The Washington Post

===20th century===
[[File:Land on the Moon 7 21 1969-repair.jpg|thumb|The July 21, 1969, edition with the headline {{" '}}The Eagle Has Landed': Two Men Walk on the Moon", covering the [[Apollo 11]] landing]]
After Wilkins' death in 1903, his sons John and Robert ran the ''Post'' for two years before selling it in 1905 to [[John Roll McLean]], owner of the ''[[Cincinnati Enquirer]]''. During the Wilson presidency, the ''Post'' was credited with the "most famous newspaper [[typo]]" in D.C. history according to ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' magazine; the ''Post'' intended to report that President Wilson had been "entertaining" his future-wife Mrs. Galt, but instead wrote that he had been "entering" Mrs. Galt.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rabbe|first=Will|title=The Washington Post's Famous 1915 Typo|url=https://www.msnbc.com/hardball/the-washington-posts-famous-1915-typo-msna76080|newspaper=MSNBC|date=June 8, 2013|access-date=August 7, 2013|archive-date=August 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810081734/http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/08/06/washington-post-famous-wilson-typo/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=tws5nov01>{{cite journal|author=Freund, Charles Paul|title=D.C. Jewels: The closing of a historic shop is a triumph of meaning over means|quote=...Mrs. [[Edith Galt]], who became the second wife of Woodrow Wilson ... She also figures in the most famous newspaper typo in D.C. history. ''The Washington Post'' ... Intending to report that Wilson had been ''entertaining'' Mrs. Galt in a loge at the National, early editions instead printed that he was seen ''entering'' her there.|journal=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]|date=July 2001|url=https://reason.com/2001/07/01/dc-jewels-2/|access-date=November 5, 2009|archive-date=February 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213162624/http://reason.com/archives/2001/07/01/dc-jewels|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=tws5nov02>{{cite news|author=Weingarten, Gene|author-link=Gene Weingarten|title=Chatological Humor* (Updated 7.14.06)|quote=The ''Post'' said that the President spent the afternoon "entertaining" Mrs. Galt, but they dropped the "tain" in one edition. Wilson LOVED it.|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 11, 2006|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/06/27/DI2006062700793.html|access-date=November 5, 2009|archive-date=November 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109020427/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/06/27/DI2006062700793.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

When McLean died in 1916, he put the newspaper in a trust, having little faith that his playboy son [[Edward Beale McLean|Edward "Ned" McLean]] could manage it as part of his inheritance. Ned went to court and broke the trust, but, under his management, the newspaper slumped toward ruin. He bled the paper for his lavish lifestyle and used it to promote political agendas.<ref>{{cite book|author=Carol Felsenthal|title=Power, Privilege and the Post: The Katharine Graham Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0lNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT57|access-date=September 9, 2018|year=1993|publisher=Seven Stories Press|isbn=978-1-60980-290-5|page=53|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125128/https://books.google.com/books?id=x0lNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT57|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[Red Summer of 1919]] the Post supported the white mobs and even ran a front-page story which advertised the location at which white servicemen were planning to meet to carry out attacks on black Washingtonians.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Higgins |first1=Abigail |title=Red Summer of 1919: How Black WWI Vets Fought Back Against Racist Mobs |url=https://www.history.com/news/red-summer-1919-riots-chicago-dc-great-migration |newspaper=History |access-date=December 23, 2019 |archive-date=December 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222214506/https://www.history.com/news/red-summer-1919-riots-chicago-dc-great-migration |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1929, financier [[Eugene Meyer (financier)|Eugene Meyer]], who had run the [[War Finance Corporation|War Finance Corp.]] since [[World War I]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Eustace Clarence Mullins|title=Study of The Federal Reserve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PozrAgAAQBAJ&q=mullins%20les%20secrets%20de%20la%20r%C3%A9serve%20f%C3%A9d%C3%A9rale&pg=PT14|year=2013|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-62793-114-4|access-date=September 30, 2020|archive-date=April 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416022142/https://books.google.com/books?id=PozrAgAAQBAJ&q=mullins%20les%20secrets%20de%20la%20r%C3%A9serve%20f%C3%A9d%C3%A9rale&pg=PT14|url-status=live}}</ref> secretly made an offer of $5 million for the ''Post,'' but he was rebuffed by Ned McLean.<ref>{{cite book|author=Carol Felsenthal|title=Power, Privilege and the Post: The Katharine Graham Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0lNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT48|access-date=September 9, 2018|year=1993|publisher=Seven Stories Press|isbn=978-1-60980-290-5|page=51|archive-date=June 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630153652/https://books.google.com/books?id=x0lNDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Chalmers McGeagh Roberts|title=The Washington Post: The First 100 Years|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22In+1929+there+had+been,+in+secret,+a+cash+offer+of+$5+million+from+Eugene+Meyer+but+Ned+had+blocked+that+sale%22&pg=PT146|access-date=September 9, 2018|year=1977|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-395-25854-5|page=190|chapter=Headed for Disaster – Ned McLean I|archive-date=October 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004065511/https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22In+1929+there+had+been,+in+secret,+a+cash+offer+of+$5+million+from+Eugene+Meyer+but+Ned+had+blocked+that+sale%22&pg=PT146|url-status=live}}</ref> On June 1, 1933, Meyer bought the paper at a bankruptcy auction for $825,000 three weeks after stepping down as [[Chairman of the Federal Reserve]]. He had bid anonymously, and was prepared to go up to $2&nbsp;million, far higher than the other bidders.<ref>{{cite book|author=Carol Felsenthal|title=Power, Privilege and the ''Post'': The Katharine Graham Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0lNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT57|access-date=September 9, 2018|year=1993|publisher=Seven Stories Press|isbn=978-1-60980-290-5|page=51|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125128/https://books.google.com/books?id=x0lNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT57|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Chalmers McGeagh Roberts|title=The Washington Post: The First 100 Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Meyer+had+authorized+him+to+bid+up+to+$2+million%22&pg=PT146|access-date=September 10, 2018|year=1977|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-395-25854-5|page=194|archive-date=October 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004065511/https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Meyer+had+authorized+him+to+bid+up+to+$2+million%22&pg=PT146|url-status=live}}</ref> These included [[William Randolph Hearst]], who had long hoped to shut down the ailing ''Post'' to benefit his own Washington newspaper presence.<ref>{{cite book|author=Chalmers McGeagh Roberts|title=The Washington Post: The First 100 Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Hearst+planned+to+kill+THE+POST+and+thus+give+his+Herald+a+morning+monopoly%22&pg=PT146|access-date=September 10, 2018|year=1977|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-395-25854-5|page=190|archive-date=October 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004065511/https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Hearst+planned+to+kill+THE+POST+and+thus+give+his+Herald+a+morning+monopoly%22&pg=PT146|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''Post''{{'s}} health and reputation were restored under Meyer's ownership. In 1946, he was succeeded as publisher by his son-in-law, [[Philip Graham]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Roberts |first=Chalmers M. |date=June 1, 1983 |title=Eugene Meyer Bought Post 50 Years Ago |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/06/01/eugene-meyer-bought-post-50-years-ago/910a718e-e71f-46bd-9ad7-78ad9e2107b2/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 20, 2017 |archive-date=March 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323234408/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/06/01/eugene-meyer-bought-post-50-years-ago/910a718e-e71f-46bd-9ad7-78ad9e2107b2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Meyer eventually gained the last laugh over Hearst, who had owned the old ''[[Washington Times (1894–1939)|Washington Times]]'' and the ''[[Washington Herald|Herald]]'' before their 1939 merger that formed the ''[[Washington Times-Herald|Times-Herald]].'' This was in turn bought by and merged into the ''Post'' in 1954.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1954/03/18/page/D6/article/washington-times-herald-sold-by-tribune-company |title=Washington Times-Herald Sold by Tribune Company (March 18, 1954) |website=Chicago Tribune |access-date=March 23, 2017}} {{dead link|date=February 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The combined paper was officially named ''The Washington Post and Times-Herald'' until 1973, although the ''Times-Herald'' portion of the [[nameplate (publishing)|nameplate]] became less and less prominent over time.

The merger left the ''Post'' with two remaining local competitors, the ''[[Washington Star]]'' (''Evening Star'') and ''[[The Washington Daily News]]''. In 1972, the two competitors merged, forming the ''Washington Star-News.''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/24/us/washington-star-is-to-shut-down-after-128-years.html|title=Washington Star is to Shut Down After 128 Years|first=B. Drummond Jr|last=Ayres|date=July 24, 1981|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 23, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323233038/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/24/us/washington-star-is-to-shut-down-after-128-years.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://dc.curbed.com/2014/7/11/10076634/heres-the-former-home-of-the-washington-daily-news|title=Here's the 1960s Headquarters of the Washington Daily News|date=July 11, 2014|website=Curbed DC|access-date=March 23, 2017|archive-date=March 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323143814/http://dc.curbed.com/2014/7/11/10076634/heres-the-former-home-of-the-washington-daily-news|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following Graham's death in 1963, control of The Washington Post Company passed to his wife, [[Katharine Graham]] (1917{{ndash}}2001), who was also Eugene Meyer's daughter. Few women had run prominent national newspapers in the United States. Katharine Graham described her own anxiety and lack of confidence as she stepped into a leadership role in her autobiography. She served as publisher from 1969 to 1979.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/01/10/donald-e-graham-is-named-publisher-of-washington-post/8e645b2a-6b11-42bd-81f3-638487dcd4c1/|title=Donald E. Graham Is Named Publisher of Washington Post|date=January 10, 1979|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 20, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=March 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321064632/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/01/10/donald-e-graham-is-named-publisher-of-washington-post/8e645b2a-6b11-42bd-81f3-638487dcd4c1/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Graham took The Washington Post Company public on June 15, 1971, in the midst of the [[Pentagon Papers]] controversy. A total of 1,294,000 shares were offered to the public at $26 per share.<ref>{{cite news|title=''Washington Post'' Offering Due Today at $26 a Share|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/06/15/79664042.html|access-date=February 13, 2018|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 15, 1971|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125133/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/06/15/79664042.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Our Company|url=https://www.ghco.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=62487&p=irol-history1950|website=Graham Holdings|access-date=February 13, 2018}} {{Dead link|date=January 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> By the end of Graham's tenure as CEO in 1991, the stock was worth $888 per share, not counting the effect of an intermediate 4:1 stock split.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Telford|first1=Dana|last2=Gostick|first2=Adrian Robert|title=Integrity Works: Strategies for Becoming a Trusted, Respected and Admired Leader|date=2005|publisher=Gibbs Smith|isbn=1-58685-054-7|page=81|edition=First|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJTTuVb-jUkC&q=%22the+washington+post+company%22+June+15,+1971&pg=PA81|access-date=February 13, 2018|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125202100/https://books.google.com/books?id=zJTTuVb-jUkC&q=%22the+washington+post+company%22+June+15,+1971&pg=PA81|url-status=live}}</ref>

Graham also oversaw the Post company's diversification purchase of the for-profit education and training company [[Kaplan, Inc.]] for $40&nbsp;million in 1984.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-trials-of-kaplan-higher-ed-and-the-education-of-the-washington-post-co/2011/03/20/AFsGuUAD_story.html The trials of Kaplan Higher Ed and the education of The Washington Post Co.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310191420/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-trials-of-kaplan-higher-ed-and-the-education-of-the-washington-post-co/2011/03/20/AFsGuUAD_story.html |date=March 10, 2016 }}, ''Washington Post'', Steven Mufson and Jia Lynn Yang, April 9, 2011.</ref> Twenty years later, Kaplan had surpassed the ''Post'' newspaper as the company's leading contributor to income, and by 2010 Kaplan accounted for more than 60% of the entire company revenue stream.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2012/02/08/don-graham-washington-post/3/ Nice Guy, Finishing Last: How Don Graham Fumbled the Washington Post Co.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009211826/https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2012/02/08/don-graham-washington-post/3/ |date=October 9, 2017 }}, ''[[Forbes]]'', Jeff Bercovici, February 8, 2012.</ref>

Executive editor [[Ben Bradlee]] put the newspaper's reputation and resources behind reporters [[Bob Woodward]] and [[Carl Bernstein]], who, in a long series of articles, chipped away at the story behind the 1972 burglary of [[Democratic National Committee]] offices in the [[Watergate complex]] in Washington. The ''Post''{{'s}} dogged coverage of the story, the outcome of which ultimately played a major role in the resignation of President [[Richard Nixon]], won the newspaper a [[Pulitzer Prize]] in 1973.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pulitzers Go to Washington Post, Frankel, 'Championship Season' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/05/08/archives/pulitzers-go-to-washington-post-frankel-championship-season.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 8, 1973 |access-date=July 12, 2020 |archive-date=July 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712111232/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/05/08/archives/pulitzers-go-to-washington-post-frankel-championship-season.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1972, the "Book World" section was introduced with Pulitzer Prize-winning critic [[William McPherson (writer)|William McPherson]] as its first editor.<ref>{{cite news |last=Arana-Ward |first=Marie |author-link=Marie Arana |date=June 1, 1997 |title=Views From Publisher's Row |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/25thann/aranaward.htm |url-status=live |access-date=February 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412062956/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/25thann/aranaward.htm |archive-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref> It featured Pulitzer Prize-winning critics such as [[Jonathan Yardley]] and [[Michael Dirda]], the latter of whom established his career as a critic at the ''Post''. In 2009, after 37 years, with great reader outcries and protest, ''The Washington Post Book World'' as a standalone insert was discontinued, the last issue being Sunday, February 15, 2009,<ref>{{cite news|author1=John Gaines|title=Where Have All the Magazines Gone?|url=https://www.librarypoint.org/blogs/post/magazines-gone/|access-date=March 14, 2016|work=Library Point|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011145110/http://www.librarypoint.org/where_have_all_the_magazines_gone|archive-date=October 11, 2016|url-status = dead}}</ref> along with a general reorganization of the paper, such as placing the Sunday editorials on the back page of the main front section rather than the "Outlook" section and distributing some other locally oriented "op-ed" letters and commentaries in other sections.<ref name=lastbook>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/12/AR2009021203265.html Letter from the editor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213535/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/12/AR2009021203265.html |date=March 4, 2016 }}, ''The Washington Post'', Sunday, February 15, 2009; Page BW02</ref> However, book reviews are still published in the Outlook section on Sundays and in the Style section the rest of the week, as well as online.<ref name=lastbook />

In 1975, [[1975–76 Washington Post pressmen's strike|the pressmen's union went on strike]]. The ''Post'' hired replacement workers to replace the pressmen's union, and other unions returned to work in February 1976.<ref name="nyt19760229">{{cite news |last1=Franklin |first1=Ben A. |title='Chastened' Unions Lick Their Wounds as Last Holdouts in 20-Week Washington Post Strike Return to Work |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/29/archives/chastened-unions-lick-their-wounds-as-last-holdouts-in-20week.html |access-date=November 26, 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 29, 1976 |language=en |archive-date=November 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126051103/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/29/archives/chastened-unions-lick-their-wounds-as-last-holdouts-in-20week.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Donald E. Graham]], Katharine's son, succeeded her as a publisher in 1979.<ref name=":0" />

In 1995, the domain name washingtonpost.com was purchased. That same year, a failed effort to create an online news repository called Digital Ink launched. The following year it was shut down and the first website was launched in June 1996.<ref name="websitelaunch">{{Cite web |date=December 30, 2019 |title=When Did the Washington Post Launch a Website? |url=https://ghostsofdc.org/2019/12/30/washington-post-website-launch-1996/ |access-date=December 31, 2019 |language=en-US |archive-date=December 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231005221/https://ghostsofdc.org/2019/12/30/washington-post-website-launch-1996/ |url-status=live }}</ref>