Philip Graham
 Philip Graham     (Newspaper publisher) | |
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| Born | Philip Leslie Graham July 18, 1915 Terry, South Dakota, USA |
| Died | August 3, 1963 (Age 48) Marshall, Virginia, USA |
Cause of death | "suicide" |
| Alma mater | University of Florida, Harvard Law School |
| Children | • 1 daughter • 3 sons |
| Spouse | Katharine Graham |
| Member of | Council on Foreign Relations/Historical Members, The Georgetown Set |
Philip Graham was publisher and later co-owner of The Washington Post. Under Philip Graham's stewardship, the Post blossomed and its empire expanded, including the purchase of the then-moribund Newsweek magazine and other media properties.
Career
On June 5, 1940, he married Katharine Meyer, a daughter of Eugene Meyer, a multi-millionaire and the owner of The Washington Post, then a struggling newspaper.[1] Following the establishment of the CIA in 1947, Graham also forged close ties to the CIA to the point that he was described by author Deborah Davis, as "one of the architects of what became a widespread practice: the use and manipulation of journalists by the CIA"- known as Operation Mockingbird. According to Davis, the CIA link was integral to the Post's rise to power: "Basically the Post grew up by trading information with the intelligence agencies." In short, Graham made the Post into an effective and influential propaganda conduit for the CIA.[2]
In 1960, he helped persuade his friend John F. Kennedy to take Lyndon Johnson on his ticket as the vice presidential candidate, personally talking with both men multiple times during the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California. During the 1960 campaign, he wrote the drafts for several speeches that Johnson gave. After Kennedy and Johnson were elected in November, he successfully lobbied for the appointment of Douglas Dillon as Secretary of the Treasury, and had multiple discussions with Kennedy about other appointments.
