The Autobiography of Roy Cohn

by Sidney Zion

Candidly reveals Cohn's career as a lawyer--including his part in the conviction of the Rosenbergs, his links to crime figures and battles with prominent politicos, and the secret lifelong contradiction between his public policy and his private life

Genres: Biography, Politics, History, American History

Paperback

First published March 1, 1988

About the author

Sidney E. Zion was an American writer. His works include Markers, Begin from Beginning, Read All about It, Trust Your Mother but Cut the Cards, (collections of his columns), Loyalty and Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob and Markers (a novel). He co-authored The Autobiography of Roy Cohn. He also was a co-founder and co-editor of Scanlan's Monthly magazine.Zion graduated from University of Pennsylvania and Yale Law School, working as a trial lawyer until becoming Assistant US Attorney for New Jersey in 1961. He then turned to journalism and writing novels. He worked for various New York publications, including the New York Times, The New York Daily News, the New York Post and New York Magazine. In 1971, after having been fired by the New York Times, Mr. Zion revealed the identity of Daniel Ellsberg as the source of the Pentagon Papers, the classified study detailing Washington deceit in Vietnam, then being published by The Times and The Washington Post. Although he was angry and tried to get back at the Times it is not clear why he thought revealing the name of a whistle blower and endangering him would help his cause. Many journalists regarded the disclosure as a breach of professional ethics, and Mr. Zion said he was a pariah among colleagues for a time.

He was a recipient of the Ben Hecht Journalism Award. He married Elsa H. Zion, and their daughter, Libby Zion died age 18 in New York Hospital. Her death and the subsequent investigation and trial led to improvements in hospital resident working conditions. Zion died in 2009 after a brief battle with cancer.

Mr. Zion was a Zionist and Jew who believed very strongly in the state of Israel. He made several trips there as a journalist and was a friend of many in the conservative government. He was a devout Jew in his private life.

Mr. Zion served on the Board of Directors (as well as council) of The Players in New York City, fighting the anti-smoking laws forced upon private clubs during the Bloomberg Administration, believing those laws to be unconstitutional.

Reviews

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two thirds of the book is the “auto”biography, the last third is written by Sidney Zion, who purportedly edited the first part from a larger manuscript. One thing you can conclude with certainty from both authors is that Cohn led an outsized life and deserves a thoroughly researched biography.

Cohn’s account of Cohn has him practicing law at the age of 21 and within 2 years he is recommending judgeships. At 24 he is the “go to” guy for prosecutors who are judge shopping and he is key in the prosecution of the Rosenberg’s. While they were most likely guilty, by Cohn’s own account, they clearly did not get a fair trial. Due to this successful prosecution, he was hired by Joseph McCarthy, whom he profusely praises, as lead prosecutor for HUAC. He is unabashedly proud of the work he did for McCarthy.

Pages are devoted to the Kennedy-Morganthau prosecutions where Cohn loses the reader in the trees. Maybe he has convinced himself that Bobby Kennedy just didn’t like him (or was jealous of Cohn’s role in the HUAC) but the forest, most likely was Cohn’s mob connections. Cohn is proud of his mob clients, he just doesn't mention them in connection with this prosecution that went on for years. Cohn beat this rap, but it was costly.

Knowing what we know now (that he died of AIDS) there are lots of questions that he fast talks around. He says he testified for 7 days about pressuring the Army for preferable treatment for David Shine, with whom he toured State Department Libraries in Europe to discard “un-American” books and materials, a mission he is (again unabashedly) proud of. He notes Shine’s 4-F deferment (not noting that homosexuality was included in this draft status) as sees Shine's treatment (KP) as a backlash against the HUAC’s work. The Shine story is not the only one needing scrutiny, he hardly mentions J. Edgar Hoover, a known mentor or Cardinal Spelling a helpful “friend.”

In the last third of the book, Zion gives a bit more insight, but clearly shows his awe for this man-about-town. Cohn is clearly Zion’s best source as a reporter, While he shows how Cohn operates, he shows it with admiration. Zion notes that Cohn’s male relationships were closeted until his mother’s death, after which it was an open secret of which no one spoke.

Roy Cohn has recently received some press for having been Donald Trump’s lawyer and friend. Cohn writes of his easy access to both Nixon and Reagan, (he served as head of Alumni fund raising a Ronald Reagan’s alma mater). I wonder how Cohn with his HUAC background would view Trump’s Russian connections today.

This is not a great book, but it has a distinctive voice and attitude. It is a unique document of the time and Cohn’s (perceived) role in it. I know of only one other work on him, but it does not seem any more enlightening. Hopefully, someone, somewhere, is working on this before all the sources pass away.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

To understand how Donald Trump shapes ‘reality’ to meet his need, you need look no further than ‘The Autobiography of Roy Cohn’, the man who probably had the greatest influence on how he runs his businesses. The autobiography is a mixture of name dropping, victim playing, bigotry, and just enough self-deprecation to make the reader feel that what is being passed off is the truth. The term autobiography in of itself is a misnomer, as with the aid of Sidney Zion, Cohn takes selective episodes in his life and attempts to reinvent history, primarily his involvement in the Army-McCarthy hearings. The book took a little more time to read because Cohn assumes you know everyone in his life and throws in just enough legalese that you have to break from the text and do a little research on your own. Don’t get me wrong, it was an entertaining read and I had to stop hearing Cohn talking in a ‘Goodfellas’ voice in my head while reading, because that is his style of prose.

[Patricia Vaccarino · Rating 1 out of 5]

I find Ray Cohn to be so despicable, yet mundane. He is the personification of true evil. I don't know if I can finish this book.

[Matthew Steiger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the book hard to follow at times without knowing who all of the people from the 1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's that came in and out of his life. I feel that the author assumes these people are famous enough to know but reading the book in 2016 they have been lost to time. There are some very interesting stories to be pulled from the book but not enough to have made it an enjoyable read. Even with death lurking around the corner Roy is still a bitterly unhappy, self-loathing, evil man. I was hoping to come away with some insight as to why he was like that but that question is still left unanswered.

[Frank Palardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't think this was an actual autobiography, but it does take his perspective much of the time.