King of the Lobby

A biography of the “influential and engaging character” who courted Congress with food, wine, and gifts in the post-Civil War era ( The Washington Post Book World ). King of the Lobby tells the story of how one man harnessed delicious food, fine wine, and good conversation to become the most influential lobbyist of the Gilded Age. Scion of an old and honorable family, best friend of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and charming man-about-town, Sam Ward held his own in an era crowded with larger-than-