weymouthKatharine Weymouth, granddaughter of longtime Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, is stepping down from the publisher spot as Amazon founder and chief Jezz Bezos puts his stamp on the media property.

Bezos bought the struggling paper a year ago for $250M.

Fred Ryan, a former Reagan Administration official, Politico CEO and Allbritton Communications president will take Weymouth's job on Oct. 1.

Ryan, who shares mutual friends with Bezos, told the paper the "primary job of the publisher is to support the newsroom and to lead a news organization forward with a shared sense of mission, innovation — to, in this case, encourage forward thinking."

The 59-year-old executive said the Post—backed by Bezos' fortune-- is "better positioned than any other media organization because it’s got a mandate to innovate, to experiment and to do it for the long term.”

Ryan was an "advance man" in Reagan's White House run in 1980.

He went to Washington to handle Reagan's scheduling and serve as liaison to the US and international business community.

Ryan returned to California with the President to chair the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library and Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission.

He returned to Washington in 1995 to join Allbritton and co-founded Politico in 2007, where he built the business strategy for its editors and former Post reporters John Harris and Jim Vandehei.

The Post called Ryan a "member of the Washington firmament," which stands in sharp contrast to widespread speculation that Bezos would hire a high-tech wizard to position the Post in the digital age.

Weymouth, 48, sent a note to staffers to say it is "time for new leadership."

She's said the Post as already benefitted from "an infusion of energy and ideas" under Bezos' ownership.

Weymouth believes "this is just the beginning of a wonderful new chapter" for the Post.