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

David McKean (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2005

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.

Editorial Reviews

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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The New Yorker

When Lyndon Johnson was starting out as a congressman, in 1937, F.D.R. handed him a slip of paper. "Here's a telephone number," he said. "When you get to Washington, ask for Tom." At the time, Thomas (the Cork) Corcoran was a New Deal official whose modest title didn't convey his influence, but he soon left government and, with dazzling speed and cynicism, set up shop as the prototypical K Street lobbyist. Many lobbyists can solve regulatory problems; it's the rare one who can get the C.I.A. to buy an airline, hire Evita to hawk aspirin, and help orchestrate a military coup on behalf of the United Fruit Company. McKean, a Senate staffer who works for John Kerry, attempts to portray his subject as a fallen idealist—a tough sell, given that Corcoran doesn't seem to have ever had ideals to lose.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Steerforth (March 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586420860
• ISBN-13: 978-1586420864
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,618,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for the "inside the Beltway" crowd, May 6, 2004

By 

Ronald H. Clark (WASHINGTON, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tommy the Cork: Washington's Ultimate Insider from Roosevelt to Reagan (Hardcover)

It is somewhat surprising that it has taken this long to get a full-length biography of Thomas Corcoran, who along with Benjamin V. Cohen was responsible for much of the New Deal legislative program. After his government service, Corcoran pioneered in developing a highly influential legislative representation practice, concocting a unique mixture of law, politics and corporate America that continued until the late 1970's. The book is a fair assessment of Corcoran, covering both his virtues and his flaws. As to the latter category, the chapter on "Lobbying the Court" recounts in a dispassionate fashion the episode where Corcoran was accused of having gone over the ethical line in dealing with Justice Black on a pending case. The chapters dealing with Corcoran's clerkship with Justice Holmes, the Court Packing episode, and the drafting of key pieces of New Deal legislation are particularly effective. But there is much more of interest here as well: Corcoran's involvement with a whole cast of Washington characters including FDR, Jim Farley, Truman, Justices Douglas and Frankfurter, Eisenhower, Anna Chennault, LBJ, Nixon and Abe Fortas to name just a few. The book does a fine job in filling the gap in our political history that resulted from the absence of Corcoran getting his biographical due. The book also nicely complements William Lasser's recent biography of Benjamin V. Cohen. Corcoran and Cohen together again!