David Broder, a prize-winning political columnist for The Washington Post who came to be known as the dean of the US capital's press corps, died on Wednesday. He was 81. Broder, who won a Pulitzer Prize, America's top journalism award, in 1973, for his analysis of the Watergate scandal, died in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia, from complications from diabetes, The Washington Post said.
Former Post executive editor Benjamin Bradlee, who presided over the newspaper during Watergate, which led to the resignation of president Richard Nixon, told the Post that Broder was "the best political correspondent in America." President Barack Obama lauded him as a "true giant of journalism."
"He built a well-deserved reputation as the most respected and incisive political commentator of his generation," Obama said in a statement. Broder's political analysis was featured in The Washington Post since the mid-1960s and at its height his column was syndicated in 300 newspapers. According to the Post, Broder covered every presidential nominating convention since 1956, working first at Congressional Quarterly, the now-defunct Washington Star and The New York Times before joining the Post. Broder organised The Washington Post's coverage of the 1968 presidential election and was involved in its coverage of every White House race since then. Broder was also the author of several books including "The Party's Over: The Failure of Politics in America" and "Behind the Front Page," an examination of the journalism profession.