Thomas, Evan. The Man to See: Edward Bennett Williams -- Ultimate Insider;
Legendary Trial Lawyer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. 587 pages.
Edward Bennett Williams (1920-1988) was often described as "the
consummate Washington insider who played to win." After battling cancer for
eleven years, the obituaries began on page one and his funeral was attended
by 2000 mourners. Williams declined invitations from two presidents (Ford
and Reagan) to become CIA director, and Lyndon Johnson once asked him to
be the mayor of Washington. He was the owner of the Baltimore Orioles,
controlled the Washington Redskins for years, sat on the President's
Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, and was national president of the
Knights of Malta since 1984. Williams was best known for his skill as a
trial lawyer. His clients included Senator Joseph McCarthy, Jimmy Hoffa,
Adam Clayton Powell, mobster Frank Costello, Sugar Ray Robinson, LBJ aide
Bobby Baker, John Connally, the Democratic National Committee, and the
Washington Post. Frequently Williams picked up the phone solved his client's
problems before they went to trial, and sometimes an exasperated judge would
discover that his far-flung law firm represented interests on both sides of
a civil case.
Biographer Evan Thomas is the assistant managing editor and Washington
bureau chief at Newsweek magazine. Thomas had access to Williams's papers
and the cooperation of his widow.
ISBN 0-671-68934-7
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