Roy Cohn Did It First
The debasement of American politics didn’t start with Donald Trump.
On the morning following Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, political strategist Roger Stone received a call from the newly-elected commander-in-chief. Stone recalled fondly, "Wouldn't Roy love to see this moment?" referring to the late Roy Cohn. Cohn, a controversial figure, had once been a close friend of Trump, having first met him in 1973 when the future president sought counsel on a federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against his real estate company.
Cohn's counter-suit, demanding $100 million, ultimately failed but garnered significant media attention, reflecting the shared disregard for legal norms between the two. Throughout his career, Cohn represented a who's who of New York's elite, including Cardinal Francis Spellman, George Steinbrenner, and notorious mob figures like "Fat Tony" Salerno and John Gotti.
Despite his controversial reputation, Cohn's ideological alignment with Trump was undeniable. In American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey From Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump, Kai Bird explores the connections between the two men, arguing that their disdain for established norms stemmed from a shared disdain for expertise, a love for celebrity, and a contempt for moral authority.
Bird's research suggests that Cohn's hatred for the mid-century elite was not rooted in a coherent political philosophy, but rather in a blend of dishonesty, narcissism, and vindictiveness. Both men, Bird contends, were products of the glitzy New York of the 1970s and 1980s, embodying the era's obsession with sex, celebrity, and the subversion of established norms.
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