Ronald Kessler
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Ronald Borek Kessler (born Ronald Borek; December 31, 1943) is an American journalist and author of 21 non-fiction books about the White House,
U.S. Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
,
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
, and
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
.


Personal life

Kessler was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to Dr. Ernest Borek and Minuetta Shumiatcher Borek, and grew up in
Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It is a western suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, United States; and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population stood at 27,295 ...
. After his parents got divorced and his mother remarried he adopted his step-father's last name. His father was born in Hungary and his mother was born in Russia. He attended
Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...
in
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
from 1962 to 1964 before embarking on a career in journalism. Kessler is married and has two children.


Journalism


Early career

Kessler began his career in 1964 as a reporter with the ''
Worcester Telegram The ''Telegram & Gazette'' (and ''Sunday Telegram'') is the only daily newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the c ...
'', followed by three years as an investigative reporter and editorial writer with the ''
Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
''. A series he wrote while there was instrumental in the installation of a better plaque commemorating the location of Boston's Pre-Revolutionary-War Liberty Tree. During these years, his reporting won awards from the
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...
(public affairs reporting award, 1965),
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
(1967) and the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
(Sevellon Brown Memorial award, 1967). In 1968, he joined ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' as an investigative reporter in the New York bureau.


''The Washington Post''

From 1970 to 1985, Kessler was an investigative reporter for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. In 1972, he won a George Polk Memorial award for Community Service because of two series of articles he wrote—one on conflicts of interest and mismanagement at
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
area non-profit hospitals, and a second series exposing kickbacks among lawyers, title insurance companies, realtors, and lenders in connection with real estate settlements, inflating the cost of buying homes. That Kessler series resulted in congressional passage in 1974 of the
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) was a law passed by the United States Congress in 1974 and codified as Title 12, Chapter 27 of the United States Code, . The main objective was to protect homeowners by assisting them in becoming b ...
(RESPA), which outlaws kickbacks for referral of settlement services in connection with real estate closings. For the two series, Kessler was named a Washingtonian of the Year for 1972 by '' Washingtonian'' magazine. In 1979, Kessler won a second Polk Award, this one for National Reporting for a series of articles exposing corruption in the
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
; he won even though his editor,
Ben Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...
, had not submitted his stories for consideration. Kessler's ''Washington Post'' stories reporting that Lena Ferguson had been denied membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) because she is black led to her acceptance by the DAR, appointment to head the DAR Scholarship Committee, and widespread changes in the organization's policies to increase membership by blacks.


Author

Since leaving ''The Washington Post'', Kessler has authored 21 nonfiction books on intelligence and current affairs. Seven of his books reached the hardcover nonfiction ''New York Times'' Best Seller list: ''The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents'' (2014),''The Secrets of the FBI'' (2011), ''In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect'' (2009), described by ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' as "the inside scoop on those stern-faced guys who protect the president," ''Laura Bush'' (2006), a biography of the
first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
; ''A Matter of Character'' (2004), an admiring look at
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's presidency;'' The Season: Inside Palm Beach and America's Richest Society'' (1999), an investigative report on the lives of multi-billionaires in
Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...
; and ''Inside the White House'' (1995), a behind-the-scenes expose of presidencies from
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
to
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
.." Kessler's book, ''The FBI: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency'', led to the dismissal by President Clinton of
William S. Sessions William Steele Sessions (May 27, 1930June 12, 2020) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and Director of the Federal Bureau of Inv ...
as
FBI director The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a single ...
over his abuses. According to ''The Washington Post'', "A Justice Department official ... noted that the original charges against Sessions came not from FBI agents but from a journalist, Ronald Kessler ho uncovered the abuses while writing a book about the FBI, leading to Sessions' dismissal by President Clinton..." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said Kessler's FBI book "did indeed trigger bureau and Justice Department investigations into alleged travel and expense abuses
y FBI Director William Sessions, leading to his departure Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or seventh ...
... In his book ''The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI,'' Kessler presented the first credible evidence that Bob Woodward's and Carl Bernstein's
Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
source dubbed Deep Throat was FBI official
W. Mark Felt William Mark Felt Sr. (August 17, 1913 – December 18, 2008) was an American law enforcement officer who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1942 to 1973 and was known for his role in the Watergate scandal. Felt wa ...
. The book said that Woodward paid a secret visit to Felt in California and had his limousine park ten blocks away from Felt's home and walked to it so as not to attract attention. ''The New York Times'' said the book offers an "understanding of the institution's history, as well as an account of what it is like to be on the inside ... Kessler investigates the relationship between FBI directors and sitting presidents and also includes exclusive interviews with Robert Mueller, who led the FBI in the period immediately after 9/11."
Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
of ''
The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
'' said Kessler's ''The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack'' is a "very interesting look inside the FBI and CIA, which I think is unprecedented." ''
The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'' said of the book, "Ronald Kessler is a veteran Washington-based investigative journalist on national security. His unparalleled access to top players in America's counterterrorism campaign allowed him a rare glimpse into their tradecraft, making ''The Terrorist Watch'' a riveting account." Kessler's book, ''In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect'', was described by ''USA Today'' as a "fascinating exposé ... high-energy read ... amusing, saucy, often disturbing anecdotes about the VIPs the
Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
has protected and still protects ... ccounts comedirectly from current and retired agents (most identified by name, to Kessler's credit) ... Balancing the sordid tales are the kinder stories of presidential humanity ... essler is arespected journalist and former ''Washington Post'' reporter ... an insightful and entertaining story." Newsweek said of the book, "Kessler's such a skilled storyteller, you almost forget this is dead-serious nonfiction ... An afterword reveals new details about Kessler's discovery of a third uninvited intruder during last year's White House State Dinner ... The behind-the-scenes anecdotes are delightful, but Kessler has a bigger point to make, one concerning why the under-appreciated Secret Service deserves better leadership." FactCheck.org said, "His essler'sbook quotes both flattering and unflattering observations about presidents of both parties." On April 14, 2012, Kessler broke the story that the Secret Service had removed and sent home agents assigned to protect President Obama during his trip to Cartagena, Colombia, because they had been involved in hiring prostitutes there. Kessler's book ''The Secrets of the FBI'' presents revelations about the Russian spy swap, Marilyn Monroe's death, Vince Foster's suicide, the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, and J. Edgar Hoover's sexual orientation. For the first time, it tells how the FBI caught spy Robert Hanssen in its midst and how secret teams of FBI agents break into homes, offices, and embassies to plant bugging devices without getting caught and shot as burglars. Kessler's book ''The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents'' debuted at #4 on the hardcover nonfiction New York Times Best Seller list. In the book Kessler reports that Vice President Joe Biden enjoys skinny dipping, which offends female agents, and that being assigned to his detail is considered to be the second worst protective assignment in the Secret Service after Hillary Clinton's detail.'' ''The book also reveals that the Secret Service covered up the fact that President Ronald Reagan's White House staff overruled the Secret Service to let unscreened spectators get close to Reagan as he left the Washington Hilton, allowing
John W. Hinckley, Jr. John Warnock Hinckley Jr. (born May 29, 1955) is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 1981, two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using a .22 caliber revolver, Hinc ...
to shoot the president. The ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' called the book "a compelling look at the intrepid personnel who shield America's presidents and their families—and those whom they guard. Kessler writes flatteringly and critically about people in both parties." Kessler's 2018 book was ''The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game''. The ''Washington Posts review, by
Hugh Hewitt Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network and an attorney, academic, and author. A conservative, he writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is ...
, called the book "trustworthy, and, in an unusual twist these days, it's favorable to the president. ... Kessler also got Trump to sit down for an interview on New Year's Eve at Mar-a-Lago, a conversation that shows the president confident and comfortable in his role. ... Kessler conveys Trump's world in coherent, readable fashion, and provides the players' assessments of one another." Citing Kessler's two Secret Service books exposing the agency's laxness and corner cutting, ''SmartBlog on Leadership'' said, "One person onald Kesslerwas warning of the decline of the ecret Service and its lapses and failureswell before the Salahis crashed a state dinner in 2009; well before the 2012 prostitute scandal in Colombia; before a knife-wielding man gained entrance to the White House last year; and before the recent episode in which drunk agents drove their car up to the White House and interrupted an active bomb investigation." "Ron Kessler ... has enjoyed a reputation for solid reporting over the past four decades," Lloyd Grove wrote in his column in ''
The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
''.
Franklin Pierce University Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampshire. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional development, professional preparation. The scho ...
awarded Kessler the Marlin Fitzwater Medallion for excellence as a prolific author, journalist, and communicator.


Articles

Kessler writes ''The Washington Post'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', ''The Washington Times'', and ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' opinion pieces, including "Surveillance: An American Success Story" on ''Politico'', "Reform the Secret Service" in ''The Washington Post'', and "The Real Joe McCarthy," which attacked efforts by some conservative writers to vindicate the late Senator
Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
, and in ''The Wall Street Journal''. Kessler’s op-ed “Time to Rename the J. Edgar Hoover Building” detailed Hoover’s “massive abuses and violations of Americans' rights” as FBI director for nearly 50 years. In a ''Time'' magazine opinion piece, Kessler wrote "The Secret Service Thinks We Are Fools" after the White House intrusion based on his book ''The First Family Detail''. From 2006 to 2012, Kessler was chief Washington correspondent for ''
Newsmax Newsmax (Newsmax Media, Inc. or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American right-wing to far-right cable news and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy on September 16, 1998. Newsmax Media divisions include its cable ...
''. On January 4, 2010, Kessler wrote a ''Newsmax'' article revealing that the Secret Service allowed a third uninvited guest to attend President Obama's state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh besides party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi on November 24, 2009. The Secret Service confirmed the third intrusion "following a report by Ronald Kessler, a journalist who writes for Newsmax.com", ''The Washington Post'' said. "Kessler reported that the agency discovered the third crasher after examining surveillance video of arriving guests and found one tuxedoed man who did not match any name on the guest list." In an article for ''Newsmax'', on March 16, 2008, Kessler incorrectly reported that Senator
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
attended a service at Chicago's
Trinity United Church of Christ Trinity United Church of Christ is a predominantly African-American church with more than 8,500 members. It is located in the Washington Heights community on the South Side of Chicago. It is the largest church affiliated with the United Church ...
on July 22, 2007, during which Rev.
Jeremiah Wright Jeremiah Alvesta Wright Jr. (born September 22, 1941) is a pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, a congregation he led for 36 years, during which its membership grew to over 8,000 parishioners. Following retirement, his be ...
gave a sermon that blamed world suffering on "white arrogance". The Obama campaign denied that Obama had attended the church on the day that sermon was delivered and other reporters discovered that Obama was in fact in transit to
Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
on that day. Shortly after the controversy broke, Kessler confirmed to
Talking Points Memo ''Talking Points Memo'' (''TPM'') is a liberal political news and opinion website created and run by Josh Marshall that debuted on November 12, 2000. The name is a reference to the memo (short list) consisting of the issues (points) discussed by ...
that he attempted to remove information documenting it from his
English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of , has the most arti ...
biography. In "A Roadmap to Trump's Washington," Kessler described the carrot-and-stick approach Trump used to get his Mar-a-Lago estate approved as a club by Palm Beach Town Council members and predicted he would operate in the same manner as president to win over support for his agenda. In "The Anatomy of a Trump Decision," Kessler depicted how Trump makes decisions by focusing on his decision to turn his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach into a private club.


Criticism

Kessler's writings have been criticized in publications such as ''The Washington Post'' and ''The Week'' for overt partisanship and a lack of journalistic rigor. In a note to ''The Week'', Kessler disputed charges of inaccuracy, including uncertainty over whether then-Vice President Joe Biden had spent a million dollars of taxpayer funds to take personal trips on Air Force Two back and forth between Washington and his home in Wilmington. The publication agreed to update Ambinder's article, saying that "... author Ronald Kessler provided ''The Week'' with documentation from the Air Force about Vice President Biden's travel" and linked to the Air Force's letter responding to Kessler's Freedom of Information Act request with the official record of Biden's flights back and forth between Washington and Wilmington with their cost as listed in Kessler's book ''The First Family Detail''. Noting Kessler's extraordinary access to the then Secret Service Director, Mark Sullivan, during the writing of ''In The President's Secret Service'',
James Bamford James Bamford (born September 15, 1946) is an American author, journalist and documentary producer noted for his writing about United States intelligence agency, intelligence agencies, especially the National Security Agency (NSA). ''The New Y ...
wrote in a review in ''The Washington Post'' that: However, in reviewing Kessler's book ''In the President's Secret Service'', FactCheck.org said, "His essler'sbook quotes both flattering and unflattering observations about presidents of both parties." A September 30, 2014 ''Politico'' piece by Kessler on Secret Service blunders, including allowing a knife-wielding intruder to race into the White House and failing to detect gun shots at the White House until four days later, was criticized by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo for allegedly implying that because he had not taken steps to correct the problems within the agency by replacing the director, President Obama would be at fault if the Secret Service's security breakdowns led to his own assassination. A subsequent editor's note called that a misinterpretation. The reference in question said, "Agents tell me that it's a miracle an assassination has not already occurred. Sadly, given Obama's colossal lack of management judgment, that calamity may be the only catalyst that will reform the Secret Service." According to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on CIA torture and the report itself as reported in ''The New York Times'', Kessler's book, ''The CIA at War'', "included inaccurate claims about the effectiveness of CIA interrogations" provided by the CIA to Kessler and ''New York Times'' reporter Douglas Jehl, such as the claim that the arrests of terrorist suspects were based on information from interrogations of other terrorists under torture. The report said this rationale was used to justify the use of torture. In a comment to ''The New York Times'', Kessler said he corroborated what he was told with the FBI, and he called the Senate report discredited because it was written only by Democratic lawmakers and did not include interviews with many of the main players. Subsequently,
John Brennan John Brennan may refer to: Public officials * Jack Brennan (born 1937), U.S. Marine officer and aide of Richard Nixon * John Brennan (CIA officer) (born 1955), former CIA Director * John P. Brennan (1864–1943), Democratic politician in the U. ...
, President Obama's appointee as CIA director, said that while no one knows whether the information could have been obtained otherwise, " r review indicates that interrogations of detainees on whom EITs /nowiki>enhanced_interrogation_techniques.html" ;"title="enhanced_interrogation_techniques.html" ;"title="/nowiki>enhanced interrogation techniques">/nowiki>enhanced interrogation techniques">enhanced_interrogation_techniques.html" ;"title="/nowiki>enhanced interrogation techniques">/nowiki>enhanced interrogation techniques/nowiki> were used did produce intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists, and save lives."


Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


References


External links

* * *
''The Daily Show''
with Jon Stewart on ''In the President's Secret Service''
''The Daily Show''
with Jon Stewart on ''The Terrorist Watch'' *
Book TV's ''In Depth'' interview with Kessler, April 5, 2015

Book TV's ''After Words'' interview with Kessler on ''The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game'', April 5, 2018

''Booknotes'' interview with Kessler on ''The FBI: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency'', September 12, 1993
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Ronald 1943 births Clark University alumni American biographers American bloggers American investigative journalists American political writers Historians of the Central Intelligence Agency Living people People from Belmont, Massachusetts Journalists from New York City 21st-century American non-fiction writers Historians from New York (state) American male bloggers American male biographers