Good Reads: From an Iran negotiator, to press freedom, to Amazon鈥檚 rise
This week's roundup of Good Reads includes a profile of Iran negotiator Wendy Sherman, freedom of the press and the White House, today's lessons from the working relationship between President Reagan and Tip O'Neill, a profile of Amazon's founder, and how Life magazine came to have the photos of JFK's assassination.
Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani waves after swearing in at parliament.
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
When the United States begins talks with Iran over the future of its nuclear program in November, the lead US negotiator will be Wendy Sherman, a former social worker and Democratic political activist profiled by .
鈥淪herman faces the extraordinarily difficult task of determining whether the moderate tone of Iran鈥檚 new leader, Hasan Rouhani, means that Tehran is genuinely prepared to open its nuclear sites to international inspection and halt its enrichment of certain types of uranium or is simply trying to wring concessions from the West,鈥� notes Mr. Dreazen.
To her role as undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Ms. Sherman brings experience from the 1990s negotiation with North Korea about limiting development and sale of its long-range missiles. That came after a stint running Maryland鈥檚 child welfare office and heading up Emily鈥檚 List, an organization that funds women running for office as pro-choice Democrats.
A 鈥榗ontrol freak鈥� administration
The Obama administration came to office proclaiming its commitment to transparency and accountability. But many journalists are alarmed by the White House鈥檚 efforts to curb the routine disclosure of information in the name of protecting national security, saying it hinders efforts to expose potential government misdeeds.
Former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. studied the Obama administration鈥檚 relations with the press for the Committee to Protect Journalists and wrote about his findings in an op-ed piece in . Given the Obama administration鈥檚 use of the 1917 Espionage Act to identify and prosecute government officials who talk to reporters, 鈥渏ournalists who cover national security are facing vast and unprecedented challenges in their efforts to hold the government accountable to its citizens,鈥� Mr. Downie writes. 鈥淭his is the most closed, control-freak administration I have covered,鈥� David Sanger, a 20-year veteran of The New York Times, told Downie.
Lessons from Reagan and O鈥橬eill
The ugly process leading to a temporary deal in Congress to fund the government and raise the nation鈥檚 debt ceiling prompted Charlie Cook (no relation), a respected nonpartisan political analyst, to analyze in the what has changed in Washington since Republican Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Democrat Thomas P. 鈥淭ip鈥� O鈥橬eill was speaker of the House.
鈥淸T]here are some current members of the House and Senate, on both sides of the aisle, who would have been a credit to any Congress 鈥� but that list is small and over the last 30 years is getting steadily smaller,鈥� writes Mr. Cook. 鈥淚ncreasingly we are seeing more members 鈥� who seem to have little sense of customs, traditions, and responsibilities of the institutions that they have been given the honor or privilege to serve.鈥�
Among the notable aspects of the Reagan-O鈥橬eill relationship, Cook argues, were a respect for positions of authority, a preference to play by the rules, a respect for election results, and the ability to talk despite disagreements.
How Amazon became the everything store
In 18 years founder Jeff Bezos has built Amazon.com into a store that sells $75 billion worth of merchandise, rivals Apple with its Kindle e-readers, competes with IBM as a data service provider, sells both diapers and high-end art, and is expected to announce a set-top box for televisions. Along the way, Amazon turned Mr. Bezos into a billionaire.
Bloomberg reports that all of this was not accomplished solely by charm. Bezos, known for his uproarious laugh, nevertheless favors a notoriously confrontational management style and frequently flies into rages that staffers call 鈥渘utters.鈥� Through it all he has remained singularly focused on customer satisfaction. Bezos is known for e-mailing customer complaints to managers with the addition of one character 鈥� a question mark. 鈥淲hen Amazon employees get a Bezos question mark email, they react as though they鈥檝e discovered a ticking time bomb,鈥� Mr. Stone writes.
A witness at JFK鈥檚 assassination
With the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy鈥檚 assassination on Nov. 22, Americans will once again be exposed to the iconic pictures taken by Dallas garment factory co-owner Abraham Zapruder. He was an 8-mm movie enthusiast who happened to be filming when the president鈥檚 motorcade made its fateful trip.
Former Life magazine editor Richard Stolley recounts in the mad scramble by journalists to acquire the rights to publish the sometimes gory but historic images and why Life magazine won that battle. Life was still in its heyday and could afford to bid $50,000 for print rights and later offer $100,000 more for TV rights. But other news organizations also were prepared to make big offers. Zapruder鈥檚 business partner told Stolley he prevailed because of his considerate treatment of Zapruder and his office assistant on a day when other reporters were being extremely aggressive. According to Zapruder鈥檚 partner, Life got the film, 鈥渂ecause you were a gentleman.鈥�