THERE’S AN OLD CLICHÉ ABOUT WRITING BEING A SOLITARY ENDEAVOR, but no book is a solo project—this one especially. It was only possible to chronicle an ongoing and fast-changing story with the assistance of many others. At the top of the list is Siddhartha Mahanta, the chief researcher for this book. He compiled files on events as they were transpiring and diligently managed an ever-rising flood of research material. He was essential to the completion of this project. Matt Corley produced stunningly detailed chronologies of several episodes covered by this book. One former National Security Council official, upon seeing one of these time lines, said, “I wish I had someone like that working for me when I was at the White House.” Asawin Suebsaeng provided valuable and meticulous fact-checking services and much-appreciated research support.
My agent Gail Ross is the godmother of this book. For years, she has always pushed me toward the next project and helped shape whatever that endeavor may be. This book springs from our ongoing collaboration—which has been enhanced by the participation of her colleague Howard Yoon.
Henry Ferris edited this book with passion and commitment. At our first meeting, he understood the project long before I finished the pitch, and as we rushed to finish, he sacrificed holiday time and toiled hard to guarantee that the book would be as good as it could be. Laurie McGee, applying her copyediting skills, fine-tuned the manuscript. I must also thank the team at William Morrow for all the support: Liate Stehlik, Lynn Grady, Seale Ballenger, and Andy Dodds.
I am fortunate to have a wonderful day (and night) job managing the Washington bureau of Mother Jones. I am indebted to editors Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery for allowing me to escape some of my daily duties to work on this book. I thank Madeleine Buckingham and Steven Katz, respectively the chief executive officer and publisher of Mother Jones, for all their support before, during, and after this project. I particularly want to express appreciation for my colleagues in the Washington bureau: Daniel Schulman, Nick Baumann, Stephanie Mencimer, Kate Sheppard, James Ridgeway, Tim Murphy, Andy Kroll, and Adam Serwer. They provide camaraderie and produce impressive journalism every day. It is an honor and a pleasure to work with these talented reporters and editors. (Schulman gets extra credit for reading the manuscript and recommending revisions.) Also, many thanks to all my other colleagues at the magazine and to Phil Straus, Adam Hochschild, and other members of the board of directors.
For the past few years, I’ve been privileged to be part of the MSNBC community—and that was a great benefit while I was writing this book. The green room is a valuable spot for reporting, and jousting on-air about many of the matters included in this work helped me develop and refine my own thinking about these events. I have many people at the network to thank: Phil Griffin, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Ed Schultz, Chris Jansing, Martin Bashir, Al Sharpton, Izzy Povich, Pamela Stevens, Amy Shuster, Shannah Goldner, Natasha Lebedeva, Gregg Cockrell, and all the other hosts, producers, and bookers. A very special tip of the hat goes to the gang at Hardball, which often has seemed like a home away from home: Chris Matthews, John Reiss, Ann Klenk, Tina Urbanski, Connie Patsalos, Querry Robinson, Colleen King, Erin Delmore, Michael LaRosa, Robert Zeliger, Derbin Cabell Jr., Chester Reis, Gary Lynn, Maria Sevilla, Rose Procopio, Carla Dakin, Aleese Majeed, George Tolman, Carl Trost, and everyone else. Also, special thanks to Howard Fineman and Michael Steele for being particularly good on-air partners.
I am grateful for the ongoing comradeship and encouragement (online and off) supplied by several journalist pals: Lynn Sweet, Sam Stein, Bill Press, George Condon, Susan Page, Jack Shafer, Roger Simon, James Pinkerton, Arianna Huffington, Robert Wright, and, most notably, Michael Isikoff, my onetime coauthor.
Through the ten months it took to write this book, I enjoyed the support of family members and friends, even though I was often not in the position to reciprocate fully. I thank them all: Ruth Corn Roth, Gordon Roth, Steven Corn, Amy Corn, Barry Corn, Reid Cramer, Sonya Cohen, Sally Kern, Stephen Kern, Marco DiPaul, Jenny Apostol, Sam Kittner, Bobbi Kittner, Andrew Steele, Katja Toporski, Louis Spitzer, Gillian Caldwell, James Grady, Bonnie Goldstein, Ricki Seidman, Eric Scheye, David Williams, Robert Shapiro, Elizabeth Nessen, Micah Sifry, Marc Cooper, Joe Pichirallo, Beth Broderick, Bertis Downs, Mike Mills, Ellen Barkin, Joseph Finder, Mary Ann Akers, Stephanie Slewka, Horton Beebe-Center, Henry Von Eichel, Julie Burton, Steve Earle, Allison Moorer, Jill Sobule, Jamie Kitman, Julian Borger, Tony Alfieri, John Marttila, Harry Shearer, Tom Watson, Francie Randolph, Carlotta Luke, Christopher Luke, Laura Flanders, Elizabeth Streb, and Steven Prince.
A special shout-out, as always, goes to Peter Kornbluh.
Several people were quite helpful but do not want to be named. You know who you are.
Finally, and most of all, I owe much—gratitude being but a small slice of it—to my loving family: Welmoed, Maaike, and Amarins. This book begins with you on the dedication page and concludes with this wholehearted thank-you, and that is appropriate. Everything starts and ends with the three of you. Welmoed was a complete partner in the endeavor, providing constant encouragement, as well as insightful critiques of the under-construction manuscript that greatly improved the book. Her contribution to this project—as with all else in our lives—was immense. I am profoundly grateful for the love and joy she has shared with me. While I was working on this book, Maaike and Amarins managed to become more mature, intelligent, delightful, and engaged in the world, somehow without their father’s complete attention. Their steady interest in this project was always uplifting. The best part of ending this chapter for our family is being able to write the next pages together.