The idea for this book grew out of a series of speculative articles on Barack Obama’s political background, all published during the 2008 presidential campaign. I’m grateful to Robert Pollock for opening the pages of the Wall Street Journal to me at the height of the Ayers controversy. Over the years, the Weekly Standard has graciously allowed me to explore a variety of issues in depth. My thanks goes out to Bill Kristol, Richard Starr, and Claudia Anderson of the Standard for welcoming and encouraging my efforts during the 2008 campaign. Advice from National Review editor Rich Lowry during the controversies of 2008 is greatly appreciated. Thanks also to Rich and to Jason Steorts for publishing my pieces in National Review throughout the campaign.
National Review Online has been my home base for a decade. I’ll always be grateful to NRO’s Kathryn Jean Lopez for bringing me into the fold and giving me the run of the place. NRO’s matchless speed and flexibility makes it the ideal venue for planting and defending a flag of opinion in the Internet Age. I took full advantage in 2008.
My boss, Ed Whelan, of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., offered invaluable advice and support during the campaign. Joseph Morris was my tireless guide and defender during the Ayers adventure in Chicago. When things got hectic, Chris Robling was kind enough to help with media.
I am very grateful to the redoubtable Milt Rosenberg for sticking with me and pressing on so unflappably in the face of considerable pressure. Zack Christenson and Guy Benson did yeoman service that night.
I am especially grateful to three friends and readers who were essential to this project. Peter Wood’s detective instincts helped me as I followed the trail of clues. His considerable editorial insights, leavened by political savvy, have improved the text at every stage. Peter Berkowitz offered a mixture of hard-nosed criticism and support only a true friend could risk. His strategic suggestions and editorial comments have all been vindicated. I somehow tricked Mary Eberstadt, who has edited me professionally, into doing this job for free. Serious editing has every bit as much to do with human sympathy and worldly wisdom as with command of the language. That is what makes Mary’s help worth asking for.
My agent, Alexander Hoyt, has been the sparkplug and defender of this project from the start. I’m grateful as well to the team at Threshold Editions, Mary Matalin, Louise Burke, Anthony Ziccardi, and Mitchell Ivers, for their help and advice, and for putting their faith in this work.
Thanks also to Velma Montoya and Marc Johnson, for forwarding helpful documents.
The archivist and librarian’s profession is unsung, yet essential to our collective memory and self-understanding as a country. Despite one notable bump, I was the beneficiary of considerable help from librarians and archivists. My gratitude goes out to those who assisted me at the following collections:
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Manuscript Collections; Bender Library, American University; Boston Public Library, Periodical Room; Brookens Library, Archives and Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield; Chicago Historical Society Research Center; Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University Library; Chicago Public Library Municipal Reference Collection; Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscripts Library; Cudahy Library, Loyola University Chicago; Donors Forum Library, Chicago; Drew Library, Special Collections, Drew University; DePaul University Library, Lincoln Park; Emerson Library, Webster University; Harold Washington Archives and Collections at the Harold Washington Library Center; Illinois State Library; Lauinger Library, Georgetown University; Library of Congress; Luhr Library, Eden Theological Seminary; New York Public Library Microforms Reading Room; Richard J. Daley Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago; Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York; Shields Library, Special Collections, University of California, Davis; Sophia Smith Collection Women’s History Archives at Smith College; Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University; University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center; University of Wisconsin, Madison Library; Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature at the Woodson Regional Library, Chicago; Widener and Lamont Libraries, Periodical Room and Newspaper and Microfilm Reading Rooms, Harvard University; Wisconsin Historical Society.