Staff Writer
Famous journalist Ben
Bradlee died of natural causes on October 21, 2014, in Washington, D.C. He went
into hospice care in September due to his declining health related to
Alzheimer’s disease.
Ben Bradlee had his
share of experiences. He served as a communications officer in the Pacific
during WWII, worked in the Office of U.S. Information and Educational Exchange,
and worked at Newsweek, helping to facilitate its purchase by The
Washington Post. But what he will be most remembered for is his work at The
Washington Post as executive editor from 1968 to 1991.
During this time,
Bradlee challenged the federal government over the right to publish the Pentagon
Papers, a history of the political and military involvement of the United
States in Vietnam between 1945 and 1967. Also during his time as executive
editor, Bradlee oversaw Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s coverage of the
Watergate scandal from 1972 to 1974 and was one of the first people aside from
Woodward and Bernstein to know the true identity of their main source, Deep
Throat.
Bradlee was awarded the
French Legion of Honor, the highest award given by the French government, in
2007 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the
United States, in 2013.
Bradlee will be
remembered for his contributions to journalism and the transformation of The
Washington Post during his time there. In a feature on Bradlee, Fox News
said that he, “...got an early break...thanks to his friendship with one
president...and became famous for toppling another…”
