Personal History

I was extremely torn by Fritz's saying that he wouldn't publish. I knew him so well, and we had never differed on any important issue; and, after all, he was the lawyer, not I. But I also heard how he said it: he didn't hammer at me, he didn't stress the issues related to going public, and he didn't say the obvious thing--that I would be risking the whole company on this decision. He simply said he guessed he wouldn't. I felt that, despite his stated opinion, he had somehow left the door open for me to decide on a different course. Frightened and tense, I took a big gulp and said, ""Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Let's go. Let's publish.'' And I hung up.

WATERGATE

Defying Nixon

Watergate was a severe test for Mrs. Graham and The Washington Post. The scandal was first unearthed when a pair of young Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, began looking into a break-in at Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate in the summer of 1972. Told by Woodward's legendary source, ""Deep Throat,'' to ""follow the money,'' the reporters revealed a secret fund at the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP, pronounced ""Creep'' by some) to gather intelligence on the Democrats. Furious, Attorney General John Mitchell famously threatened, ""Katie Graham's gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer!''

I WAS FEELING BELEAGUERED. THE constant attacks on us by CRP and people throughout the administration were effective and taking their toll. During these months, the pressures on the Post to cease and desist were intense and uncomfortable, to say the least. But, unbelievable as the revelations were, the strong evidence of their accuracy is part of what kept us going.

Many of my friends were puzzled about our reporting. Joe Alsop was pressing me all the time. And I had a distressing chance meeting with Henry Kissinger just before the election, at a big reception of some kind. ""What's the matter? Don't you think we're going to be re-elected?'' Henry asked me, seeming quite upset. I assured him that I could read the overwhelming polls as well as anybody and hadn't the slightest doubt that Nixon would be re-elected. Henry later told me that, although he was never part of any actual discussions that related to threats, he knew Nixon wanted to get even with a lot of people after the election. Maybe this was his way of warning me. In any case, the implications in Henry's exclamation added to my tension.