Quotes

I know a lot about this particular transaction with Richard Nixon which isn't in this chapter.

Ford, who wasn't too clever, never said anything.

I met Mike Bloomberg over twenty years ago. I met him through a dear friend who was his senior writer for media.

So what I first decided to do was approach, through their publishers, all three presidents with a so-called most favorite nations deal. In other words, all were told that each president was being asked to do the same thing. By taking that position, nobody negotiated with me. That was the first decision.

We'd like to do a set of presidential biographies of every president but in order to make it work we need the signed memoirs of Nixon, Ford and Carter and we'll give you (meaning me) the assignment of clearing the rights.

I gave a chapter to various accounts, one of which was Richard Nixon.

Nixon responds and says: okay, changed my mind. I will participate on one condition: I want my book to be used last in the collection which he knew would require the minimum number of signatures.

The Richard Nixon account was a deal where Korda was the editor, Nixon was the author and I was Nixon's agent.

Carter, who kind of made a living from publishing, thought it over and said well I have one condition: I want my book to be used first so I have the maximum amount of signatures and make the maximum amount of money. Ford, who wasn't too clever, never said anything.

If you were to check what presidential memoirs are still read, it's basically Ulysses S. Grant, who wrote like a really good book, and the rest you can forget about.

So, you're The Obamas and you offer your pair of books and you get a check for seventy million dollars.

One morning, while all this is going on, Richard Nixon orders dolls from the Danbury Mint for his granddaughters.

I have a rule against arguing with billionaires.

Over the course of my career, I don't think I have ever pitched an author.

The photo on the jacket of the first book took Bloomberg one day and Bloomberg's position after the photoshoot was over was: I've just sat for my last photograph. That was a total of my time. So, that photograph is the sole campaign photograph for Mayor.