In 1931, a young Rhode Island lawyer with middle-class, Irish Catholic roots came to Washington to clerk for Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. He had earned among the highest grades ever attained at Harvard Law School and possessed a force of personality to match his intellect. Corcoran would become the most important and valued strategist in FDR’s inner circle, and, after leaving government, would virtually establish modern lobbying and influence peddling as we know it. Corcoran was the first “super-lobbyist,” and yet despite his lasting influence, his fascinating story has never been told, until now. Drawing on sources ranging from FBI wiretaps to interviews with family members, author David McKean traces Corcoran’s career from his early days with Holmes and FDR to his behind-the-scenes orchestration of President Eisenhower’s intervention in Guatemala. Corcoran’s life is peppered with political luminaries, including Henry Luce, Joseph P. Kennedy, Evita Peron, and Lyndon Johnson. McKean’s account also tells the story of Corcoran’s twenty-year romantic relationship with the exotic power broker Anna Chan Chennault, a champion of conservative Republican causes. Anyone interested in the history of Washington’s inner workings and tales of political intrigue will find this story irresistible.