A liberal American journalist and columnist, Mary McGrory was a fierce opponent of the Vietnam War and was on Richard Nixon's enemies list for writing "daily hate Nixon articles." During the time she was with The Washington Star, she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for her commentary on Watergate scandal.
McGrory started working for The Washington Post as a book reviewer in 1947, after she spent six years as secretary-assistant to the book reviewer at the Boston Herald. In 1954, Newbold Noyes Jr., then national editor, assigned McGrory to cover the Army-McCarthy hearings, which began her path as a humorous, thought-provoking commentator.
She then began her syndicated column in 1960, and stayed with The Washington Star until 1981, when it went out of business. Later that year, she joined The Washington Post as a columnist. During her half-century long career as a commentator, she shared her insights on some of the most important issues, including the Watergate scandal, death of President John F. Kennedy, Vietnam War and President George W. Bush’s stance on Iraq.
McGrory has a dozen journalism awards and honors throughout her career. She was named the 33rd Elijah Parish Lovejoy Fellow in 1985. She received the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech in 1995 and the Fourth Estate Award in 1998 from the National Press Club. The Washington Post gave her its highest honor in 2001, the Eugene Meyer Award.
She died in Washington D.C. in 2004, at the age of 85.