graham’s robust defense of her reporters and editors, and refusal to be intimidated by the threats of the US government left behind a legacy of the right of the people to know the truth about the activities of their government and elected officials.