Ben Bradlee, who reinvented modern investigative journalism and steered The Washington Post through the turbulent Watergate investigation that ultimately forced President Richard Nixon's resignation, will present the 2004 James Madison Day lecture on March 17.  His presentation is part of March's annual celebration of JMU and of the birthday of the Father of the Constitution. The theme of the celebration will be freedom of the press, and many programs are designed to explore the ideals and implications of a free press in today's society.

During Bradlee's tenure, The Washington Post not only reported the news, very often it was the news. This was especially true during Watergate. Bradlee first made history when he challenged the federal government over the right to publish the Pentagon Papers -- and won, changing the course of American history. Under his leadership, the Post emerged as a leading national voice and won 18 Pulitzer Prizes. The book and film All the President's Men detailed the Watergate investigation.

Bradlee's career with the Post spanned five decades. He began at the newspaper in 1948 as a reporter covering the federal courts. Between 1953 and 1965, he worked for Newsweek magazine, as a European correspondent with the Paris bureau, and as a political correspondent and bureau chief in Washington, D.C. During this period, he began his intensive coverage of presidential campaigns, including the Kennedy and Nixon campaigns of 1960. In 1965, Bradlee rejoined The Washington Post as managing editor and became executive editor, serving from 1968 to 1991.

He is the author of two books about President John F.
Kennedy, That Special Grace and Conversations with Kennedy, and has also written a book of his own memoirs, A Good Life: Newspapers and Other Adventures.

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