Advocate

On History's Front Lines from Watergate to the Keating Five, Clinton Impeachment, and Benghazi

James Hamilton, David Ignatius

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9780700641819, 9780700633517
• eBook ISBN: 9780700633524
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Biographies
• Index: Law

For more than half a century, James Hamilton has been an active participant and an inside observer of some of the most consequential moments in modern US history. He has been involved in investigations concerning Watergate, the Kennedy assassination, “Debategate,” the Keating Five, the Clinton impeachment, Vince Foster’s suicide, the Valerie Plame affair, Benghazi, and the Major League Baseball steroids scandal. He argued against Brett Kavanaugh in front of the Supreme Court and won. He has tales to tell of power brokers, players, and politicians who helped steer the course of the country.

Written in clear, incisive prose with self-deprecating humor, Advocate discusses the travails of prominent politicians and other well-known individuals, focusing particularly on high-profile congressional and other investigations. Credited with developing the modern system for vetting Democratic vice-presidential candidates, Hamilton recounts his extensive vetting of vice-presidential, cabinet, and Supreme Court candidates—including Joe Biden, John Edwards, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This book concludes with practical, sage advice for young lawyers entering the profession.

Much more than a memoir from a seasoned lawyer, Advocate is a richly detailed history of some of the most sensational and controversial events in Washington politics over the past fifty years. By sharing information and insights known only to him, Hamilton fills in the gaps of historical events while advising the public on lessons that can be learned from the past. Anyone interested in the uniquely American intermingling of law and politics will find this an engaging read.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Foreword by David Ignatius
• Acknowledgments
• 1 The Path to Washington
• 2 The Senate Watergate Committee: The White House Tapes Uncovered
• 3 Senator Herman Talmadge: The Beneficent Overcoat
• 4 Senator Dave Durenberger: The Fallout of Bad Advice
• 5 The Keating Five: Senator DeConcini Fights Back
• 6 Lawyers for Mississippi
• 7 “Otto the Terrible”
• 8 Marina Oswald: “Nobody I Can Turn To”
• 9 Danger in Distant Palau
• 10 Debategate
• 11 Impeachment Alaska Style
• 12 The Foster Notes
• 13 The Foster Photographs
• 14 The Clinton Impeachment
• 15 DNC Chair Don Fowler: A Friend in Need
• 16 A Disgruntled Prince Philip
• 17 James Lee Witt: “Chicken Feathers”
• 18 Bob Novak and the Valerie Plame Saga
• 19 A Stain on Baseball
• 20 The Disgraceful Interrogation of Admiral Mike Mullen
• 21 The Perils of Mock Trials
• 22 “Dean of Vetting”
• 23 A Concluding Word for Young Lawyers
• Notes
• Index
• Back Cover