Personal History

Personal History is a 1997 autobiography by American publisher and former Washington Post employee Katharine Graham. It focuses on the difficulties Graham faced as a female publisher in a male-dominated industry, as well as her intimate struggle with her husband’s mental health issues and tragic suicide. Other themes in the book include Graham’s parents’ long-standing relationship to the Washington Post, her conflict with her mother, and key stories she worked on during the release of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandal. The autobiography received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1998. It has been celebrated for its candid and revealing depiction of Graham’s coming-to-consciousness as a feminist.

Personal History begins with Graham’s early childhood. Born to Agnes Meyer, a political activist who struggled with mental illness, and Eugene Meyer, a rich investment manager who later worked in politics, Graham grew up in a large household with four siblings. When Graham was in grade school, her father struck a deal to buy the Washington Post for a huge discount when it was on the brink of financial ruin. Graham remembers her mother floundering to raise her and her siblings while managing her mental illness. She seemed to care more about her life in the political world than her parental responsibilities. Eugene, too, was less than supportive, usually absorbed in work.

Graham enrolled in college at Vassar; after a year of struggling socially, she transferred to the University of Chicago, which suited her better. At UChicago, she grew interested in liberal politics and critical of the Republican Party. Upon graduating, she moved to San Francisco to work on a local publication, then to Washington to work for her father at the Post. While in Washington, she met Phil Graham, a newly minted lawyer. They married before he went off to serve in World War II. Before she knew it, Graham was a mother; she and Phil had four children together. Phil’s larger-than-life personality nearly smothered Graham’s ambitions, a talented but introverted woman. Eugene Meyer nominated Phil to become the next publisher of the Washington Post upon his retirement.



The Washington Post Company moved from the hands of the Meyers to the Grahams. Phil controlled a majority stake in the company, leveraging this influence to acquire Newsweek and a number of other holdings. However, he suffered silently from impostor syndrome, coping by drinking too much alcohol and barely keeping his turbulent mood in check. Unfortunately, his symptoms, which Graham suggests would likely be diagnosed as manic depression, were never checked out. Phil still rose in the ranks of publishing and politics, becoming a close advisor to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He helped elevate them to the Presidency and Vice Presidency in the 1960 election. In the final weeks of the Kennedy administration, Phil had a mental breakdown triggered by Graham’s discovery of his infidelity with Robin Webb. They nearly split up but reunited while Phil was in the hospital. Tragically, Phil concealed his suicidal feelings and managed to obtain access to a gun while in the hospital. He committed suicide partly because of the belief that he was an undue burden on those who loved him.

In the aftermath of Phil’s death, Graham was forced to take the reins of the Washington Post. She worked for years to surmount the inferiority complex engendered by her mother, husband, and the male-dominated working world. She oversaw the Post through many successful periods, disentangling it from President Johnson’s Vietnam War agenda and using it to illuminate the charges later brought against President Nixon. After Nixon and Watergate, the Post became a household name. Thrust permanently into the spotlight, Graham found the strength within her to embrace her figurehead role. After 1976, she moved the company into a period of steady, systematic growth. When it came time to retire, Graham handed the company to her son, Don Graham. She has spent her first years of retirement traveling, spreading education initiatives through underprivileged regions of the world, and writing several memoirs, including Personal History. Graham reflects that these activities enable her to reflect deeply on her life and better control how she spends her time in old age. In closing, she thanks all of the people who supported her during her long path to success and self-confidence.