Politics and Capitol Hill
My middle name is “Franklin.” My mother tells me it was in honor of FDR, and that at the time of my birth, it was her sincere hope that I would grow up to become the first Jewish President. Well, I've yet to make it to the White House [except as a Senate staffer], but have spent a considerable part of my life working in and around, and writing for and about, the politics and issues emanating from Washington, D.C. As a speechwriter and political biographer, I have an insider's perspective on that which one anonymous wag defined as “The art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”
The Witches of Salem: A notorious flashpoint in Colonial American history, where fear of change was blamed on a “devil-intoxicated” band of women
Jefferson and Adams: America's Most Famous Pen Pals: The nation's second and third Presidents. Two men who, despite mutual antipathy, ultimately formed a bond of breathtaking proportions.
The Irish-Catholics: In mid-19 th century America, fear of newly immigrating Irish Catholics led to the formation of a Nativist political movement called “The Know-Nothings.”
In the Beginning: An examination of the origins of American Jewish political history from 165 to approximately 1840.
The Scopes “Monkey” Trial: Scopes was put on trial for daring to teach the theory of evolution, thus launching a debate that yet continues .
Jackson and Van Buren: The Frontiersman and the Dandy: Diametric opposites, Andy Jackson (the “frontiersman”) was actually an aristocrat, while Martin Van Buren (the “dandy”) was really the son of a saloon-keeper.
The Leopold & Loeb Trial: Two incredibly bright young men charged with the murder of young Bobby Franks. This trial made Clarence Darrow a household name.
The Elders of Zion: History's most notorious forgery. An attempt to prove that the world was (and to some, still is), dominated by the Tribes of Israel.
A Look into the Roaring Twenties: The era of Babe Ruth and bathtub gin, the Charleston, Lucky Lindy and Rudolph Valentino.
Harrison, Polk and Taylor: Tippecanoe, Dark Horse and “Old Rough ‘n Ready” three Presidents who, despite compelling biographies, are now almost virtually unknown.
The Red Scare: Post World War I America's orgy of fear, in which made a hero out J. Edgar Hoover and a goat out of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.
The Alger Hiss Trial: Put on trial for perjury, the suave, Harvard-educated Alger Hiss squared off against Whittaker Chambers and a young Richard Nixon.
Johnson and Grant: Lincoln's Sorry Successors: One, a barely literate tailor, was impeached, the other, an alcoholic soldier, almost brought down by sensational scandal.
H.U.A.C., Hollywood and McCarthyism : Paranoia in the post-atomic age, where a petition you signed in 1935 could get you blacklisted in 1955.
The Army-McCarthy Hearings: For three months in 1954, the nation was held spellbound by the world's first televised trial, in which one of America's most powerful (and feared) politicians was effectively destroyed in prime time.
Harding, Coolidge and Hoover: Snoozing in the Roaring Twenties: Arguably America's three weakest Presidents, the three oversaw a rowdy, often tempestuous decade.
Quips and Bon Mots: Without question, the members of the fabled Algonquin Round Table were America's most captivating wits. What did they have to say?
The Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle Trial: Accused of the rape/murder of a young starlet, Arbuckle, one of the world's most beloved movie stars, suffered through not one, not two, but three trials before he was exonerated. Nonetheless, it destroyed both his career and his life.
Truman, Johnson and Reagan: The Captain, the Texan and the Actor. Three amazingly successful Presidents – depending on who you talked to . . .