Bradlee Anae Quotes

Bradlee had been recruited with the idea that the New York Times need nod exercise absolute preeminence in American journalism.
That vision had suffered a setback in 1971 when the Times published the Pentagon Papers. Though the Post was the second news organization to obtain a copy of the secret study of the Vietnam war, Bradlee noted that 'there was blood on every word' of the Times' initial stories. Bradlee could convey his opinions with a single disgusted glance at an indolent reporter or editor.
Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward ~ Carl Bernstein

The history of American politics is littered with bodies of people who took so pure a position that they had no clout at all. ~ Ben Bradlee

I think he had a strange, passionate devotion to the truth and a horror at what he saw going on. ~ Ben Bradlee

National security is a really big problem for journalists, because no journalist worth his salt wants to endanger the national security, but the law talks about anyone who endangers the security of the United States is going to go to jail. So, here you are, especially in the Pentagon. Some guy tells you something. He says that's a national security matter. Well, you're supposed to tremble and get scared and it never, almost never means the security of the national government. More likely to mean the security or the personal happiness of the guy who is telling you something. ~ Ben Bradlee

Those [Watergate] tapes are going to take me to my grave with a huge smile on my face.. ~ Ben Bradlee

Maybe some of today's papers have too many 'feel-good' features, but there is a lot of good news out there. ~ Ben Bradlee

It's very hard to stand up to the government which is saying that publication will threaten national security. People don't seem to realize that reporters and editors know something about national security and care deeply about it. ~ Ben Bradlee

I never believed that Nixon could fully resurrect himself. And the proof of that was in the obits. ~ Ben Bradlee

Hardly unaware of his image, Bradlee even cultivated it. He delighted in displaying his street savvy, telling a reporter to get his ass moving and talk to some real cops, not lieutenants and captains behind a desk; then rising to greet some visiting dignitary from Le Monde or L'Express in formal, flawless French, complete with a peck on each cheek.

-- Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward ~ Carl Bernstein

The first rough draft of history. ~ Ben Bradlee

As a child, one looks for compliments. As an adult, one looks for evidence of effectiveness. ~ Ben Bradlee

There will always be leaks; in Washington, everywhere. ~ Ben Bradlee

Sure, some journalists use anonymous sources just because they're lazy and I think editors ought to insist on more precise identification even if they remain anonymous. ~ Ben Bradlee

I think the conscientious pursuit of happiness by itself can validate decisions to change, to try again, especially when failure to change will lead to lives of duplicity, dishonesty, and deceit. ~ Ben Bradlee

Cherchez la femme" is good advice for investigative reporters. "Follow the money" is even better advice. ~ Ben Bradlee

During discussions in his office, Bradlee frequently picked up an undersize sponge-rubber basketball from the table and tossed it toward a hoop attached by suction cups to the picture window. The gesture was indicative both of the editor's short attention span and of a studied informality. There was an alluring combination of aristocrat and commoner about Bradlee: Boston Brahmin, Harvard, the World War II Navy, press attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, police-beat reporter, news-magazine political reporter and Washington bureau chief of Newsweek.

-- Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward ~ Carl Bernstein

I give Cronkite a whole lot of credit. ~ Ben Bradlee

The biggest difference between Kennedy and Nixon, as far as the press is concerned, is simply this: Jack Kennedy really liked newspaper people and he really enjoyed sparring with journalists. ~ Ben Bradlee

Generals who can write always make me nervous. ~ Ben Bradlee

You never monkey with the truth. ~ Ben Bradlee

The Nixon administration really put a lot of pressure on CBS not to run the second broadcast. ~ Ben Bradlee

Our best today; better tomorrow, ~ Ben Bradlee

In the perfect world every source could be identified, but like the man said, "It's not a perfect world." ~ Ben Bradlee

I do worry about how newspapers respond to falling circulation figures. I'm not sure that the answer is for newspapers to try to cater to whatever seems to be the fad of the day. ~ Ben Bradlee

A moment from another world! Imagine a reporter dictating an exclusive story, a lead story, sourced from the President of the United States, from a telephone just off the White House dance floor to the strains of Lester Lanin's dance band. ~ Ben Bradlee

A prize-winning science reporter, Simons had become the number-two editor at the Post a year before. An intent, sensitive man with a large nose, thin face and deep-set eyes, he looks like the kind of Harvard teaching assistant who carries a slide ruler strapped to his belt. But he is skillful with fragile egos, and also the perfect counterpoint to Bradlee. Bradlee is more like Woodward: he wants hard information first and is impatient with theories.

-- Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward ~ Carl Bernstein

Egos are tender in this business," Bradlee said months later. "You massage them, don't deflate them...I can't go out and take notes for someone. I'm removed, and sometimes it frustrates the hell out of me...I can't kiss ass for getting scooped, but I do let it be known that I feel let down and I hate it, just hate it. Don't forget that I hate it ~ Carl Bernstein

The really tough thing would have been to decide to take Woodward and Bernstein off the story. They were carrying the coal for us - in that their stories were right. ~ Ben Bradlee

I keep thinking of Kon-Tiki as we fly along... the ocean is very blue. Sometimes we fly over white cloud banks that extend for miles and miles to the horizon.I feel content and very appreciative of the sunshine and good company, the little things which mean so much." This from a young man going to war.
"No peace treaty, no international government, is any good at all without the spirit underneath it. I look to the principles of a Christian life, not stopping at a 'gentlemanly' Christian life but working toward a saintly one. I hope one day to find and work toward God." And I never even knew what religion [Doug Bradlee] was, some sort of Protestant, I suppose. ~ James Brady