The Washington Post

===20th century===
[[File:Waterboarding a captured North Vietnamese soldier near Da Nang.jpeg|thumb|Two United States soldiers and a [[South Vietnam]]ese soldier [[Waterboarding|waterboard]] a captured [[North Vietnam]]ese prisoner during the [[Vietnam War]]; the image, which appeared on the front cover of ''The Washington Post'' on January 21, 1968, led to the court-martial of a United States soldier, although ''The Washington Post'' described waterboarding as "fairly common".<ref name=nprweiner20071103>{{cite news |first=Eric |last=Weiner |author-link=Eric Weiner |title=Waterboarding: A Tortured History |date=November 3, 2007 |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2007/11/03/15886834/waterboarding-a-tortured-history |access-date=December 19, 2007 |archive-date=December 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205074814/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15886834 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=walter20061005>{{cite news |first=Walter |last=Pincus |author-link=Walter Pincus |date=October 5, 2006 |title=Waterboarding Historically Controversial |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 20, 2009 |page=A17 |archive-date=July 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706171507/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

In 1933, financier Eugene Meyer bought the bankrupt ''Post'', and assured the public that neither he nor the newspaper would not be beholden to any political party.<ref>{{cite book|author=Chalmers McGeagh Roberts|title=The Washington Post: The First 100 Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22In+purchasing+The+Post,+I+acted+entirely+on+my+own+behalf%22&pg=PT198|year=1977|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-395-25854-5|page=198|access-date=January 2, 2022|archive-date=October 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004065511/https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22In+purchasing+The+Post,+I+acted+entirely+on+my+own+behalf%22&pg=PT198|url-status=live}}</ref> But as a leading Republican who had been appointed [[Chairman of the Federal Reserve]] by [[Herbert Hoover]] in 1930, his opposition to [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]] colored the paper's editorials and news coverage, including [[opinion piece|editorializing]] news stories written by Meyer under a pseudonym.<ref>{{cite book|author=Tom Kelly|title=The Imperial Post: The Meyers, the Grahams, and the Paper that Rules Washington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhhlAAAAMAAJ&q=%22anonymous%20reporting%22|year=1983|publisher=Morrow|pages=63–64|isbn=978-0-688-01919-8|access-date=May 22, 2020|archive-date=June 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614005907/https://books.google.com/books?id=NhhlAAAAMAAJ&q=%22anonymous+reporting%22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Ernest Lamb|title=New Deal a Mistake, Says Glass, Holding U.S. Will Regret It: Senator, in Interview, Tells 'Unvarnished Truth' |agency=The Washington Post|publisher=Eugene Meyer |date=April 8, 1934|pages=1, 4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ernest Lamb|title=Council Fought Security Act, Records Show: Statements by Wagner and Winant Are Refuted by Hearing Transcript. |agency=The Washington Post|publisher=Eugene Meyer |date=October 8, 1936|pages=1, 12}}</ref> His wife [[Agnes Ernst Meyer]] was a journalist from the other end of the spectrum politically. The ''Post'' ran many of her pieces including tributes to her personal friends [[John Dewey]] and [[Saul Alinsky]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Agnes Ernst Meyer|title=In Defense of Dr. Dewey|agency=The Washington Post|date=December 10, 1939|page=B8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Carol Felsenthal|title=Power, Privilege and the Post: The Katharine Graham Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0lNDwAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Meyers%27+homes%2C+which+he+visited+often+24+Alinsky%22|year=1993|publisher=Seven Stories Press|pages=19, 127|isbn=978-1-60980-290-5|access-date=September 30, 2018|archive-date=July 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702021347/https://books.google.com/books?id=x0lNDwAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Meyers%27+homes%2C+which+he+visited+often+24+Alinsky%22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Agnes Ernst Meyer|title=Orderly Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3utnQEACAAJ|year=1945|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=September 30, 2018|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125143/https://books.google.com/books?id=h3utnQEACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Sanford D. Horwitt|title=Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky, His Life and Legacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j44DAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Alinsky%27s+get-togethers+with+Agnes+Meyer%22|year=1989|publisher=Knopf|page=195|isbn=978-0-394-57243-7|access-date=September 30, 2018|archive-date=July 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703020746/https://books.google.com/books?id=j44DAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Alinsky%27s+get-togethers+with+Agnes+Meyer%22|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1946, Meyer was appointed head of [[World Bank]], and he named his son-in-law Phil Graham to succeed him as ''Post'' publisher. The post-war years saw the developing friendship of Phil and Kay Graham with the Kennedys, the Bradlees and the rest of the "[[Georgetown, D.C.|Georgetown]] Set" (many [[Harvard]] [[alumni]]) that would color the ''Post's'' political orientation.<ref>{{cite news |author=Gregg Herken |title=The Georgetown Set |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-georgetown-set-112125 |access-date=September 20, 2018 |publisher=Politico |date=October 22, 2014 |archive-date=September 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195425/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-georgetown-set-112125 |url-status=live }}</ref> Kay Graham's most memorable Georgetown soirée guest list included British diplomat/communist spy [[Donald Maclean (spy)|Donald Maclean]].<ref name="Philipps2018">{{cite book|author=Roland Philipps|title=A Spy Named Orphan: The Enigma of Donald Maclean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osM6DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Katharine%20Graham%20proprietor%20of%20the%20Washington%20Post%22|year=2018|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-60858-8|page=134|access-date=October 12, 2018|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125144/https://books.google.com/books?id=osM6DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Katharine%20Graham%20proprietor%20of%20the%20Washington%20Post%22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Graham1997>{{cite book|author=Katharine Graham|title=Personal History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jkxz77hC_48C&q=katharine%20graham&pg=PA156|year=1997|publisher=A.A. Knopf|isbn=978-0-394-58585-7|page=156|access-date=September 30, 2020|archive-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320093040/https://books.google.com/books?id=jkxz77hC_48C&q=katharine%20graham&pg=PA156|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''Post'' is credited with coining the term "[[McCarthyism]]" in a 1950 [[editorial cartoon]] by [[Herbert Block]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Chalmers McGeagh Roberts|title=The Washington Post: The First 100 Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Herblock+in+fact+who+coined+the+term%22|year=1977|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-395-25854-5|page=280|access-date=September 18, 2018|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125145/https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Herblock+in+fact+who+coined+the+term%22|url-status=live}}</ref> Depicting buckets of tar, it made fun of Sen. [[Joseph McCarthy]]'s "tarring" tactics, i.e., [[smear campaign]]s and character assassination against those targeted by his accusations. Sen. McCarthy was attempting to do for the Senate what the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] had been doing for years—investigating [[Soviet espionage in the United States|Soviet espionage in America]]. The [[HUAC]] made Richard Nixon nationally known for his role in the [[Alger Hiss|Hiss]]/[[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]] case that exposed communist spying in the [[State Department]]. The committee had evolved from the [[John William McCormack|McCormack]]-[[Samuel Dickstein (congressman)|Dickstein]] Committee of the 1930s.<ref name=Duffy>{{cite news| author = Peter Duffy| title = The Congressman Who Spied for Russia: The Strange Case of Samuel Dickstein| publisher = Politico| url = https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/samuel-dickstein-congressman-russian-spy-111641?paginate=false| date = October 6, 2014| access-date = September 20, 2018| archive-date = September 20, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195522/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/samuel-dickstein-congressman-russian-spy-111641?paginate=false| url-status = live}}</ref>

Phil Graham's friendship with [[John F. Kennedy]] remained strong until their deaths in 1963.<ref>{{cite book|author=Chalmers McGeagh Roberts|title=The Washington Post: The First 100 Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22The+Phil+Graham+I+have+so+much+admiration+for%22|access-date=September 9, 2018|year=1977|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-395-25854-5|page=363|archive-date=February 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202104741/https://books.google.com/books?id=OY61AAAAIAAJ&q=%22The+Phil+Graham+I+have+so+much+admiration+for%22|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI Director]] [[J. Edgar Hoover]] reportedly told the new President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], "I don't have much influence with the ''Post'' because I frankly don't read it. I view it like the ''[[Daily Worker]]''."<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael R. Beschloss|title=Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963–1964|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gI54AAAAMAAJ|year=1997|page=32|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-684-80407-1|access-date=September 30, 2018|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125146/https://books.google.com/books?id=gI54AAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Taylor Branch|title=Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963–65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIi6qNbcoMgC&q=%22I+view+it+like+the+Daily+Worker%22|year=1997|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page=180|isbn=978-1-4165-5870-5|access-date=September 18, 2018|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125147/https://books.google.com/books?id=JIi6qNbcoMgC&q=%22I+view+it+like+the+Daily+Worker%22|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Anchor|Pravda on the Potomac}}

Ben Bradlee became the editor-in-chief in 1968, and Kay Graham officially became the publisher in 1969, paving the way for the aggressive reporting of the ''[[Pentagon Papers]]'' and [[Watergate scandal]]s. The ''Post'' strengthened public opposition to the Vietnam War in 1971 when it published the ''Pentagon Papers''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pentagon Papers |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pentagon-Papers |work=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=July 12, 2020 |archive-date=June 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622112034/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pentagon-Papers |url-status=live }}</ref> In the mid-1970s, some conservatives referred to the ''Post'' as "''[[Pravda]]'' on the [[Potomac River|Potomac]]" because of its perceived left-wing bias in both reporting and editorials.<ref>Bruce Bartlett (March 13, 2007), [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/mar/13/20070313-090315-7881r/ "Partisan Press Parity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510011750/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/mar/13/20070313-090315-7881r/ |date=May 10, 2011 }}. ''The Washington Times''.</ref> Since then, the appellation has been used by both liberal and conservative critics of the newspaper.<ref>James Kirchick (February 17, 2009), [http://www.tnr.com/article/pravda-the-potomac "Pravda on the Potomac"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905065212/http://www.tnr.com/article/pravda-the-potomac |date=September 5, 2011 }}. ''The New Republic''.</ref><ref>William Greider (March 6, 2003), [http://www.thenation.com/article/washington-post-warriors "Washington Post Warriors"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515044255/http://www.thenation.com/article/washington-post-warriors |date=May 15, 2011 }}, ''The Nation''</ref>