Book Review

The political reporter Richard E. Cohen has written a balanced, insightful biography of Dan Rostenkowski, the Chicago Democrat who chaired the House Ways and Means Committee and later served an eight-month prison term for illegally purchasing government property and padding his payroll. Relying upon newspapers and interviews with the congressman's associates, Cohen uses his subject to illustrate the shift from an old politics involving party loyalty, patronage, and service to community to a new politics centered around independence, ethics rules, and televised showmanship. This framework, however contrived, allows the reader to understand Rostenkowski's rise, exploits, and fall.

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Rostenkowski was a product of the political machine of Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley. Young Dan won election to the state senate, then earned a congressional seat as a reward for serving Daley's organization. In the House, "Rosty" handled constituent concerns with dispatch, secured federal funds for Chicago's Deep Tunnel, and defended aid to cities against budget cuts by the Reagan administration. But the congressman's life, divided between Washington, where he wielded great influence, and Chicago, where his peccadillos made front-page news, prevented him from receiving credit for his achievements. Unschooled in public relations, Rostenkowski—burly, broad-shouldered, and jowly—never overcame his popular image as a bully.

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