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Feasting on the Spoils: The Life and Times of Randy Duke Cunningham, History's Most Corrupt Congressman |
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Feasting on the Spoils: The Life and Times of Randy Duke Cunningham, History's Most Corrupt Congressman
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by Seth Hettena
Sales Rank: 299607
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Discount: 68 %
List Price: $24.95
$22.99
At Amazon
on 6-21-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 288 pages
Published by: St. Martin's Press July 10, 2007
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0312368291
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0312368296
Book Dimensions:
9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
Weighs: 1.1 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Without fanfare, Hettena, an Associated Press reporter based near Republican congressman Randy Duke Cunningham's district in Southern California, lays out the facts of his political downfall in 2006— which some observers believe tarnished the GOP and enabled the Democrats to regain their congressional majority. Though the shockwaves emanating from Cunningham's downfall have continued to make headlines—among eight federal prosecutors forced to resign from the Justice Department last year was Carol Lam, who ran the investigation of the two defense contractors who gave Cunningham $2.4 million over a five-year period, more than half of it in just three months—Hettena doesn't reach for the broader political ramifications. He debunks the most lurid stories of contractors providing prostitutes for congressmen at the Watergate, but the corruption and sexual harassment he does pin down are more than sufficiently sordid. He also probes Cunningham's background as a self-aggrandizing Vietnam fighter pilot and combative politician who once got into a fistfight with a Democratic colleague outside House chambers. This straightforward account is a strong summation of Cunningham's ignoble career. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
Randy “Duke” Cunningham was an ace fighter pilot and Top Gun instructor. He came back from battle as Vietnam’s most famous pilot—a Navy hero in an unpopular war. In his political life, Cunningham was an eight-term United States representative who never lost an election. So how did this powerful politician, one of the Vietnam War’s most highly decorated pilots, become the most corrupt congressman in U.S. history?
In 2005, Cunningham shocked the nation by pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, fraud, and tax evasion. A federal judge sentenced him to more than eight years in prison, the longest sentence handed down to a member of Congress in forty years. And even as Cunningham was led, weeping, to prison, investigators continued to uncover a deep-rooted scandal, reaching the cozy nexus between Congress and lobbyists, military contractors, the Defense Department and the upper ranks of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Cunningham’s bribes were seemingly endless. They included a yacht, a Rolls-Royce, and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of antiques. Defense contractors flew him aboard private chartered jets to luxury destinations, picked up the tab at expensive restaurants, and paid for his daughter’s graduation party. In total, he collected at least $2.4 million in five years, a series of acts unequaled in the long, sordid history of congressional corruption. An ongoing investigation is even exploring allegations that prostitutes were hired by Cunningham's associates to entertain the congressman. His corruption and that of his cohorts was a decisive factor in the 2006 elections, as Democrats retook control of the House for the first time in more than a decade.
What led a man who showed such strength and resolve in battle to show such moral weakness later in life? Had he become a prisoner of greed or was he manipulated by others far more cunning than he? What happened to Randy Cunningham? In Feasting on the Spoils, Hettena offers a probing look at deception and avarice. He paints an unforgettable portrait of a life publicly unraveled, and of a man for whom the mysteries—and the history of fraud—only seem to deepen.
Reader Reviews
After the Bush years are over and those Congressmen and lobbyists who have benefited from their party's patronage go to jail, (1994 was the real year of inception with the GOP takeover of Congress) it will be interesting to see who is left standing. Certainly not among them is Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the pride of the air war in Vietnam. Pin a medal to his chest and watch his life unfold. Duke Cunningham should never have gotten even remotely high up in power as he did. Author Seth Hettena paints a "not so glorious" view of the man who came to represent the beginning of the downfall of ethics problems in Congress over the past years. Cunningham was neither cunning so much as he was a ham. His mouth got him into constant trouble and the author points out how easily a man with war hero credentials, given to emotion rather than reason and easily bought, is otherwise reduced to pulp on a national scene. At least retiring Senator Larry Craig makes Cunningham look good. Hettena's narrative is better at the ends. The initial sting operation to get Cunningham bookended by the eventual outcome is told in gripping manner. The author knows how to write. Yet, the middle of the book sags under the weight of facts and figures. The case against Cunningham is made, but to say that he is the "most corrupt Congressman" in Washington? Ever? Certainly Tom DeLay will receive that mantle. Or others about whom we don't know. It's still early. Seth Hettena's book is good, but not great. It fills in some pieces along the corruption puzzle line and a title less blaring would have made for a more solid read. I hope this talented author writes another book about Congressional life in Washington before long. Go higher up, this time!
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Feasting on the Spoils: The Life and Times of Randy Duke Cunningham, History's Most Corrupt Congressman
Available from Amazon
Price: $22.99
Updated on 6-21-2008.
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