Today’s mailing, more personal than most of this old guy’s earlier ones, is being sent out a day early. Why the rush? My health is now so shaky that I did not want to risk being unable to send it out before some readers, unaware of its contents began to read the second part, in print in Axios yesterday, before reading the first part, published in 1990.

The first part is an extraordinary 1990 Washington Post profile of Dick Darman, an important figure in Washington for 30 years until his early death in 2008. I first met Dick in early 1971 when he and I began working together on national policy on aging for the few years surrounding the 1971 White House Conference on Aging. After that, I saw him only a few more times before his career ascended into the heights described in the profile. Nonetheless, even though my interactions with him were relatively brief, they remain among the most memorable experiences of my life.

I choose to share this piece for several reasons. First, although during my 33 years serving in the U.S. government I was privileged to work with a large number of impressive and interesting personalities, few, if any, were more complex than Dick. Second, while the profile captured him after he had ascended to enormous power, it describes a person with whom I had worked closely enough 19 years earlier at the beginning of his government career with such a fine pen that it allowed me to clearly recognize the characteristics the writer, Marjorie Williams, described, suggesting to me that she had captured him accurately. Third, this essay was one of the most acclaimed pieces of journalism about Washington during my years there, acclaim that I thought was well-justified. Fourth, Williams explains at some length the importance of Darman’s relationship with Eliot Richardson, a personal hero of mine, including Darman’s heartless willingness to discard him. Fifth, although we had worked together at very close range, I take this opportunity to confess that I never had the slightest inkling of the interesting secret, which Williams reveals in the course of the profile, a secret, which makes it read more like fiction to me than biography.

Final point: No sooner had I finished writing the above on October 19 with the intent of publishing it on October 23, then I read a flash report in Axios that an excerpt from Bob Woodward’s forthcoming memoir to be published in next week’s New Yorker makes clear that Woodward’s best inside source during the 80s and 90s was none other than his very close friend, Dick Darman. Imagine my surprise!

Under the circumstances I decided to delay the mailing of the essay about Yiddish I had intended to send out on Wednesday until next week, to move up the mailing of the Marjorie Williams 1990 essay to today, to include with it a second piece, next week’s New Yorker excerpt about the Darman-Woodward relationship, and to call this heavy (but very interesting) mailing a double-mailing. Hence, do not expect to hear anything more from the old guy until Monday, October 26, the day before the Israeli election, when, health permitting, you will receive the long-delayed mailing on Yiddish, followed by a mailing on October 28 and several mailings thereafter conveying a number of essays, articles, pieces, and who knows what else about Israel, Israel, and Israel.

1990 profile

2026 memoir excerpt