Product Description

In 1931, a young Rhode Island lawyer with middle-class, Irish Catholic roots came to Washington to clerk for Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. He had earned among the highest grades ever attained at Harvard Law School and possessed a force of personality to match his intellect. Corcoran would become the most important and valued strategist in FDR’s inner circle, and, after leaving government, would virtually establish modern lobbying and influence peddling as we know it. Corcoran was the first “super-lobbyist,” and yet despite his lasting influence, his fascinating story has never been told, until now. Drawing on sources ranging from FBI wiretaps to interviews with family members, author David McKean traces Corcoran’s career from his early days with Holmes and FDR to his behind-the-scenes orchestration of President Eisenhower’s intervention in Guatemala. Corcoran’s life is peppered with political luminaries, including Henry Luce, Joseph P. Kennedy, Evita Peron, and Lyndon Johnson. McKean’s account also tells the story of Corcoran’s twenty-year romantic relationship with the exotic power broker Anna Chan Chennault, a champion of conservative Republican causes. Anyone interested in the history of Washington’s inner workings and tales of political intrigue will find this story irresistible.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1965282 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-22
• Released on: 2005-03-22
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.90" h x .95" w x 5.90" l, 1.10 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 376 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Thomas G. Corcoran was one of the first modern lobbyists, a Washington power broker from his early years as an influential member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "brain trust" through his postwar career representing a host of corporate, political and even religious interests. The young Irish Catholic Corcoran came to Washington to clerk for the great jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, the first of a series of powerful mentors that included Felix Frankfurter, Sam Rayburn and Roosevelt himself. Nominally employed by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Corcoran gradually took on a complicated role in support of FDR's New Deal, helping to draft the legislation that created the Securities and Exchange Commission while building a network of government cronies and developing his skills as a political arm-twister. After leaving government in 1941, Corcoran spent almost 40 years as an increasingly conservative "fixer" for companies and causes ranging from the notorious United Fruit Company to the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. McKean is chief of staff for Sen. (and Democratic presidential hopeful) John Kerry and previously wrote a biography of another great power broker, Clark Clifford. Although McKean occasionally suggests idealistic motivations behind his subject's maneuvering, Corcoran comes across as an amoral operator, seeking power and influence for their own sake. This biography offers an intriguing glimpse of how the power game in Washington evolved in the middle decades of the 20th century as well as sketches of Holmes, FDR, Joseph P. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and many other notables; even New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd makes an appearance as a cousin of Corcoran's wife, Peggy. B&w photos.
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About the Author
David McKean grew up in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He was educated at Harvard College and holds graduate degrees from Duke Law School and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. More than a decade ago McKean began his career in government working for Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. He is a former chief of staff to former Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II and is currently the chief of staff to a member of the United States Senate. As a measure of how some things have changed in Washington since the days of Tommy Corcoran, the Senate Ethics Committee has advised McKean to withhold the name of the senator he currently works for so as not to create the appearance of using his position in the U.S. government for commercial purposes. McKean is coauthor of the biography Friends in High Places: The Rise and Fall of Clark Clifford.