This is a book of biographical essays on lawyers and other individuals whose careers intertwined with law, public policy and politics. This collection of essays may especially appeal to many readers who may be daunted by huge biographical tomes, and who thereby welcome shorter works that convey much of the essence and flavor of prominent personalities and their careers. People covered include: William Beveridge (founder of the welfare state); Tommy Corcoran & Ben Cohen (key aides to FDR); Dwight Eisenhower; Felix Frankfurter; Averell Harriman; Pat Moynihan; Belle Moskowitz (key aide to Al Smith); Kenny O’Donnell (key aide to JFK); Bayard Rustin (key aide to Martin Luther King); Adlai Stevenson; Joe Tumulty (key aide to Woodrow Wilson); the Wright Brothers; and others.

 

 

 

“The essays were a great pleasure to read, and not only because they make interesting and well-founded points about historical materials. More important, they reflect the sort of general culture which is these days, alas, all too seldom brought to bear on scholarship. We have become so narrowly professional that I sometimes despair of carrying on a communication across disciplinary lines. This is something which the O’Connells clearly understand how to do.” Stanley Katz, PrincetonUniversity, President-Emeritus, American Council of Learned Societies