The Money Men: The Real Story of Fund-Raising's Influence on Political Power in America

The real political campaigns in America begin with the money men.

If you assume that fund-raising is so distasteful that you don't want to hear any more about it, you are closing your mind to one of the most fundamental and fascinating stories in American politics, writes Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, author of The Money Men. For the past two decades, Birnbaum has followed the money in Washington, as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Time, and Fortune. In his Washington Post bestsellers, Showdown at Gucci Gulch and The Lobbyists, Birnbaum examined the forces that wield power in our capital and the subtle yet influential interplay between pressure groups and politicians. Now, Birnbaum takes us inside the world of the most elite, powerful, and little-known groups in politics: the fund-raisers and fund-givers who have an increasingly large say in the way our government works.

If you want to be taken seriously as a political candidate in America, you've got to start with money and the people who raise it. Until now, no one has taken as close a look at who these people are, what they want, and what they get in return for raising hundreds of millions of dollars. In The Money Men, Birnbaum takes us behind the scenes and into the mansions, banquet halls, and living rooms of the people raising the big bucks for presidential aspirants in Campaign 2000. He details the ritual mating dance of money that is rarely seen and is captivating to behold. Birnbaum also reveals which lobbying organizations are the most effective in advancing their agendas and how they do it.

For anyone interested in the state of democracy, the possibility for reform, and the strange art of political salesmanship, The Money Men is required reading.

Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, an award-winning author and journalist, is currently the Washington bureau chief of Fortune magazine. He is also the author of three acclaimed works: Showdown at Gucci Gulch, with Alan S. Murray; The Lobbyists; and Madhouse: The Private Turmoil of Working for the President. He has been a regular panelist on Washington Week in Review and is a contributor to the Fox News Channel. He lives outside Washington, D.C.