Richard Harwood

Richard Harwood (1926–2001) was an American journalist, editor, and author whose career joined public-service reporting with military history. A World War II Marine veteran who fought in the Pacific, he later built a newspaper career that began in Nashville and gained recognition at the Louisville Times before he joined The Washington Post in 1966.

At The Washington Post, he served as a national reporter, helped lead the paper’s national staff, and later became its ombudsman, a role that suited his direct, independent voice. Accounts of his career consistently describe him as exacting, humane, and deeply committed to the standards of journalism.

Harwood also wrote about the Marines in World War II, including A Close Encounter: The Marine Landing on Tinian. That combination of lived experience and disciplined reporting gives his historical writing a grounded, accessible quality that still speaks to readers interested in war, public life, and American journalism.