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Ben Bradlee, renowned Washington Post editor, dead at 93

The editor was known for his charisma, confidence and enthusiasm for journalism.

By Annie Martin
Ben Bradlee died October 21, 2014 at age 93. (UPI/Kevin Dietsch)
1 of 5 | Ben Bradlee died October 21, 2014 at age 93. (UPI/Kevin Dietsch) | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Ben Bradlee died at age 93 on Tuesday.

The renowned former Washington Post editor died of natural causes at his home in Washington, D.C., according to The Washington Post.

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Bradlee was born in Boston in 1921, and became a reporter at the New Hampshire Sunday News after serving in the navy during WWII. He started working for The Washington Post in 1948, and held positions at the Office of U.S. Information and Educational Exchange and Newsweek in subsequent years.

Bradlee was made managing editor at The Washington Post in 1965, and rose to executive editor in 1968. He oversaw the Pentagon Papers, leaked documents about U.S. involvement in Vietnam, published in 1971, and guided coverage of the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. The editor and his role in exposing Watergate were later portrayed by Jason Robards in Alan J. Pakula film All the President's Men (1976).

"Ben was a true friend a genius leader in journalism," Bob Woodard and Carl Bernstein, the reporters who pursued Watergate for the Post, said in a statement. "He forever altered our business. His one unbending principle was the quest for the truth and the necessity of that pursuit."

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Bradlee retired as executive editor in 1991, but continued to serve as vice president at-large. He published an autobiography, A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures, in 1995, and acted as chairman of the Historic Mary's City Commission in Maryland from 1991 to 2003. At age 91, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

Bradlee struggled with Alzheimer's disease in later years, and started end-of-life care in his home in September. He is survived by wife Sally Quinn and son Quinn Bradlee, and has three other children from his first two marriages.

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