Tommy the Cork: Washington's Ultimate Insider from Roosevelt to Reagan

South Royalton, VT: Steerforth Press, 2004. viii, 368 pages, illustrations; 24 cm. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Light shelfwear to book & dust jacket. "In 1931, a young lawyer from Rhode Island 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 he would become one of the driving forces in modern lobbying and influence peddling as we know it. Corcoran was the first 'super-lobbyist,' the first person to fully appreciate how World War II changed Washington, the first person to fully understand the symbiotic relationship between the executive branch, the Congress, and corporate America. Corcoran knew how to size people up, apply leverage, and call in - to devastating effect - the favors he liberally spread around town. Yet despite his lasting influence, his fascinating story has never before been told. 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 Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Henry Luce, 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. / DAVID MCKEAN is chief of staff to a United States Senator and is coauthor of the biography Friends in High Places: The Rise and Fall of Clark Clifford." - Publisher.. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo.