Peddling Influence: Thomas "Tommy the Cork" Corcoran and the Birth of Modern Lobbying

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 FDRs 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 Corcorans career from his early days with Holmes and FDR to his behind-the-scenes orchestration of President Eisenhowers intervention in Guatemala. Corcorans life is peppered with political luminaries including Henry Luce Joseph P. Kennedy Evita Peron and Lyndon Johnson. McKeans account also tells the story of Corcorans twenty-year romantic relationship with the exotic power broker Anna Chan Chennault a champion of conservative Republican causes. Anyone interested in the history of Washingtons inner workings and tales of political intrigue will find this story irresistible.