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Summary: A BUTTERFLY SPREADS HER WINGS
Review: This is a very personal autobiography of Katharine Graham, one of the most influential women of the Twentieth Century. Graham begins her story with the tale of how her parents met at an art exhibition, and relates the events of her early childhood. She explains how her father came to purchase the Washington Post, and how she alone amongst her siblings was truly drawn to the paper from her teenage years. She goes on to describe dating and eventually marrying Phil Graham, and how her father came to pass the management of the newspaper on to him. Later, she details Graham's descent into mental illness leading to his suicide, and how it finally fell onto her shoulders to lead the paper. Her most fascinating stories, however, come from her tenure as publisher of the Post, covering the turbulent period from the release of the Pentagon Papers, to the uncovering of the Watergate scandal and to the lengthy pressmen's strike against the Post in the 1970s. The story is indeed a personal one, in which Graham documents events from her own point of view. As I read this book, I was constantly aware that Graham may have chosen to leave out some details and emphasize others in order to show herself in the best light. But since this is an autobiography, such a subjective account is perfectly reasonable. This is history as Graham would have it told.
Rating:
Summary: A BUTTERFLY SPREADS HER WINGS
Review: Today I finished Personal History by Katharine Graham, longtime publisher of the Washington Post. It's interesting, because Kay Graham is such a legendary figure in Washington, lauded for having stuck it out as the only woman in a man's world (business executives in the 60s/70s/80s). But yet, she is not the steadfast person that everyone believes her to be. She has to deal with a husband with manic depression, and his eventual suicide. Her one son volunteers for Vietnam, the other gets arrested for protesting it. She basically suddenly finds herself CEO after Phil (Graham's) death, and almost drowns under the pressure, but somehow manages to stick it through. Even when she does the right thing, she often second guesses herself and is extremely sensitive to criticism. The book seems to unfold as a butterfly emerges from a cocoon; at first she can hide behind her father and then her husband, but eventually must learn to make things fly on her own. Towards the end it gets more business-y, with some CEO jargon and discussions about the Post company. I thought it was kind of boring how she seemed to name every single person she ever hired or fired. But some parts are really interesting. Especially the bits about her childhood, the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate. I would really recommend this book as a good read. Kay Graham is like Forrest Gump- she's done a little of everything.
Rating: 
Summary: Great insight and new understanding
Review: Well...after all these reviews, there really nothing for me to critique that haven't been written already. But I'll put in my two cents worth anyway by saying that reading this book did surprised me quite a bit. Katharine Graham wrote an amazingly honest auto-biography which enabled her readers to gained a great insight into her character, her life and her accomplishments with a great deal of understanding and clarity. To be honest, she was not what I expected. Its bit ironic that she actually became her own person only after the suicide of her mentally ill husband. The book also reflects strongly on the newspaper business and how her own presence helped make changes to that industry.
The only real weakness of the book was that it didn't go into much details after the pressmen's strike. The Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton years rolled by pretty much as a blurr. Maybe her life wasn't so interesting any more during those period. Personally, I would find that hard to believed.
Still, a well deserving of a Pulitzer, one of the better autobiographies I have read in recent years.
Rating:
Summary: Katharine Graham's illuminating & candid autobiography
Review: What a story! This is a revealing personal account of Katharine Graham's life. She tells about her childhood as a rich girl without much self-confidence; her marriage to the depressed but brilliant Phil Graham, who ran the Washington Post (her father's newspaper) and later committed suicide; and ultimately her leadership of the Washington Post through Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, Vietnam and an incredibly interesting time in American history. This book intertwines the history of the nation with Graham's own history, and the result is a delight. It is an honest, funny and interesting story, and her spirit and heart shine through in her writing. I learned a lot about an amazing woman while gaining a new perspective on a turbulent time in history.
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