A

NEWSWEEK PURCHASED

Powerhouse

The purchase of Newsweek magazine by the Washington Post Company on 9 March 1961 created a formidable print-news company. The Washington Post, already powerful as the leading morning newspaper in the U.S. capital, bought the second most read newsmagazine in the country. In January 1961 Newsweek had a circulation of more than 1.4 million, second only to Henry Luce's Time.

Death of Astor

Newsweek had been controlled by philanthropist Vincent Astor. On his death in 1959 his controlling 59 percent stock interest was transferred to the Astor Foundation, which soon began quietly to look for a buyer. The magazine had been founded in 1933 as News-Week. Astor had acquired his interest in 1937 through a merger with his magazine, Today.

Philip Graham

The negotiating force at the Washington Post was Philip Graham, who had gained his position at the newspaper by marrying Katherine Meyer, the daughter of the owner of the Washington Post, in 1940. Graham became publisher at the Washington Post in 1946. Under his tenure the circulation of the newspaper doubled to four hundred thousand from 1946 to 1956. He also established a strong editorial team at the paper, knowing that a newspaper in the capital had a special burden. The Grahams were strongly partisan Democrats but worked hard to maintain the paper's editorial independence: the Washington Post endorsed no candidate in the 1960 presidential election.

The Sale

Graham paid $8 million to the Astor Foundation for its Newsweek stock but eventually paid almost $15 million for all the remaining interests. At the con-tract signing with the Astor group, Graham quipped that he did not know how to write the $2 million earnest check: "I didn't know how the hell to add zeroes after the two million, so I just wrote 'two million dollars' and went squiggle-squiggle with the pen." In addition to Newsweek the Washington Post also acquired in the deal a television station, giving the company stations in the capital, Florida, and Connecticut.

New Team

Graham quickly began putting his own editorial team in place at Newsweek, promoting Osborn Elliott from managing editor to editor even before the sale was closed. Most of the Newsweek staff members were offered new jobs at the magazine or in Washington with the paper. Walter Lippmann was hired to contribute a column, a move that enhanced the magazine's prestige.

Suicide

Graham suffered periodic bouts of manic-depressive illness that brought on erratic behavior. He once threatened to divorce his wife to deprive her and their four children of the Washington Post Company. On 3 August 1963 he shot himself after spending six weeks at a psychiatric hospital. Katherine Graham took over the job of running the Washington Post Company and quickly became an aggressive manager. In 1965 she brought Benjamin Bradlee from Newsweek to be the executive editor of the newspaper.

Reputation

The purchase of Newsweek added to the reputation of the Washington Post as one of the most powerful newspapers in the world and confirmed that the Grahams were a force to be reckoned with, not only in Washington but also in New York. More important, the acquisition increased the amount of editorial talent available to both publications. Over the years Newsweek continued to trail Time in circulation, but many critics considered it the stronger magazine editorially.