Benjamin Bradlee, the former Washington Post Executive Editor who led the newspaper through its groundbreaking coverage of the Watergate scandal, died Tuesday at age 93.
According to our records, Bradlee appeared on “Meet the Press” 12 times as both a panelist and a guest from 1961-1997. He made his last appearance on the show on June 15, 1997, to discuss the legacy of Watergate, 25 years later after the break-in. When asked by Tim Russert what the lasting legacy of Watergate was, Bradlee said, “Follow the money.”
During another appearance in 1962, Bradlee was one of the journalists asking questions of the Republican candidate for Governor of California. His name? Richard Nixon.
Bradlee asked Nixon the difference between running for governor and running for president. “One, of course, is that the running for governor gives you an opportunity for personal campaigning and personal contact that running for the presidency doesn’t allow. I have shaken really hundreds of thousands of hands already in these 10 months that I have been running for governor. I couldn’t do that at all running for president,” Nixon said. “Running for president, you make speeches, appear on television, and that’s about all you have. It is quite an impersonal contact. Running for governor is an intensely personal matter. Frankly, in that respect I must say that it is more enjoyable. There is more zest to it than running for president.”
Joe Toohey contributed to this report