#5699 - Katharine Graham

Katherine Graham (1917-2001) was the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, The Washington Post. She was also the first woman to serve as director of the Associated Press. As publisher of the Post she led the paper for many decades, steering the paper through the turbulent era that saw the Post publish, at potential political risk to the paper, excerpts of the Pentagon papers and the first stories to mention the Watergate break-in, eventually leading to the resignation of President Nixon. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 for her memoir, Personal History, and posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. Scott 5699 Katharine Graham