Poisoning the Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington’s Scandal Culture

A Washington Post Best Book of 2010

A Denver Post Best Book of 2010

A Kansas City Star Best Book of 2010

Poisoning the Press recounts the bitter quarter-century battle between the postwar era’s most contentious politician and its most reviled newsman. The struggle between Richard Nixon and Jack Anderson included bribery, blackmail, burglary, spying, and sexual smears–even a White House plot to assassinate Anderson. In this riveting, real-life political drama, Mark Feldstein traces the arc of this confrontation between a vindictive president and a flamboyantly crusading muckraker. Their vendetta at once symbolized and accelerated the growing conflict between the government and the press, a clash that would long outlive both men. Brilliant, captivating, and darkly comedic, Poisoning the Press is “an absolutely essential book for anyone interested in American political history” (NPR).