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  • THE BEGINNING
  • GOING DIGITAL
  • EXPANDING OUR HORIZONS
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In the spring of 1969, a new magazine for and about high-ranking federal officials called Government Executive made its debut.

"Our plan," founding editor and publisher C.W. Borklund wrote, "is to publish challenging ideas; tempered only by the demand that our work be responsible journalism."

In the 50 years since, that modest magazine publishing effort has evolved into an enterprise that encompasses four digital publications (Government Executive, Nextgov, Defense One and Route Fifty) and includes live and online events, high-quality research and a custom content studio.

Government Executive was founded on the notion that the people who serve in high-ranking positions in government are worthy of the same professional journalism as America's corporate elite. It has been, and remains, our privilege to serve an audience whose work is so critical to the nation's future.

Here are some notable moments in Government Executive’s history.

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MARCH 1969

First issue of Government Executive

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Making sense out of the red tape-laden government bureaucracy without demoralizing the organization may well be one of Nixon’s toughest problems.”

SEPTEMBER 1987

Debut of revamped magazine under National Journal ownership

OCTOBER 1989

Landmark cover story, “Hollow Government,” on consequences of budget reductions

1990

James Kitfield wins Gerald R. Ford Award for Reporting on National Defense

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Operation Desert Shield sets into motion a machinery so massive and complex that many of its individual elements have never been tested together even in an exercise, much less a national emergency.”

1996

Launch of Government Performance Project, rating agency management

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AUGUST 1996

Launch of GovExec.com

APRIL 1997

Vice President Al Gore addresses Reinvention Revolution conference (later Excellence in Government)

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I was convinced that you, the federal employees, were not the problem but that you were the solution, and that you are the solution.”

1998

GovExec.com wins Gold Award from Folio magazine for editorial excellence

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Up-to-the-minute information presented with no BS. Perfect for the in-and-out info retrieval that its readers seek.”

JANUARY 1999

Influential cover story, “The True Size of Government”

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Despite declarations to the contrary from elected officials across the political spectrum, the federal government is much bigger, not smaller, than it was 30 years ago.”

OCTOBER 2001

Special issue on federal response to 9/11 attacks

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As we come to the defense of freedom, we turn to government for the short-term work of rescue and relief and the long-term pursuit of retribution and justice.”

SEPTEMBER 2002

Debut of Service to America Medals program, with Partnership for Public Service

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2007

Launch of Nextgov, covering federal information technology

2013

Launch of Defense One, covering the future of national security

2015

Launch of Route Fifty, covering state and local government

DECEMBER 2015

Last print edition of Government Executive

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Through the work of many, many people over the decades, it became the most trusted brand in the federal market.”

APRIL 2018

Charles S. Clark wins Jesse H. Neal Award for “Deconstructing the Deep State”

MARCH 2019

50th anniversary

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Al Gore photo Credit: AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

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