Prologue. An amazing story how John Sweeterman went from tiny farm village to the top of the newspaper industry, and one of the most successful and powerful business people in Washington DC. Great talent with the superb ability to manage the unmanageable.

The Early Days.

John was born in Mercer County, John W. Sweiterman. He and his brothers later changed their name to Sweeterman. There were two sisters and two brothers that were wonderful Catholic priests, Fr. Norbert and Fr. Thomas. I was fortunate to get to know both and their new marvelous careers. Two other brothers that were businessmen in different successful businesses. When John was a young child, the family moved to the village of Cranberry Prairie. Located in Mercer County, 1 mile north of the Darke County line off of Route 127, just north of North Star. (I knew the area and had many friends from the area. It was mostly German Catholic. You could see seven beautiful church towers from one location, tiny villages. Dance halls, great small village restaurants, wonderful culture, Catholic Seminary on Route 127.) John attended Country High School and then the University of Dayton. He worked for the morning newspaper, the Dayton Journal Herald. At the start of the Second World War, the owner of the paper enlisted and appointed John, Chief Operating Officer. He managed the paper during the war. After the war, the paper was sold to the evening paper the Dayton Daily News. They “retired" John. He founded a local advertising newspaper. He moved with daughters, Carol and Ann into Oakwood. Amazingly, a block away from Park Avenue, where my best college friend, Bill Oelman lived. Bill’s sister Sue, and Carol became best friends. (Bill was my best man and Sue was Carol’s maid of honor.)

The New Agenda. Out of Dayton.

The Washington Post Story.

In about 1950, Philip Graham, the CEO of the Washington Post and the son-in-law of the owner, Eugene Meyer, was trying to recruit John for the number three management position at the Washington Post. John was negotiating at the time to be CEO of the Miami Herald. John told Mr. Graham that he would come to Washington, but only as number two under Phil Graham. (Must see Catherine Graham’s book pages 189-190) Deal done. John was number two, and later had 20% ownership.
The Washington Post was one of two morning papers. The afternoon paper, the Washington Star controlled the market. The Post finally purchased the other morning newspaper shortly after John’s arrival. His major strategy was to take the market share and dominate the Sunday market. It was one of his major accomplishments. John was an effective CEO of the paper from the mid-1950s through his retirement in 1963. As Vice Chairman, he planned growth strategies, contributed to “educating Mrs. Graham in her new role as Chief Executive Officer on more than one occasion. While he built the Post into a great newspaper, he was also over the company’s IT on three television stations. (Great family friend, John Hayes, VP of Television Operations. Later, was Ambassador to Switzerland). The Post owned Newsweek. They owned a paper mill in Nova Scotia, Canada to provide newsprint. It had a large warehouse on a dock in Alexandria. John negotiated the purchase of 50% ownership of the Paris Tribune from the New York Tribune. He went to New York and met Jock Whitney, who owned the New York Herald Tribune. His job became most difficult when Phil Graham began experiencing mental deterioration and out-of-control behavior with schizophrenia which preceded his suicide in 1963. (I remember very clearly John calling Carol and I the night it happened, in tears). He then managed the company until his retirement in 1969. At his retirement, he became Vice Chairman and was tasked with transitioning to Katherin Graham. Quite a task. (Must-read Personal History, Katherine Graham.)

Washington DC Other Business Successes.

John was an extraordinary businessman. He was appointed to the executive committee of the American Security Bank. He was elected president of the Washington DC equivalent of the Chamber of Commerce. He was trustee of the estate that owned the Washington Redskins. (We discussed the strategy to sell the football team to the famous lawyer, my neighbor in Tulip Hill , Edward Bennett Williams.) As CEO of the Washington Post and with two other local business people, founded the Washington Nationals Baseball team. Unfortunately, the National League didn't go well in Washington. They were forced to sell and the team was moved to Texas. He was elected the first layman Board of Director of Georgetown University. He also was elected to the Board of Directors of the University of Dayton, his alma mater. One of his most interesting jobs was chairman of the Eugene Meyer Charitable Foundation. It was a large sum of money and he directed it to many of Washington’s best charities. He had the courage to build a second house on the North Shore at Rehobeth, Delaware. He loved to swim and play golf. (There were literally only four houses on the beach. Now, President Biden's summer residence on the beach.)

Washington Post People and Stories.

A). Phil Graham stories. Phil Graham was from a Dade County, Florida family. They had made a fortune in the dairy business, selling land to developers and opening new dairy farms over and over. My Grandfather Coppock knew the Grahams in the 1920's in Miami. Phil's half-brother was Sen. Graham of Florida. Phil was editor of the Harvard Law Review at Harvard Law School. He married Kay Meyer. He was not a capable manager like John Sweeterman, but he was a very dynamic and striving personality. John was a manager. Phil Graham was the wheeler dealer. He was close to Lyndon Johnson and to John Kennedy. According to John, he helped broker the deal where Lyndon would agree to be Vice President. In those days, the Graham’s were at the top of the Washington social heap. But there were problems. John was sometimes caught in the middle. Phil was schizophrenic. Many difficult episodes.

B). Ben Bradlee. I only met him twice, when Carol and I acted as John’s dinner partner. (During those years Mrs. Sweeterman was at Sheppard Pratt). He and John were at odds over how much to spend. He was going through a divorce. He then married an acquaintance from our Rehobeth, Delaware summers, Sally Quinn. First class lady and acquaintance of ours at Rehobeth. Ben Bradlee and John disagreed over financial matters. Ben was the spender, John was frugal.

C). Attorneys: Cover Your Flanks. John, besides being an astute businessman, was politically savvy. When Kennedy became president, he hired Jerry Siegel as attorney for the Post. Jerry grew up in Iowa. Then a Harvard professor. Then number three assistant for Lyndon Johnson in the Senate. When Johnson became Vice President, John hired Jerry. Wonderful guy, very savvy. Back in those days there were good Democrats and he was one. Next came Pres. Nixon. Nixon's Secretary of State Bill Rogers was John's golf partner at the Burning Tree Country Club. John then hired Roger Clark as the Washington Post attorney. (He had been Bill Rogers's assistant when Rogers was Atty. Gen., and law partner). Roger and Kate became some of Carol's and my good friends. He died in his early 60's of cancer. (Kate remarried the awful Maryland Sen. Joe Tydings, a disaster). Upon John’s retirement, Mrs. Graham then selected her friend, Edward Bennett Williams partner as attorney for the Post.

D). The Washington Post: The Group. They were like family, especially pre-Kay. John Hayes, a delightful character. He was Vice President in charge of the three television stations. John Hayes and his beautiful wife always included John Sweeterman, when Jean was in hospital. His reward for being a good Democrat, he was appointed Ambassador to Switzerland. Best friend of all, Joe Lynch. Joe was in charge of advertising for the Washington Post. He knew everybody in Washington, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Terrific guy. He would take John and I duck hunting at his house on the Chesapeake Eastern Shore. He would include Carol and me to many family events. With Kay, unfortunately, came early retirement. Russ Wiggins, the editor, very bright taciturn. Along came Kay and she preferred Ben. Russ Wiggins retired to a small newspaper in New England. Fritz Beebe, prominent New York, Washington Post Chairman of the Board. We had the privilege of getting to know so many more top executives. John had created a family environment at the Post which was very supportive of him during the tough times and very kind to all those around and most of all, very effective!

Two More Stories.

Class B Stock. After Kay ascended, she still depended on John's judgment or advice on critical matters. Kay called John one night at the beach house in Rehobeth. I was sitting next to him. She sounded upset. Someone had bought 18% of the Washington Post class B stock. He explained, "don't worry". The Washington Post class B stock had no voting rights and therefore not any threat to the control of the newspaper. He told her that he would meet the person and get back to her. A couple weeks later I asked him how it went. Very confidentially but most interesting, he gave me the details. He had told Kay, that not only was the man no threat, but that he should go on the board of the Post, that it was a terrific opportunity for the paper. His name, Warren Buffett. They became friends and Buffett joined the Post Board. He then "befriended Kay". He bought more stock at $30 a share and in the best of times it was over $300. When it became clear the Post was not going to make it under Donnie Graham, he resigned saying that he had “conflicting interest”. (Interestingly, John and Warren Buffett’s mutual friend was the owner of Geico.) Sadly, John did not put any money in Warren Buffett's ventures under $20 a share).

The Glass Door. John and Jean's best friends were the Kehoes. Mr. Kehoe had a two-man law firm, local DC business cases. (Small world. His junior partner was from Greenville, Ohio), A Washington Post reporter did a "hit job" story about Mr. Kehoe's practice. John was furious. "The Glass Door". The rule pre-Kay Washington Post and then the New York Times, (not like now!), was no matter how high up the business executive, he could not intercede with the editorial staff or its reporting. Mr. Sweeterman could look through "The Glass Door", but not enter. He complained about the story bitterly, "The Glass Door"! Ben Bradlee had the story printed anyway. Later the story proved to be false. Could you imagine the current rich elite owners of the media, New York Times, Jeff Bezos, Washington Post, Bloomberg, having or paying any attention to a "The Glass Door”?

John Sweeterman was a wise and incredible businessman. Jean, after six years was released from Sheppard Pratt. I came to know her as a wonderful, lovely, fragile lady, a friend of mine for life. John, a wonderful father-in-law. We retained our relationship until he died. He never forgot his roots, Cranberry Prairie.

So many more stories.

Footnote:Mrs. Graham's book, while a rather long self-serving monologue, name dropping of who was who in Washington, if carefully read, does explain and appreciate John’s role in building the Washington Post, in a world light years away from Cranberry Prairie. It is definitely a must-read!