''Personal History'' is the 1997 autobiography of ''
Washington Post'' publisher
Katharine Graham. It won the 1998
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography
The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...
, and received widespread critical acclaim for its candour in dealing with her husband's mental illness and the challenges she faced in a male-dominated working environment.
Themes
The main themes of the book include:
* Graham's complex and often difficult relationship with her mother;
* her family's involvement with ''
The Washington Post'' from 1933 onwards;
* her relationship with her husband
Philip Graham;
* Graham and Phil's relationships with
John F. Kennedy and
Lyndon B. Johnson, especially Johnson's appointment as Kennedy's running-mate;
* Phil's mental illness and eventual suicide;
* Graham's evolution from a housewife to the chairman of a major publishing company;
* her growing awareness of feminist issues;
* the legal battle over the ''
Pentagon Papers'';
* The ''Post''’s coverage of
Watergate
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
; and
* her relationship to the labor movement, first as an activist, then as a reporter, then with the strikes at the ''Post'', most notably the 1975–1976 pressmen's strike.
References
*
External links
''Booknotes'' interview with Graham on ''Personal History'', February 16, 1997.
1997 non-fiction books
American autobiographies
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography-winning works
The Washington Post
Works about Katharine Graham
Alfred A. Knopf books
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