Washington Post, The

US newspaper, established in 1877 in the capital city of the USA, originally affiliated to the Democratic Party. It is now independent, although still liberal, and is one of the country's most prestigious newspapers, renowned for its investigative reporting and coverage of the US government. California-born financier Eugene Meyer bought the paper after it became bankrupt in 1933, and his grandson Donald Graham has been publisher since 1979.

The Post was founded as a daily by Democrat Stilson Hutchins. The first Sunday addition was published in 1880. Philip L Graham, Meyer's son-in-law, took over the paper in 1946, and it thrived under his leadership. In 1961 he bought Newsweek magazine. His wife, Katherine Graham, succeeded him when he committed suicide in 1963.

In 1973 the Post published the exposé of two investigative reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, disclosing the Watergate scandal.