Phil Graham
Encyclopedia
Philip Leslie Graham was an American
publisher and businessman. He was the publisher (from 1946 until his death) and co-owner (from 1948) of The Washington Post
. He was married to Katharine Graham
, the daughter of Eugene Meyer
, the previous owner of The Washington Post.
. He was raised in Miami where his father, Ernest R. ("Cap") Graham
, made a career in farming and real estate
, and was elected to the State Senate
. His mother, the former Florence Morris,had been a schoolteacher in the Black Hills
of South Dakota. Graham was one of four children. One half brother, Bob Graham
, is a former governor of the state of Florida
(1979–1987) and a former United States Senator representing Florida from 1987 to 2005.
Graham attended Miami High School and graduated from the University of Florida
in 1936, with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in economics
, and from Harvard Law School
, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review
and earned a magna cum laude degree, in 1939. Graham was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
(Florida Upsilon chapter) and was both a fraternity brother and roommate of the late Senator George A. Smathers whom he had been close to since attending Miami High School with Smathers. In 1939–1940 he was law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Stanley F. Reed
, and the following year he was clerk to Justice Felix Frankfurter
, who had been one of his professors at Harvard.
On June 5, 1940, he married Katharine Graham
, the daughter of Eugene Meyer
, a multi-millionaire and the owner of The Washington Post, a struggling newspaper at the time. The couple settled down in a two-story row house.
During World War II
, Graham enlisted in the Army Air Corps
as a private (1942) and rose to the rank of major. His wife followed him on military assignments to Sioux Falls, South Dakota
and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
up until 1945, when he went to the Pacific theatre
as an intelligence officer of the Far East Air Force.
Their first baby died at birth. Four children followed: Elizabeth ('Lally') Morris Graham
, now Weymouth (born July 3, 1943), Donald Edward Graham
(April 22, 1945), William Welsh Graham (born 1948), and Stephen Meyer Graham (born 1952).
was named the first president of the World Bank
, he passed the position of publisher to Graham. When Meyer left the World Bank later that year, he took the title of chairman of the board of the Washington Post Company
, leaving Graham as publisher.
In 1948, Meyer transferred his actual control of the Post Company stock (the company was privately owned) to his daughter and her husband. Katharine Graham received 30 percent as a gift. Phil received 70 percent of the stock, his purchase financed by his father-in-law. Meyer remained a close adviser to his son-in-law until his death in 1959, at which time Graham assumed the titles of President and Chairman of the Board of the Post company.
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 drafts of 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. In the several years after the inaugural, he continued to write occasional drafts of speeches, primarily for Johnson, but also for the President and for Robert F. Kennedy
.
In 1961, Kennedy named Graham to serve as an incorporator for the Communications Satellite Corporation, known as COMSAT
, a joint venture between the private sector and government for satellite communications. In October 1961, he was appointed chairman of the group.
:
The phrase "[Journalism is the] first rough draft of history" has entered the vernacular. While this quote may have been popularized by Graham in this speech, and the phrase is often credited to him in this speech, these words are not original with him, nor with this speech, the phrase having been used repeatedly in the Post in the 1940s, and by Graham in the 1950s, with the earliest citation being 20 years, by Alan Barth
in 1943, writing "News is only the first rough draft of history," and earlier expressions of similar sentiments dating at least to the first decade of the 1900s – see Wikiquote article for details.
, she notes that her husband was always intense and spontaneous, but occasionally lapsed into periods of depression
. In 1957, he suffered a severe manic episode
and, at the time, no medicines were available for effective treatment. He retired to the couple's farm in Marshall, Virginia
, to recuperate. Thereafter, periods in which he functioned brilliantly alternated with periods in which he was morose and erratic and isolated himself. He often drank heavily (something he had done prior to 1957), and would become extremely argumentative and blunt.
Through the Post Company's Newsweek arm, Graham eventually met Australian journalist Robin Webb, and in 1962 they began an affair. In 1963, he and Webb flew to Arizona
; he appeared at a newspaper publishing convention inebriated and/or manic. At the microphone he made a number of provocative comments, including the revelation that Kennedy was sleeping with Mary Pinchot Meyer
. His assistant, James Truitt
, called for his doctor, Leslie Farber, who flew in by private jet, as did (subsequently) Graham's wife. Graham was sedated
, bound in a straitjacket, and flown back to Washington. He was committed for five days to Chestnut Lodge
, a psychiatric hospital
in Rockville, Maryland
.
Graham then left his wife for Robin Webb, announced to his friends that he planned to divorce
his wife and immediately remarry, and indicated that he wanted to purchase sole control of the Post Company. In June, in a fit of depression, he broke off his affair and returned home. On June 20, 1963, he entered Chestnut Lodge for the second time, and was formally diagnosed with manic depression (now called bipolar disorder
). He was treated with psychotherapy
.
On August 3, 1963, after Graham had made repeated requests of his doctors to be allowed a short stay away from the hospital, and "quite noticeably much better", according to his wife, he was permitted to go to their farmhouse in Virginia, Glen Welby, for the weekend. While his wife was in another part of the retreat, Graham committed suicide
with a 28-gauge shotgun.
During probate
, Katharine Graham's lawyer challenged the legality of her husband's last will
, written in 1963. Edward Bennett Williams
testified that Graham had not been of sound mind when he had instructed Williams to draw up his final will
. Williams said that he had, at the same time he prepared the will, written a memorandum
for the file stating that Graham was mentally ill
, and that he was preparing the will at Graham's direction only to maintain their relationship. The judge in the case ruled that Graham had died intestate
. A compromise was eventually reached whereby Katharine Graham
gave up part of her inheritance in favor of her children.
affiliate station in Miami, Florida
, has call letters that were assigned to the station in honor of Philip Graham in 1970 — station WPLG
uses his initials.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
publisher and businessman. He was the publisher (from 1946 until his death) and co-owner (from 1948) of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
. He was married to Katharine Graham
Katharine Graham
Katharine Meyer Graham was an American publisher. She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period, the Watergate coverage that eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon...
, the daughter of Eugene Meyer
Eugene Meyer
Eugene Isaac Meyer was an American financier, public official, publisher of the Washington Post newspaper. He served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1930 to 1933. He was the father of publisher Katharine Graham.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, he was one of eight children of...
, the previous owner of The Washington Post.
Early life
Philip (Phil) Leslie Graham was born in Terry, South DakotaSouth Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. He was raised in Miami where his father, Ernest R. ("Cap") Graham
Ernest R. Graham (politician)
Ernest R. "Cap" Graham was a political figure in Florida, having served as a member of the Florida Senate from 1937 to 1944, when he unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Florida in 1943-44. As a senator, Graham lobbied in Tallahassee and Washington D.C. to bring...
, made a career in farming and real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
, and was elected to the State Senate
South Dakota Legislature
The South Dakota State Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of South Dakota. It is a bicameral legislative body, consisting of the South Dakota Senate, which has 35 members, and the South Dakota House of Representatives, which has 70 members...
. His mother, the former Florence Morris,had been a schoolteacher in the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
of South Dakota. Graham was one of four children. One half brother, Bob Graham
Bob Graham
Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham is an American politician. He was the 38th Governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senator from that state from 1987 to 2005...
, is a former governor of the state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
(1979–1987) and a former United States Senator representing Florida from 1987 to 2005.
Graham attended Miami High School and graduated from the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in 1936, with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, and from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review
Harvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...
and earned a magna cum laude degree, in 1939. Graham was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the Antebellum South...
(Florida Upsilon chapter) and was both a fraternity brother and roommate of the late Senator George A. Smathers whom he had been close to since attending Miami High School with Smathers. In 1939–1940 he was law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Stanley F. Reed
Stanley Forman Reed
Stanley Forman Reed was a noted American attorney who served as United States Solicitor General from 1935 to 1938 and as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. He was the last Supreme Court Justice who did not graduate from law school Stanley Forman Reed (December 31,...
, and the following year he was clerk to Justice Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
, who had been one of his professors at Harvard.
Marriage and children
Katharine Graham
Katharine Meyer Graham was an American publisher. She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period, the Watergate coverage that eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon...
, the daughter of Eugene Meyer
Eugene Meyer
Eugene Isaac Meyer was an American financier, public official, publisher of the Washington Post newspaper. He served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1930 to 1933. He was the father of publisher Katharine Graham.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, he was one of eight children of...
, a multi-millionaire and the owner of The Washington Post, a struggling newspaper at the time. The couple settled down in a two-story row house.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Graham enlisted in the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
as a private (1942) and rose to the rank of major. His wife followed him on military assignments to Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south...
and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
up until 1945, when he went to the Pacific theatre
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
as an intelligence officer of the Far East Air Force.
Their first baby died at birth. Four children followed: Elizabeth ('Lally') Morris Graham
Lally Weymouth
Elizabeth Morris "Lally" Graham Weymouth is an American journalist who serves as Senior Associate Editor of the Washington Post...
, now Weymouth (born July 3, 1943), Donald Edward Graham
Donald E. Graham
Donald E. Graham is chief executive officer and Chairman of The Washington Post Company. He is also the director and chairman of Facebook Inc.- Early life :...
(April 22, 1945), William Welsh Graham (born 1948), and Stephen Meyer Graham (born 1952).
Career at The Washington Post Company
In 1946, when Washington Post publisher Eugene MeyerEugene Meyer
Eugene Isaac Meyer was an American financier, public official, publisher of the Washington Post newspaper. He served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1930 to 1933. He was the father of publisher Katharine Graham.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, he was one of eight children of...
was named the first president of the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, he passed the position of publisher to Graham. When Meyer left the World Bank later that year, he took the title of chairman of the board of the Washington Post Company
Washington Post Company
The Washington Post Company is an American education and media company, best known for owning the newspaper for which it is named, The Washington Post. The Company also owns Kaplan, Inc., a leading international provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses...
, leaving Graham as publisher.
In 1948, Meyer transferred his actual control of the Post Company stock (the company was privately owned) to his daughter and her husband. Katharine Graham received 30 percent as a gift. Phil received 70 percent of the stock, his purchase financed by his father-in-law. Meyer remained a close adviser to his son-in-law until his death in 1959, at which time Graham assumed the titles of President and Chairman of the Board of the Post company.
Leadership of company under Graham
- In 1949, the Post Company purchased a controlling ownership interest in Washington radio station WTOPWTOP-FMWTOP is an all-news formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.WTOP is one of two all-news stations in the Washington, D.C...
, jointly owned with CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. This marked the beginnings of the Post Company's involvement in broadcasting. The following year the Post/CBS joint venture bought the CBS-affiliated television station in Washington, and changed the call letters to WTOP-TVWUSA (TV)WUSA is a television station broadcasting on channel 9 in Washington, D.C.. Owned by the Gannett Company, WUSA is an affiliate of the CBS television network, and the longest-tenured affiliate of that network...
, and in 1953 the company bought WMBR radioWZAZWZAZ is a Gospel music formatted radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the flagship station for Edward Waters College football.-In the media:...
and WMBR-TVWJXTWJXT, channel 4 , is an independent television station serving Jacksonville, Florida, and surrounding communities. Its transmitter is in the Kilarney Shores section of Jacksonville, with the WTLV transmitter. The station originally broadcast an analog signal on VHF channel 4 and a digital signal...
in Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville, FloridaJacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. The company gained full ownership of the WTOP stations in 1954. - In 1954, the Post Company bought the competing morning newspaper, the Times-Herald, for $8.5 million. The Post kept most of the Times-Heralds advertising, features, columnists and comics — and most of its readers. It immediately jumped ahead of the Evening StarWashington StarThe Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time, it was the city's newspaper of record, and the longtime home to columnist Mary McGrory and...
, the city's prominent afternoon paper, in circulation, and in 1959, it passed the Star in advertising linage. - In 1961, the Post Company purchased the controlling stock interest in NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
from the Vincent AstorVincent AstorWilliam Vincent Astor was a businessman and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Early life:...
Foundation. When the deal was closed in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Graham wrote a check for $2,000,000 as a down payment on the $8,985,000 purchase price. - In 1962, the Post Company again expanded into the magazine field by buying Art News, the most widely read monthly in the art field, and PortfolioPortfolio MagazinePortfolio Magazine, also known as Portfolio, The Magazine of the Visual Arts, was published bimonthly from April/May 1979 to September/October 1983. The editor was Edwin S. Grosvenor, who was also editor-in-chief of American Heritage magazine. Portfolio Magazine was published by Portfolio...
, a hard-cover art quarterly, from Albert M. Frankfurter.
Involvement in politics
While running the Washington Post and other parts of the Post Company, Graham played a backstage role in national politics.In 1960, he helped persuade his friend John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
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
1960 Democratic National Convention
The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles. In the end, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket was assembled and went on to secure an electoral college victory and a narrow popular vote plurality in the fall over the Republican candidates Richard M...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. During the 1960 campaign, he wrote drafts of for several speeches that Johnson gave. After Kennedy and Johnson were elected in November, he successfully lobbied
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
for the appointment of Douglas Dillon as Secretary of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
, and had multiple discussions with Kennedy about other appointments. In the several years after the inaugural, he continued to write occasional drafts of speeches, primarily for Johnson, but also for the President and for Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
.
In 1961, Kennedy named Graham to serve as an incorporator for the Communications Satellite Corporation, known as COMSAT
COMSAT
The Communications Satellite Corporation is a global telecommunications company, based in the USA, and with branches in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and several other countries in the Americas. It is present also in Turkey...
, a joint venture between the private sector and government for satellite communications. In October 1961, he was appointed chairman of the group.
"First rough draft of history"
In April 1963, Graham delivered a speech to the overseas correspondents of Newsweek in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
:
- "So let us today drudge on about our inescapably impossible task of providing every week a first rough draft of history that will never really be completed about a world we can never really understand…" [Emphasis added]
The phrase "[Journalism is the] first rough draft of history" has entered the vernacular. While this quote may have been popularized by Graham in this speech, and the phrase is often credited to him in this speech, these words are not original with him, nor with this speech, the phrase having been used repeatedly in the Post in the 1940s, and by Graham in the 1950s, with the earliest citation being 20 years, by Alan Barth
Alan Barth
Alan Barth was an American journalist specializing in civil liberties, best known for his 30 year stint as an editorial writer at The Washington Post, from which he retired in 1972, and his books on historical and contemporaneous politics....
in 1943, writing "News is only the first rough draft of history," and earlier expressions of similar sentiments dating at least to the first decade of the 1900s – see Wikiquote article for details.
Health problems and death
In Katharine Graham's book Personal HistoryPersonal History
Personal History is the autobiography of Katharine Graham. It was published in 1997 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1998...
, she notes that her husband was always intense and spontaneous, but occasionally lapsed into periods of depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
. In 1957, he suffered a severe manic episode
Mania
Mania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. In a sense, it is the opposite of depression...
and, at the time, no medicines were available for effective treatment. He retired to the couple's farm in Marshall, Virginia
Marshall, Virginia
Marshall is an unincorporated village and census-designated place located in the hunt country of northwestern Fauquier County, Virginia. The population as of the 2010 Census was 1,480. Marshall was originally known as Salem. The town became Marshall after a short-lived incorporation...
, to recuperate. Thereafter, periods in which he functioned brilliantly alternated with periods in which he was morose and erratic and isolated himself. He often drank heavily (something he had done prior to 1957), and would become extremely argumentative and blunt.
Through the Post Company's Newsweek arm, Graham eventually met Australian journalist Robin Webb, and in 1962 they began an affair. In 1963, he and Webb flew to Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
; he appeared at a newspaper publishing convention inebriated and/or manic. At the microphone he made a number of provocative comments, including the revelation that Kennedy was sleeping with Mary Pinchot Meyer
Mary Pinchot Meyer
Mary Eno Pinchot Meyer was an American socialite, painter, former wife of Central Intelligence Agency official Cord Meyer and intimate friend of United States president John F. Kennedy, who was often noted for her desirable physique and social skills...
. His assistant, James Truitt
James Truitt
James Truitt was an American journalist who worked for Life and Time magazines. He later became the vice president of Newsweek magazine.-Career:...
, called for his doctor, Leslie Farber, who flew in by private jet, as did (subsequently) Graham's wife. Graham was sedated
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
, bound in a straitjacket, and flown back to Washington. He was committed for five days to Chestnut Lodge
Chestnut Lodge
Chestnut Lodge was a historic building in Rockville, Maryland, United States, well known as a psychiatric institution. It was a contributing property to the West Montgomery Avenue Historic District.-History:...
, a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
in Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
.
Graham then left his wife for Robin Webb, announced to his friends that he planned to divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
his wife and immediately remarry, and indicated that he wanted to purchase sole control of the Post Company. In June, in a fit of depression, he broke off his affair and returned home. On June 20, 1963, he entered Chestnut Lodge for the second time, and was formally diagnosed with manic depression (now called bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
). He was treated with psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
.
On August 3, 1963, after Graham had made repeated requests of his doctors to be allowed a short stay away from the hospital, and "quite noticeably much better", according to his wife, he was permitted to go to their farmhouse in Virginia, Glen Welby, for the weekend. While his wife was in another part of the retreat, Graham committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
with a 28-gauge shotgun.
During probate
Probate
Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...
, Katharine Graham's lawyer challenged the legality of her husband's last will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
, written in 1963. Edward Bennett Williams
Edward Bennett Williams
Edward Bennett Williams was a Washington, D.C. trial attorney who founded the law firm of Williams & Connolly and owned several professional sports teams...
testified that Graham had not been of sound mind when he had instructed Williams to draw up his final will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
. Williams said that he had, at the same time he prepared the will, written a memorandum
Memorandum
A memorandum is from the Latin verbal phrase memorandum est, the gerundive form of the verb memoro, "to mention, call to mind, recount, relate", which means "It must be remembered ..."...
for the file stating that Graham was mentally ill
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
, and that he was preparing the will at Graham's direction only to maintain their relationship. The judge in the case ruled that Graham had died intestate
Intestacy
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies owning property greater than the sum of their enforceable debts and funeral expenses without having made a valid will or other binding declaration; alternatively where such a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of...
. A compromise was eventually reached whereby Katharine Graham
Katharine Graham
Katharine Meyer Graham was an American publisher. She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period, the Watergate coverage that eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon...
gave up part of her inheritance in favor of her children.
Posthumous honors
The Washington Post Company's ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate station in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, has call letters that were assigned to the station in honor of Philip Graham in 1970 — station WPLG
WPLG
WPLG, channel 10, is an ABC network affiliated television station located in Miami, Florida. WPLG is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The station's studios are located in Pembroke Park, and its transmitter is located at the massive broadcast...
uses his initials.