ABOVE THE LAW: The Rise and Fall of Senator Thomas J. Dodd

by James Boyd ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 13, 1968

This is going to be the hottest political book on your shelves. As we go to press, columnists Drew Pearson and his partner Jack Anderson have been accused of libel for using the materials stolen by Boyd from Dodd's Senate files and columnist William F. Buckley, Jr. has denounced this book's author and his article on Dodd currently running in the Saturday Evening Post. It all adds up to Above the Law being promoted by new headlines on an old case. In it, Boyd tells of the twelve years he spent on Dodd's staff and his exodus as Dodd's chief assistant. He claims that when Dodd began to suspect that members of his staff were exploring his hairy financial arrangements. Dodd employed the classic defense of low-blow attack by charging Boyd with sexual excesses conducted on Dodd's Senate office sofa with a series of compliant clerk-typists and secretaries. The senior Senator from Connecticut was finally censured by his reluctant colleagues for sluicing purported campaign funds into his private account but Boyd's book carries the case against Dodd even further. Boyd discusses Dodd's role as an investigator of Hoffa, of the control of firearms, and of the drug industry and Dodd's impropriety in nevertheless accepting funds and favors from the lobbyists for these interests. Boyd points out other loopholes the law allows elected officials to sneak through and his book reads like a guide to how political gyp sheets are prepared. And, whether or not readers can stomach either Boyd or his Senator, they aren't likely to lay the book down.

Pub Date: Feb. 13, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: New American Library

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION