In Katharine Graham's book
Personal History, she notes that her husband was always intense and spontaneous, but occasionally lapsed into periods of
depression. In 1957, he had a severe
manic episode and, at the time, no medicines were available for effective treatment. He retired to the couple's farm in
Marshall, Virginia, to recuperate. Thereafter, periods in which he functioned brilliantly alternated with periods in which he was morose and erratic and isolated himself. He often drank heavily (something he had done prior to 1957), and would become extremely argumentative and blunt. Through the Post Company's
Newsweek arm, Graham eventually met
Australian journalist Robin Webb, and in 1962 they began an affair. In 1963, he and Webb flew to
Arizona; he appeared at a newspaper publishing convention inebriated and/or manic. At the microphone he made a number of provocative comments, including the revelation that President Kennedy was sleeping with
Mary Pinchot Meyer. His assistant,
James Truitt, called for his doctor, Leslie Farber, who flew in by private jet, as did (subsequently) Graham's wife. Graham was
sedated, bound in a
straitjacket, and flown back to Washington. He was committed for five days to
Chestnut Lodge, a
psychiatric hospital in
Rockville, Maryland. Graham then left his wife for Robin Webb, announced to his friends that he planned to
divorce his wife and immediately remarry, and indicated that he wanted to purchase sole control of the Post Company. In June, in a fit of depression, he broke off his affair and returned home. On June 20, 1963, he entered Chestnut Lodge for the second time, and was formally diagnosed with manic depression (now called
bipolar disorder). He was treated with
psychotherapy. Graham later made repeated requests of his doctors to be allowed a short stay away from the hospital, and was "quite noticeably much better", according to his wife. On August 3, 1963, he was permitted to go to their farmhouse in Virginia, Glen Welby, for the weekend. There, Graham killed himself with a
shotgun while his wife was in another part of the retreat. He was buried at
Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. During
probate, Katharine Graham's lawyer challenged the legality of her husband's last
will, written in 1963 in favor of his mistress.
Edward Bennett Williams testified that Graham had not been of sound mind when he had instructed Williams to draw up his final will. Williams said that he had, at the same time he prepared the will, written a
memorandum for the file stating that Graham was
mentally ill, and that he was preparing the will at Graham's direction only to maintain their relationship. The judge in the case ruled that Graham had died
intestate. A compromise was eventually reached whereby
Katharine Graham gave up part of her inheritance in favor of her children. == Posthumous honors ==