Personal History ... I loved the first few chapters where she describes America's wealthy politicians and their inner circles. And the tracing of American politics...

History is usually told from the top down by politicians and academics. This is history as told through the voices and stories of everyday people.

There are some things the general public does not need to know and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets, and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows.

I believed - and believe - that capitalism works best for a freedom-loving society, that it brings more prosperity to more people than any other social-economic system, but that somehow we have to take care of people.

[In August 1966 the Post 's owner, Katharine Graham, discussed the war with a writer in line to take charge of the newspaper's editorial page.] We agreed that the Post ought to work its way out of the very supportive editorial position it had taken, but that we couldn't be precipitate; we had to move away gradually from where we had been, ... be precipitate.

When in 1969 I became publisher of the 'Washington Post' as well as president of the company, my plate was fuller than ever. I had partly worked myself into the job but not, except for rare occasions, taken hold. I had acquired some sense of business but still relied on others more than most company presidents did.