Joined The Washington Post in 1968, beginning the career phase that made her a central editorial voice in American journalism.
In 1968, Meg Greenfield joined The Washington Post, beginning the phase of her career that would make her one of the newspaper’s defining editorial figures. The available sources confirm the year, though not the exact day and month, so this milestone is recorded here as a year-only achievement rather than a dated event.
Her arrival at the Post mattered because it placed an already experienced journalist into one of the most influential opinion-making institutions in the United States during a turbulent era. By the late 1960s, the country was wrestling with civil rights, Vietnam, and shifting expectations about government and the press. Greenfield’s voice—sharp, disciplined, and intellectually exacting—helped the editorial page address those disputes with unusual clarity. She brought to the Post experience from The Reporter and a reputation for serious political analysis.
Although the exact calendar date is not verified in the provided sources, the 1968 move is historically significant because it marked the start of a long tenure that would culminate in her becoming deputy editor and then editor of the editorial page. For women in journalism, senior editorial authority remained rare in that period. Greenfield’s rise therefore represented both a personal achievement and a broader institutional shift in whose judgment could shape elite public debate.