by Jack Anderson with James Boyd
This book is actually out of print as of this date, but it’s worth looking into if you can find a copy. I ordered it as part of background research for a script of mine, a project that has had its ups and downs through the years. It just hasn’t died. In any case, the point is that I was doing research on investigative reporters and Jack Anderson was a model I meant to draw from.
Anderson’s memoir covers the high points of his years working for his mentor, columnist Drew Pearson. So, the stories related in the book are as much about Pearson as they are about Anderson. The one thing that comes clearest throughout is that Pearson regarded his job as being engaged in the whole process of shaping public life, not merely reporting upon the actions of Congress and government.
I could not help but be struck by the scope of things Pearson weighed as he picked his battles. He was concerned about fighting corruption where he could, when he saw that government decisions where being shaped by persuaders from the business world, people who had little genuine intrest in how their projects and agendas would affect the ordinary citizen. Time and again, it occured to me that the things Drew Pearson fought in the 1940s, ’50s and early ’60s, have resurfaced in the 21st century, to our detriment.
As social history, this book is worth reading. As a challenge to our current methods of governance and reporting, it is worth reviewing. Drew Pearson was motivated by what he considered moral issues in government. Perhaps it is time to revive that outlook, for we have gotten trapped by questions of whether things are legal or not, when we should be asking whether they are right or not.
