Tommy the Cork: Washington's Ultimate Insider from Roosevelt to Reagan Hardcover - 2004

South Royalton, VT: Steerforth Press, 2004. First edition. Stated. Presumed first printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. viii, 368 pages. Illustrations. A Note on Sources. References. Index. Signed by author. David McKean is a U.S. public servant who was the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg from 2016 to 2017. He was confirmed for the position in 2016 and sworn in on March 14, 2016. McKean is a graduate of Fay School, Phillips Exeter, Harvard College, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Duke University School of Law. He previously held the position of Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department. McKean has authored four books on American political history: Suspected of Independence, Friends in High Places with Douglas Frantz, a New York Times Notable Book; Tommy the Cork, a Washington Post Book World cover and Best Book; and The Great Decision with Cliff Sloan, a History Book of the Month Club selection.[5] In 2012, he received the Distinguished Honor Award from the Department of State. This unsparing biography traces Tommy Corcoran's career from the early days working with Oliver Wendell Holmes and FDR (who dubbed him "Tommy the Cork"), to his background orchestration of Eisenhower's intervention in Guatemala. "The life and adventures of Tommy the Cork, from serving as a clerk to Oliver Wendell Holmes to helping United Fruit find ways to overthrow the government of Guatamala, make for one of the most intriguing Washington books in years. Readers with a taste for the politically picaresque will seize upon it with delight." -- Harry McPherson in "Wilson Quarterly" 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 the highest grades ever attained at Harvard Law School and possessed a force of personality to match his intellect. A brilliant lawyer, wily political operator, and likable rogue, Corcoran would become the most important and valued strategist in FDR's inner circle. After leaving government, Corcoran would virtually establish modern lobbying and influence peddling as we know it. Corcoran was the first "super-lobbyist,"