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Yours in Truth: A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee, Legendary Editor of The Washington Post
An intimate profile of the legendary Washington Post editor whose life and career encompassed Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, and the Kennedys--as portrayed by Tom Hanks in the Steven Spielberg film The Post
"A fairly complete and rare portrait of this last of the lion-king newspaper editors."--The New York Times Book Review
Ben Bradlee was a fixture on the American scene for nearly half a century--a close friend to John F. Kennedy; the center of D.C. social life; and a crusty, charismatic editor whose decisions at the helm of the Post during Watergate changed the course of history.
Granted unprecedented access to Bradlee and his colleagues, friends, and private files, Jeff Himmelman draws on never-before-seen internal Post memos, correspondence, personal photographs, and private interviews to trace the full arc of Bradlee's forty-five-year career--from his early days as a press attache in postwar Paris through the Pentagon Papers, Richard Nixon's resignation, the Janet Cooke fabrication scandal, and beyond. Along the way, Himmelman also unearths a series of surprises--about Watergate, and about Bradlee's private relationships with Post owner Katharine Graham, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and President Kennedy and his wife, Jackie.
"Don't feel that you have to protect me," Bradlee told Himmelman whenever the reporting started to strike close to home. "Follow your nose." Those instructions, familiar to any Post reporter, have resulted in this thoughtfully constructed and beautifully written account of a magnetic man whose career has come to define the golden age of newspapers in America, when the press battled for its freedom--and won.
Praise for Yours in Truth
"The absolute best nonfiction book of the year . . . a work of journalistic art . . . history straight and true . . . should be required reading at the Columbia School of Journalism."--Chicago Tribune
"Surprising and compulsively readable . . . Himmelman's chapters on Watergate are especially masterful, untangling that web in a fresh and comprehensible way."--Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A sparkling, revealing, definitely controversial, and very readable book . . . highly amusing, particularly for any connoisseur of juicy modern American politics."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Embedded in Yours in Truth there are fundamental insights about journalism and the role of a dynamic press."--The Atlantic
"A fairly complete and rare portrait of this last of the lion-king newspaper editors."--The New York Times Book Review
Ben Bradlee was a fixture on the American scene for nearly half a century--a close friend to John F. Kennedy; the center of D.C. social life; and a crusty, charismatic editor whose decisions at the helm of the Post during Watergate changed the course of history.
Granted unprecedented access to Bradlee and his colleagues, friends, and private files, Jeff Himmelman draws on never-before-seen internal Post memos, correspondence, personal photographs, and private interviews to trace the full arc of Bradlee's forty-five-year career--from his early days as a press attache in postwar Paris through the Pentagon Papers, Richard Nixon's resignation, the Janet Cooke fabrication scandal, and beyond. Along the way, Himmelman also unearths a series of surprises--about Watergate, and about Bradlee's private relationships with Post owner Katharine Graham, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and President Kennedy and his wife, Jackie.
"Don't feel that you have to protect me," Bradlee told Himmelman whenever the reporting started to strike close to home. "Follow your nose." Those instructions, familiar to any Post reporter, have resulted in this thoughtfully constructed and beautifully written account of a magnetic man whose career has come to define the golden age of newspapers in America, when the press battled for its freedom--and won.
Praise for Yours in Truth
"The absolute best nonfiction book of the year . . . a work of journalistic art . . . history straight and true . . . should be required reading at the Columbia School of Journalism."--Chicago Tribune
"Surprising and compulsively readable . . . Himmelman's chapters on Watergate are especially masterful, untangling that web in a fresh and comprehensible way."--Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A sparkling, revealing, definitely controversial, and very readable book . . . highly amusing, particularly for any connoisseur of juicy modern American politics."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Embedded in Yours in Truth there are fundamental insights about journalism and the role of a dynamic press."--The Atlantic
495 pages, Paperback
Published November 28, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 6, 2018
I think the older I get the more I love hear how wonderful people are... what drew me to this book was the movie the post... and the fact my father had been a press operator and at one point I wanted to be one too... I enjoyed learning a little about history and alot about even if we are amazing people we still make mistakes... to me this is a worth while read ... love the pictures and the letters ... I loved the fact that it made me think about my own father and appreciate the asshole that made my dad my dad ( if you know me I say this with so much love)... the bottom line is ... tell the truth today as we know it... <3
January 6, 2022
Apart from providing a complex and fascinating portrait of man-myth-legend Ben Bradlee, this book both built on and provided a foundation for so much of what I’ve learned while studying for my undergrad degree in journalism, especially regarding what it looks like to uphold and elevate the truth.
September 11, 2025
One of the most memorable biographies I have read, doesn’t shy away from showing the more human side of a media titan, and at times also dives into his shortcomings. Himmelman also does a very well job of connecting the lines on Watergate, and draws a very complete picture of it, makes a very complex topic understandable- at times even better than All the Presidents Man, which he uses as source material along with many memos, interviews etc.
Reading about events leading up to Ben’s rise as the executive editor, especially about him convinsing Phil Graham to buy Newsweek is fascinating. So is how he runs the newsroom during times of crisis. Absolute must read for journalists from all around the world, and people who take interest in media.
Reading about events leading up to Ben’s rise as the executive editor, especially about him convinsing Phil Graham to buy Newsweek is fascinating. So is how he runs the newsroom during times of crisis. Absolute must read for journalists from all around the world, and people who take interest in media.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews