Secret admirers: The Bushes and the Washington Post

[BigBearJohn]

I guess it depends on what you mean by "democracy."

At any rate, this brief overview of the Washington Post's covert history serves as a useful backdrop to information revealed in "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power," written by oil industry insider Daniel Yergin, and a national bestseller when it was published in 1991.

What is particularly fascinating about Yergin's revelation of the long term financial link between Bush and the Graham family—a revelation also confirmed by Katherine Graham in her memoir—is that George H.W. Bush spent much of his political career complaining about the "liberal" reporting in the Post. Yergin, whose sketch of Bush's career covers only a few pages in this lengthy book, is slyly aware of this seeming contradiction, so he has some fun with the game Bush was playing. He includes a quote from a note then-Congressman Bush sent to Treasury Secretary David Kennedy in 1969, thanking him for meeting with some Texas oilmen at Bush's home in Houston. "I was also appreciative of your telling them how I bled and died for the oil industry," Bush wrote. "That might kill me off in the Washington Post but it darn sure helps in Houston." A curious comment indeed, considering the Grahams' investment in his business.

This arms-length public posture sometimes went to hilarious extremes. In his book, "Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate," Bob Woodward includes much of the substance of a handwritten three-page reply he received from Bush denying Woodward's request for an interview. Criticizing Woodward's Watergate reporting, Bush wrote, "For me Watergate was a major event, for as you correctly point out, I was chairman of the GOP during those tumultuous times . . . I think Watergate and the Vietnam War are the two things that moved Beltway journalism into this aggressive, intrusive, 'take no prisoners' kind of reporting that I can now say I find offensive."

Just past Watergate's thirtieth anniversary, Bush's comments here bring several observations to mind that have been generally ignored. One is that there had been growing dissatisfaction among the nation's ruling class with the presidency of Richard Nixon, whose environmental and social legislation has led some revisionist commentators to refer to him as "the last liberal president." More importantly, Nixon was also seeking to reorganize the intelligence services. These facts have inspired some out-of-the-mainstream journalists, like Doug Henwood and the late investigative reporter Steve Kangas, to suggest that Woodward's "Deep Throat" contact was actually someone in the CIA. Kangas had also suggested that the semi-conscious and dying William Casey, director of Central Intelligence in the Reagan administration and Woodward's controversial leading "source" for his book, "Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987," was in actuality the "alter ego" of Woodward's real source: George H.W. Bush

SOURCE: http://www.onlinejournal.com/Media/020504Hasty/020504hasty.html

[BigBearJohn]

1. .

[cally]

2. interesting article

thanks for posting it.