The power and the glitter

In this book, Ronald Brownstein explores the intimate connections between Hollywood and Washington that have radically transformed American political culture. Opening with the little-known relationship between Hollywood mogul Louis B. Mayer, publisher William Randolph Hearst, and President Herbert Hoover, Brownstein goes on to explore the rise and fall of the Popular Front, the meteoric political careers of Orson Welles and Helen Gahagan Douglas, the untiring efforts of Lauren Bacall in the campaigns of Adlai Stevenson, the ambiguous friendship of Frank Sinatra and John F. Kennedy, the financial link between powerful Hollywood fundraisers and Lyndon B. Johnson, the fateful partnership of Warren Beatty and Gary Hart, the telltale success of Ronald Reagan. Here for the first time appears a history of secret mutual influence and admiration, in a world where stars who once curried favor with politicians--anxious to be seen in the company of serious men--are now pursued by them as a means to generate both money and votes. Drawing on unpublished letters, manuscripts, studio files, White House memos, and exclusive interviews with Warren Beatty Robert Redford, Charlton Heston, and more than three hundred other Washington and Hollywood figures, the author traces the links between the respective capitals of glamour and power. An incisive portrait of American political life before and during the television age, The Power and the Glitter offers a vivid inside look at how fame has become a weapon in the service of power, and power a toy for the amusement of fame.--From dust jacket.