Not my favorite genre, but this man was the head of The Washington Post during many interesting times and Tony wanted me to read it. He seems a fine enough fellow–that bit with Mary Pinchot bit was dodgy as fuck. Not credible in his telling. Very suss. Interesting to go over the history of the 60s-80s politics from this angle, however.

To read A Good Life: Newpapering and Other Adventures is like sitting down with Mr. Bradlee and having a cup of coffee and a glazed doughnut. Easy. Warm. Inviting. And, depending on how sticky the doughnut (or Bradlee's situation) potentially very funny. He unfolds his life with in twinkle in his eye and you can tell he looks back on his experiences with warmth and humor. Speaking of unfolding his life, one of the elements of Bradlee's biography that I appreciated the most was the fact he did not go too far back into his family's genealogy. I did not need to know where his great-great-great-great grandparents came from to appreciate Bradlee's own beginnings. Before you are even 100 pages into the story, Bradlee is twenty years old, married and in the Navy (in fact, his wedding and entry into the Navy happened on the very same day). He moves quickly through his rise in journalism and subsequent employment with Newsweek & the Washington Post. Just as decisively he describes his marriages, first to Jean Salton, then to Tony Pinchot and finally, Sally Quinn. Probably one of the more intriguing sections of A Good Life wasn't Watergate as you might expect, but rather Bradlee's time with John F. Kennedy as friend and reporter before and during Kennedy's Presidential career.
As expected, Bradlee spends a great deal of time talking about President Nixon, Watergate and the work that went into uncovering the lies. This is where Bradlee slows history down and works through the details methodically. But, he also shares some other not-so-crowning Post moments. Again, there is that honesty about all he reveals. ( )

2801 A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures, by Ben Bradlee (read 18 Nov 1995) The author ran the Washington Post from 1968 to 1991. I deplored the author's use of crude language, and was appalled he told of using hashish and pot, and was really disgusted by his frequent adultery. He has been married three times and his personal life cannot be called "good." He was a great friend of Edward Bennett Williams and of JFK. He does conclude that if JFK's private life had been known he'd have been impeached. It is a super-interesting life, but I'm glad I don't move in his circles. ( )

Bradlee knew so many people in Washington during his tenure at the Post, you gain a lot of insight into the major players at the time. ( )