American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn\'s Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump For Sale

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2026
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1668031574
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 75
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.58 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #89 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in United States Biographies #1 in Political Leader Biographies #2 in Lawyer & Judge Biographies
• #1 in United States Biographies

“A narrative masterwork. Bird vividly creates the sinister web of charm anddeceit that Cohn was able to spin through his decades at the very center ofpower.” —Marie Brenner, award-winning writer-at-large for Vanity Fair andcoproducer of the documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn? From the PulitzerPrize–winning coauthor of American Prometheus, inspiration for the box-officesensation Oppenheimer, a penetrating biography of super-lawyer and politicalfixer Roy Cohn, whose shocking exploits over four decades have shaped themodern political era, most prominently the ascent of Donald Trump. From the1950s to the 1980s, the many dramas of American political life had one commondenominator: Roy Cohn. In his twenties, the infamous young prosecutor sentJulius and Ethel Rosenberg to the electric chair, and as the chief aide toSenator Joe McCarthy became the baby-faced symbol of ruthless communist-hunting. By his thirties, Cohn had begun working as the Mafia’s hired legalgun. In his forties, he was an informal adviser to Richard Nixon. In hisfifties, he partied with the glitterati at Studio 54 and visited the ReaganWhite House where he traded gossip with the first lady. Perhaps mostsignificant, Cohn mentored the young Donald Trump, who telephoned the olderman daily and studiously emulated not only his mannerisms but corephilosophies. Years after his death in 1986 from AIDS-related complications,Cohn emerged as a central figure in Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize–winning playAngels in America. Cohn’s feistiness, his surly defiance—and, yes, hischarm—were frequently flourished to conceal vast insecurities, particularlyregarding his closeted sexuality. A street fighter, self-promoting hustler,and a true Zelig of the dark side, Cohn was a nefarious actor in a startlingnumber of history-shaping events whose influence resonates to the present day.Read more