Women's History Month intends to honor, inspire, educate, unite and promote women in the face of forces intent on subjugating and silencing them. It is about those who overcame overt and imbedded assumptions and prejudice to be their best selves. RGB said it well:
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
DAY 2: KATHARINE GRAHAM
(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Common)
Katharine Graham. American newspaper publisher, writer. Led the Washington Post from 1963-91, including the risky exposure of the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate Scandal. As the first female Fortune 500 CEO, she helped pave the way for other women towards the C suite.
American newspaper publisher, writer, philanthropist, Pulitzer Prize winner.
Katharine Graham came from a very wealthy family that purchased the Post at a bankruptcy auction in1933. They eventually handed over leadership to her husband Philip, including a greater number of shares than Katharine held. Her father argued that “no man should be in the position of working for his wife”. Katharine agreed with this idea, and became what she termed “the doormat wife”, often deferring to her husband’s decision and desires.
But she wasn't dormant. She worked her way up the newspaper ranks, and became publisher of the Post when her husband died in 1963, then later the chairwoman, Board Chair and CEO. With little background and preparation for such a prominent position, she hired Bill Bradlee as editor and looked to Warren Buffet for financial advice. During her tenure, the Post became one of the top newspapers in the country.
She was the first female chief executive office (CEO) of a Fortune 500 company, the Washington Post, and became one of the most influential women in America. During the 1970s, she defied a federal court order by publishing The Pentagon Papers, a 1966 study that detailed how the United States government had lied about its scope of actions during the Vietnam War.
Six years later, her paper tracked down the true story of President Nixon's staff arranging the break-in of the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Office Building to install microphones and steal documents. She chose to run the stories, despite immense intimidation and threats by the President and his Executive Branch. The articles and subsequent investigations resulted in the President’s resignation, and the conviction of 48 people, including high-level presidential administration officials.
The United States will need that type of courage again if it is to overcome the hostile takeover of Democracy it's facing now.
Katharine noted that “To love what you do and feel that it matters, how could anything be more fun?”
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