Ben Bradlee, who died Tuesday at age 93, was best known for taking on Richard Nixon. But here at USA TODAY, the iconic editor of The Washington Post was one of the earliest and harshest critics of The Nation's Newspaper.

And his words stung.

Asked if USA TODAY, which debuted in 1982 with color, charts and bite-sized stories, should be considered a good newspaper, Bradlee said famously, "If it is, I'm in the wrong business.''

That was all the bait USA TODAY's feisty publisher Al Neuharth, needed. "Bradlee and I finally agree on something,'' Neuharth said. "He's in the wrong business.''

Ben Bradlee, legendary 'Washington Post' editor, dies

Two years later in 1984, a bristling exchange of letters went public, following a Post article claiming USA TODAY was a drain on resources at Gannett, USA TODAY's parent company.

Neuharth wrote to Bradlee that he wasn't demanding a clarification "since your clarification column already threatens to become the most rapidly growing section of your newspaper, and I do not wish to add to that burden.''

"Thank you for your condescending and fundamentally unpleasant letter,'' Bradlee responded in kind. "And I can't tell you how much I appreciated your cheap shot about our clarification column. That is class.''

Said Advertising Age about the exchange: "Neuharth & Bradlee make poison pen pals.''

Neuharth, who died in 2013, clearly relished the Neuharth-Bradlee "feud,'' often recalling it in speeches and at meetings.

Viewed as pure PR, he knew the verbal battle elevated his fledgling USA TODAY into being able to go one on one, at least in vitriol, with Bradlee and the venerable Post.

To others, it was journalistic vaudeville, reminiscent of the Jack Benny-Fred Allen radio feud both men had grown up with in the 1930s and '40s (or the Microsoft vs. Apple TV ads of today).

"We laugh about how we used to fight with each other,'' Neuharth recalled. "I don't think (Bradlee) thinks he was wrong. But at least he and others recognize that (USA TODAY) has worked, even though they were sure it wouldn't.''But years later, polar opposites Neuharth, a Midwest scrapper, and Bradlee, a patrician perfectionist, waved off any animosity.

Bradlee, in a 2007 interview with USA TODAY, was told his "wrong business'' critique hurt many of the USA TODAY journalists, who had been inspired by the Pulitzer-winning reporting of The Washington Post during the Watergate scandal.

"It was just some wise-ass remark,'' Bradlee said sheepishly. "I wish I'd learn to shut up.'' He added, "I'm perfectly friendly with (Neuharth), but I'm sorry it got me off on the wrong foot with the paper. I don't feel badly about the paper at all. Take Neuharth out of the equation and you don't have a story!"

Bradlee then said this: "Either the paper or me has changed. It's both I guess. I'm a newspaper freak. I read newspapers everywhere I go, and if I get the hell out of a big city, I am so glad for USA TODAY that I can't stand it. I think you do a great job.''

Even 25 years later, those generous words mattered at USA TODAY, a newsroom that wouldn't have existed without Neuharth and Bradlee, the feuding yin and yang of 1980s journalism.

David Colton is an executive editor at USA TODAY.