The Oscars are this Sunday, and Meryl Streep extends her record for nominations to 21 for her performance as Katherine Graham in “The Post.” The nod extends Streep’s record by nine over Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson, who are tied in second place with a dozen each.
As Graham, Streep plays a leader who decides to publish the incendiary information about the Vietnam War amid great pressure, in both directions, from government officials, her lawyers and her own employees. The papers fell into the Washington Post‘s hands at a delicate time.
The New York Times, which first reported on the papers, had been temporarily banned from publishing the information, which exposed that the government had repeatedly lied to the public about progress in the Vietnam War. Editors at the Post had a small window of time to jump on the story. President Nixon and his administration fought hard to keep the information from going public, even taking the case to the Supreme Court.
1) Why did Nixon fight so hard to keep the information from going public?
2) Who was the real Katherine Graham? What in her life led her to this historic moment?
3) Do you agree with her historic decision to publish the papers which criticized Nixon and the government? Would you have made the same decision? Why/not?
4) How did the publication of the Pentagon Papers change the perception of the press and the government in America?
5) If history is an indication do you think Meryl Streep and The Post will win the Oscar Sunday night? Why/not?
