Former Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee (Agence France-Presse)
Legendary former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, who oversaw reporting on the Watergate scandal which brought down US president Richard Nixon, died on Tuesday. He was 93.
The newspaper, on its website, hailed Bradlee for guiding "The Post's transformation into one of the world's leading newspapers."
Donald E. Graham, who served as publisher of the Post and Bradlee's boss, said: "Ben Bradlee was the best American newspaper editor of his time and had the greatest impact on his newspaper of any modern editor."
Bradlee died of natural causes at his Washington home.
It was Graham's mother, Katharine Graham, who was publisher of the newspaper when Bradlee charged young reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein with investigating the Watergate burglary.
The reporting uncovered a vast scheme of surveillance and dirty tricks, and the resulting coverage led to the impeachment and resignation of Nixon in 1974, and the prosecution of dozens of administration officials.
During Bradlee's leadership from 1968 to 1991, the Post, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its Watergate stories, also played a role in the successful legal challenge to the publication of the Pentagon Papers revealing the political maneuvers leading up to the Vietnam War.