This book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of my agent and longtime friend Esther Newberg of ICM. Esther was the very first person I called in the spring of 2018 when I decided I wanted to write this book; her enthusiasm, steadfast support, and advocacy for this project throughout kept me focused and motivated. She read and gave feedback to every chapter, and she even let me call outside her limited “office hours.” There is no one better to have on your side (as I know from once being on the other!). I’m also indebted to Esther for introducing me to Wayne Coffey, who helped research and give shape to this book in its formative days.
I feel fortunate to have been in the able hands of my editor and publisher, Sean Desmond. He believed in this project from the get-go and helped save me from too many “clausy” or “purple” constructions. His admonition to “show, don’t tell” became my mantra. Any shortcomings are mine alone. His team at Twelve were also a pleasure to work with. Special thanks to Jarrod Taylor for his designs and to Rachel Kambury and Bob Castillo for shepherding me through the tedious stages of copyediting.
It should come as no surprise that someone who chose to write about friendships would himself have many friends to acknowledge for providing useful and at times critical feedback to early and late chapter drafts. A few in particular I owe a special thanks for reading the entire manuscript and displaying enormous patience in answering my many follow-up questions: Lon Jacobs, Liz Bowyer, Alexandra Mousavizadeh, Saul Shapiro, Jodie Balsam, Ken Orkin, and Craig Balsam. Liz in particular took a special interest in a few of the chapters and gave generously of both her time and many skills to help make them better. So many other friends went well beyond what I could have expected by providing notes to chapters when I nervously sought feedback: Richard Siklos, Josh Steiner, Abby Pogrebin, Michael Lynton, David Remnick, Michael Waldman, Richard Plepler, Dan Klores, Howard Wolfson, Blair Effron, Marisa Kayyem, Richard Cohen, Jasper Aaron, Carol Goodheart, Don Baer, Ron Dermer, Jeffrey Toobin, Michael Oren, Charlotte Alter, Olaf Olafsson, Tom Nides, Jake Siewert, Andrew Plepler, Charlotte Alter, Jamie Gangel, Holly Peterson, Michael Kramer, Richard Beattie, Daniel Bonner, Leah Scholnick, Matt Steinfeld, Max Neuberger, Ziad Ojakli, Lila Watts, David Goodman, Kate Bolduan, and Sarah Lubman. All took time from their busy professional and personal lives; I’m grateful for their wisdom, knowledge, and—if sometimes unwanted but always appreciated—candor. I’m blessed in addition to have two sisters, Beth Ginsberg and Marsha Ginsberg, who took an active interest in the book and offered great insights.
I’m also grateful to the cadre of experts I either knew before or came to know during research for this book who made invaluable contributions. Professor and friend Steve Gillon, the eminent American historian, read numerous chapters; his detailed edits and suggestions for new angles to pursue always made them better. He also introduced me to Yale PhD Andrina Tran, who became a researcher, thought partner, and editor for much of the last six months. I couldn’t have finished this book on time without her help. She’s a real talent with a bright future.
Jeffersonian scholar Peter Onuf offered great insight into the friendship between the third and fourth presidents and helpful suggestions on the finished chapter; likewise Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg, authors of Madison and Jefferson, the definitive chronicle of their long friendship. Authors Peter Wallner, who wrote an acclaimed two-volume biography of Pierce, and Richard J. Williamson, who wrote a book about the impact of the Pierce-Hawthorne friendship on politics and the literary imagination, also took the time to offer important context to that friendship. And to my learned father-in-law, Howard Aaron, who first alerted me to their friendship when I broached the idea of my book.
Dr. Charles Strozier, historian, psychoanalyst, and author of Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln, shared his unparalleled knowledge of the Lincoln-Speed relationship willingly. No account of that critical friendship in American history will ever match what he accomplished with his seminal work. Professor Thomas Balcerski, a scholar of early American history, was also helpful in better understanding how the Lincoln-Speed relationship fit with the social norms of its time. Lawyer James Robenalt awakened me to the virtues of Warren Harding but ultimately steered me to Colonel House. He was generous in sharing his vast trove of House diary entries that were invaluable for the insights they offered. Fortuitously, my history professor at Brown University, Charles Neu, also happened to write the most recent and complete biography of Colonel House. I’m deeply grateful for his time on the phone and his suggestions on how to sharpen my account of House’s friendship with Woodrow Wilson.
Without historian Geoffrey Ward, Daisy Suckley’s important role in the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt might well have been lost to history. Fortunately, he saw the value of her letters and diary and organized them into his seminal book. I’m indebted to him for reading the chapter and for his helpful suggestions. FDR historian and friend Jonathan Alter gave me critical edits as well as the idea to focus on the FDR-Suckley friendship. Rabbi Daniel Fellman’s authoritative dissertation on the Truman-Jacobson friendship was a useful aid to better understanding their relationship, as were his recommendations for further research. I’m also thankful to author Charles Sanford for his time reviewing the chapter on President Kennedy and David Ormsby-Gore, and to Professor David Greenberg of Rutgers for his detailed feedback on Nixon’s complicated friendship with Bebe Rebozo.
Several libraries and archivists were extremely helpful in gathering information for this book and providing deeper insight into the subject matter. Unfortunately, for much of the time I was researching and writing this book, libraries were closed due to the pandemic. While they were open, David Clark, an archivist at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, responded quickly and helpfully to a deluge of questions via email and phone, and he was even more vital uncovering a treasure of great information on Truman and Jacobson. Likewise, Matt Reeves, Education and Outreach Librarian for Special Collections at the Kansas City Public Library, was most generous in his assistance. Caroline Moseley, an archivist at the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections at Bowdoin College, was a vital resource on the lives of two of the college’s most famous sons, Pierce and Hawthorne.
For the chapter on the friendship between President Clinton and Vernon Jordan—the only one in which I could double as both a journalist and an amateur historian—I benefited greatly from the Clinton alumni network, which remains as vibrant as ever nearly three decades after its formation. I’m especially thankful to Tina Flourney, Vice President Kamala Harris’s chief of staff, who filled that role for President Clinton during the writing of this book. She was instrumental both in eliciting from the president his choice of a First Friend and then in securing my interview with him. The one-hour limit we had agreed to stretched to nearly two by the time we stopped talking; I’m relieved she let me exhaust not only her patience but also my long list of questions. Thanks also to my friend and former colleague Capricia Marshall for her help in securing my interview with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Vickee Jordan and Toni Bush, Vernon’s daughter and stepdaughter, were gracious to invite me to join them for lunch with Vernon and Ann Jordan on the day Joe Biden was declared president-elect in November 2020. I’m indebted to them both. Close Clinton friend and advisor Bruce Lindsey patiently answered my many questions and follow-ups, as were so many others close to the former president, including George Stephanopoulos, David Gergen, Joe Lockhart, Nancy Hernreich, Michael Waldman, Doug Sosnick, Don Baer, Patti Solis Doyle, Terry McAuliffe, David Leopoulos, and Kirk Hanlin.
I feel lucky to have great friends who have provided diversions and support throughout: Steve Price, Andrew Hurwitz, Craig Effron, Jeff Zucker, Cheryl Cohen Effron, Andrew Fox, Kerith Arnow, Jamie Lynton, Harry Wagner, Jeff Zients, Jeff Bewkes, Daniel Silva, Kevin Sheekey, John Rogovin, Steve Silverman, Amanda Green, Jef Caplan, my own Bills Mafia (the Kimmels, Duggans, Olshans, Mintzers, and Levys), Rich Caccappolo, and Devon Spurgeon. A special thanks to Teri Pitts for going out of her way to ensure I had a working computer at a critical moment in the process.
A friend and former colleague at Time Warner, Timothy Clifford, became passionate about this project even during his battle with ALS. For the final six months of his remarkable life, I would send him paragraphs and within minutes would get back his trenchant edits, made on his iPhone 6 using the only two digits that still worked—his thumbs. Those two thumbs, his indomitable spirit, and his love for history are reflected throughout. He died far too young on December 8, 2020, the day after I finished this manuscript. I miss him.
Finally, this book would not have been possible (or nearly as much fun to write) were it not for my family—my wife, Susanna Aaron, and our two sons, Sam and Alec. For large chunks of the last year while I completed the manuscript, we were housed under the same roof. There was nothing better than writing amid the fun, clamor, and sometimes chaos of us all being together, and I’ll miss it once life resumes its normal cadence. None of them were immune from my annoying queries, especially Susanna, whom I was constantly interrupting from her own studies to tap her impeccable judgment. She still managed to earn her master’s degree in urban planning this past winter. To all three, I am forever grateful for the joy of their companionship and for the love and support they provided throughout.