Chalmers Roberts, 94; Newsman Sued by U.S. Over Pentagon Papers

Chalmers M. Roberts, 94, a retired chief diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Post, died Friday of congestive heart failure at his home in Bethesda, Md.

Roberts spent more than two decades with the Post, becoming chief diplomatic correspondent in 1953. He also wrote about the Supreme Court, Congress and several occupants of the White House.

Just before his retirement in 1971, Roberts threatened to resign if the Post did not publish his story on the Pentagon Papers. The Post was the second U.S. newspaper to get a copy of the leaked secret history of U.S. policy in Vietnam. The New York Times first published the papers, and there was concern that the Post -- facing government renewal of television station licenses -- might decide against doing so.

After the Post published details of the papers, Roberts was named as one of the defendants in the U.S. lawsuit against the Times and the Post. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the newspapers.

Born in Pittsburgh, Roberts went to Amherst College, where he edited the school newspaper. He worked for Associated Press, the News-Bee in Toledo, Ohio, and the Japan Times in Tokyo before World War II. During the war, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Office of War Information. After the war, he worked at the Washington Star before joining the Post in 1949.