The Senator from Central Casting: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Thomas J. Dodd

A layered biography of Connecticut Senator Thomas J. Dodd, who was propelled to national prominence in the 1950s by his mesmerizing oratory and relentless anti-communism, but ended his career in disgrace when the covert action of his most trusted aides exposed his sloppy corruption and steady alcoholism. In 1967 he became the first Senator to be censured for financial improprieties, by a vote of 92 to 5.

Many years later, his son, Senator Christopher Dodd, with the financial backing of multi-billionaire John W. Kluge, obscured the history by establishing the Nobel-like Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Relations and Human Rights and by securing the naming of a new showplace building at the University of Connecticut as "The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center." In death, Tom Dodd became a symbol of civic virtue and the fight against tyranny.

The Senator from Central Casting tells the story of the rise, fall, and resurrection of Thomas J. Dodd with verve and insight. Exhaustively researched, richly illustrated.