American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump by Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark

Some lives read like cautionary tales. This one reads like a thriller, and every word of it is true.

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning co-author of American Prometheus, the biography behind the film Oppenheimer, comes a gripping portrait of Roy Cohn, one of the most feared and fascinating power brokers of the twentieth century.

Cohn was barely out of law school when he helped prosecute the Rosenbergs. Before long, he was Senator Joe McCarthy’s chief counsel, driving the Red Scare and the Lavender Scare while hiding his own sexuality. Then came the Manhattan years: mob clients, society columns, political favors, and a young real estate developer from Queens named Donald Trump, who absorbed Cohn’s playbook of attack, deny, and never apologize.

Disbarred and dying of AIDS in 1986, Cohn denied the truth to the very end. His tactics, though, outlived him.

Inside these pages, you’ll find:

• A sweeping history that runs from the McCarthy hearings to the modern political stage
• Rich, human storytelling that makes decades of American politics feel immediate and alive
• A timely lens on how one man’s methods shaped the country we live in today

This is essential reading for anyone who loves political biography, American history, and true stories of power. It’s the kind of book that sparks long conversations, whether you’re debating it over chowder or walking the Marginal Way.

It’s hefty, riveting, and hard to put down. Stop in, browse our biography shelves, and linger a while. We’d love to hear what you think.

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