In February, as morale at The Washington Post was reaching new lows, two of the newspaper’s most respected alumni decided to intervene, according to several people with knowledge of the decision.

Leonard Downie, the paper’s top editor for 17 years, and Bob Kaiser, who spent more than a half-century at the newspaper, including as managing editor, emailed The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, with a simple message: He needed to cut ties with Will Lewis, its embattled chief executive.

“Replacing him is a crucial first step in saving The Washington Post,” the note said,7jogos cassino according to a person who saw it.

Mr. Bezos has not responded to the message, according to the person, and there has been no public sign of daylight between him and Mr. Lewis. But the message is the most pronounced sign of a break between Mr. Lewis and the generation who built The Post into a formidable force in American journalism.

When reached for comment, Mr. Downie, who led The Post’s newsroom from 1991 to 2008, and Mr. Kaiser, who retired in 2014, acknowledged that they had sent the message to Mr. Bezos but would not provide any additional details, saying it was a private appeal.

A spokeswoman for The Washington Post declined to comment. A spokesman for Mr. Bezos did not respond to a request for comment.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

166bet

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, declined to say exactly how many troops were deploying121bet, citing operational security.