At Penguin Press, my editor, Ann Godoff, immediately embraced the idea, saw its potential, shepherded my reporting, and stepped in with words of encouragement along the often twisted path to its finish. Her assistant, Casey Denis, kept me on schedule. Elisabeth Calamari, executive publicity and marketing associate, greeted my book with enthusiasm.
My long-time agent, Amanda Urban, has been involved in every step of the process from proposal to publication. Her sense of timing has been especially invaluable, and I’m grateful she pushed me to finish when I did.
Brian Gordon served as researcher and fact checker and worked with great speed, efficiency, and accuracy.
Steve Coll, dean of the Columbia Journalism School and a noted author himself, was incredibly supportive.
At The New York Times, I’m lucky to work with a great team of editors and journalists: business editor Ellen Pollock; finance editor David Enrich; my previous editor Bill Brink; deputy business editor Adrienne Carter; and from the masthead, executive editor Dean Baquet and deputy managing editor Matthew Purdy.
I can’t imagine having finished this without my friends and family: my brother, Michael, his wife, Anna, and their children (my nephew Aidan worked for me one summer and did research on the origins of the “Deep State”); my sister, Jane Holden, her husband, John; and my fellow author and editor friends Jane Berentson, Sylvia Nasar, and Arthur Lubow. Steve Swartz was an especially valuable sounding board at our frequent lunches.
I’ve saved the most important for last: Benjamin Weil, my husband, who, among his many talents, is also an outstanding editor and writer. He not only provided sustained love and sustenance but did yeoman’s work on the manuscript as first reader, editor, researcher, and organizer-in-chief. I will be hard-pressed to repay him.