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(Roy Cohn, 1981)
One thing is certain, when you read a biography written by Kai Bird, and assisted by Susan Goldmark you will experience a deeply researched, insightful, and well sourced product. Among Bird’s biographies AMERICAN PROMETHEUS: THE TRIUMPH OF ROBERT J. OPPENHEIMER, THE OUTLIER: THE UNFINISHED PRESIDENCY OF JIMMY CARTER, and THE COLOR OF TRUTH: McGEORGE BUNDY, WILLIAM BUNDY, BROTHERS IN ARMS stand out. All are superb works of history as is his latest effort tackling one of the most despicable and impactful figures of the post-war era in American history – Roy Cohn. Bird’s latest book is entitled AMERICAN SCOUNDREL: ROY COHN’S DARK JOURNEY FROM JOSEPH McCARTHY TO DONALD TRUMP, a monograph that presents a blueprint in understanding the actions and strategies employed by President Trump as Roy Cohn served as Trump’s role model for decades, in addition to educating him in the art of fear and loyalty.
Roy Cohn may have passed away in 1986, but he has forced himself into our contemporary world from the grave due to his influence on Trump. The current occupant of the White House (or what is left of it) always viewed Cohn as his mentor adopting his approach to opponents or what he perceived to be his enemies. How many times have we heard him utter; “Where’s my Roy Cohn” when things did not go his way? Over the last year it seems that Trump may have finally found his Roy Cohn in the presence of his Attorney-General and former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, who like Cohn does not seem to mind obfuscating, outright lying, dissembling, breaking the law, and disregarding the Constitution in carrying out the wishes of his client in the White House.
In a sense Cohn has forced himself into American history through the body and mind of Donald J. Trump. Fintan O’Toole’s commentary pertaining to Bird’s biography in a recent New York Review of Books article, “Devils in America” is emblematic of what we experience on a daily basis. O’Toole writes; “There is something eerie about the thoroughness of Trump’s mimicry of Cohn’s way of dealing with the world: lie relentlessly, refuse to pay small bills, respond to all criticism with smears and threats, claim all defeats as triumphs, sue everybody all the time, weaponize the law and, when you can, the entire justice system, learn from the Mafia, use the phone to avoid leaving a paper trail, always present your highly privileged self as a victim of the elites, divide the world into allies to be used and enemies to be abused, into the winners who must be flattered and the losers who are there to be exploited in every imaginable way.”
(Donald Trump and Roy Cohn)
Cohn was a menacing post-World War II lawyer who served as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin who tortured the American people with his bogus campaign against communists in the government for over four years. Later he would become the lawyer for a young real estate developer who sought to make a name for himself in Manhattan named Donald Trump who spent a great deal of time deflecting allegations of discrimination against prospective Black tenants. Bird’s book describes the evolution of how Cohn’s guile, paranoia, and shamelessness guided the McCarthy hearings which rubbed off on Trump and later impacted American society in such a detrimental way. The book further encompasses Cohn’s tactics as a lawyer, his client base which included the five mob families in New York, numerous celebrity types apart from Donald Trump, his personal life which had strong elements of debauchery, and his political and personal contacts which he would manipulate to achieve his goals.
If there was one coda that Cohn lived by according to Kim Phillip-Fein writing in the October 2026 edition of The Atlantic; “Cohn and Trump had the same attitude toward the law: It was not a system of rules, but a way of getting what you wanted.” Bird spends a great deal of time describing how Cohn got what he wanted by using threats, bribery, creating false realities, bullying, delaying outcomes are among his modus operandi. One might ask why would a person develop into such a nasty individual with such repulsive traits. In Cohn’s case it is clear that his father Al Cohn, a New York State judge whose political cronies were very powerful and his influence could allow him to take care of any important issue. Cohn would learn from his father by observing his- courtroom and being exposed to his contacts. Cohn’s mother Dora placed him on a pedestal and ingrained in him a certain hedonism that carried through his entire life.
(Where’s my Roy Cohn? director Matt Tyrnauer told Esquire that Cohn “created a president from beyond the grave”)
Bird’s portrait is a complete one encompassing Cohn’s childhood including his education in the classroom and outside. Cohn soon learned how to ingratiate himself with important people and become their friends. These contacts included mob figures, media moguls, and other influential types who controlled Tammany Hall and the Democratic Party in the 1960s, 70’s, and into the 80s. This allowed Cohn leeway to represent clients be they John Gotti, Donald Trump, Generoso Pope, Frank Costello once he graduated from Columbia Law School in 1947.
When one thinks of Cohn’s early career it usually begins with his work for John McGohey involving the Alger Hiss case dealing with Whitiker Chambers. Once McGohey was elevated to the federal bench Cohn became an assistant to Irving Saypol who was United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Cohn would make a name for himself playing fast and loose with prosecutorial standards. His most important case involved Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Interestingly, Judge Kaufmann who heard the case gained his seat on the federal bench because of Cohn’s father. During the trial Cohn and Kaufmann communicated with each other, which if not illegal was unethical. Cohn did everything he could to obtain a conviction once again violating judicial ethics and due process guarantees. After obtaining convictions and the execution of the Rosenbergs Cohn was offered a position in the Justice Department as Special Assistant for Internal Security. He used that position to go after Owen Lattimore, a Chinese scholar and a special envoy to China under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Once Chiang Kai-Shek was defeated in 1949 the who lost China debate was in full force and Cohn would take advantage of it. All that mattered to him was winning and letting the world know about it. This approach to the law led him to become the Chief Counsel to Joseph McCarthy, in effect he became McCarthy’s Rasputin. According to Bird, the higher Cohn rose, the brasher he became.
Bird’s coverage of the McCarthy era is detailed, insightful, and lays out the strategies the Wisconsin Senator employed which were mostly based on Cohn’s advice. The use of hearing transcripts, newspaper reports, and primary sources allows the reader to experience the “Red Scare” perpetrated by McCarthy and Cohn and how low they would go in order to achieve their agenda. According to Bird, for McCarthy it was in part a personal vendetta against his own insecurities and a desire to destroy the State Department and later the Eisenhower administration. Bird suggests that McCarthy wanted to run for president in 1956 therefore he had to discredit Eisenhower.
(Roy Cohn (left) consulting with U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the McCarthy hearings).
One of the most important aspects of the period developed by Bird is his analysis of President Eisenhower’s behavior toward the McCarthy hearings. As Cohn went after the Voice of America and the U.S. Information Agency libraries in Europe trying to prove that they had been infiltrated by Communists, and the Eisenhower administration did nothing. McCarthy and company went after former Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State General George C. Marshall, a close friend, McCarthy went after John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War during World War II, banker, and diplomat, and Eisenhower did nothing. It is clear that the President was not equipped to understand the deep paranoia and insecurities awakened by Joe McCarthy and its impact on American society.
As Bird relates details of McCarthy’s inquisition, he explains how quickly the country became divided between those who saw McCarthy as a “crude, brutal demagogue and those who saw him as a god-like savior.” Bird points out correctly comparing the bedrock MAGA supporters of Donald Trump consisting of those who distrusted urban elites, college professors, immigrants, diplomats, and Blacks whose instinct were isolationist and nativist to those who supported McCarthy. Bird will rehash the relationship of David Shine and Roy Cohn, its relationship to McCarthy’s personal quest against the US Army and Eisenhower, and how it finally brought down McCarthy.
The McCarthy hearings served as a wonderful education for Cohn. He admired McCarthy’s guts and the fact he was afraid of nothing. Further, Cohn learned about the use of power and to have a thick skin, to figure out an opponent’s weaknesses and engender fear but also how to achieve revenge.
Bird follows Cohn’s post-McCarthy career in detail including attempts by the government to indict him. Cohn would apply the legal tactics that epitomizes his approach to the law and the federal government that allowed him to prevent any successful prosecution of him and of course his clients. Cohn was the epitome of self-dealing, a main strategy to develop his wealth and avoid taxation. He used his law firm, companies he controlled, and shell companies to pay for his expenses and lifestyle. All tactics that Donald Trump would emulate.
(Cohn with the owners of Studio 54)
The Trump-Cohn relationship is explored and nothing new is uncovered. Bird discusses how the federal government went after Trump Management in the 1970s for refusing to rent to blacks, the purchase of the Commodore Hotel and its refurbishment, the transition of Bonwit Teller into Trump Tower, Trump’s divorces, and other legal issues which Cohn acted as the go between with the Mob, New York City Government, construction unions as well as taking care of Trump’s legal needs. According to Martin Pengelly in his September 1, 2026, review in The Guardian; “ Everything brutal about Trump, in business and politics, he probably learned from Cohen. How to profit from ties to organized crime? Check. How to stay a step ahead of the law? Check. How to lie remorselessly and never admit wrong or defeat? Check.” According to Bird, Cohn never billed Trump for his services. He was enamored with Trump as he was enamored with David Schine during the 1950s. It is clear if Cohn liked you he could be wonderful, if he didn’t he would try and destroy you.
Bird includes fascinating chapters that delve into FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s relationship with Cohn and the director’s own sexual proclivities. The chapter on Studio 54 provides an eye opening characterization of Cohn’s private life and those celebrities who participated in the raucous drug and sexual experiences that took place in New York in the 1980s. The chapter entitled “Predator” provides examples of his sexual appetite. Other chapters delve into Cohn’s private life, being diagnosed with AIDS, and the impact that Cohn still has on our politics and society.
In the realm of politics Cohn became the role model for Roger Stone who became the master of dirty tricks. Cohn employed tactics like arranging for John Anderson to appear on the 1980 New York State presidential ballot which allowed Ronald Reagan to carry the state. In the election of 1984, he employed his mob connections to dig up dirt on John Zaccaro, the husband of Walter Mondale’s Vice Presidential running mate Geraldine Ferraro. Cohn’s impact on American political history was very consequential.
Roy Cohn’s life was out of control at times, though Bird presents a warm person who would do positive things for his friends and certain relatives. However, his pseudo-sociopathic tendencies would repeatedly win out fostering a hedonistic lifestyle which centered around winning at any cost be it committing perjury, bribing anyone who could change his reality of truth, threatening people, making up facts to fit his own narrative, act as a hypocrite when it came to sexuality, and acting as a bastard when he needed to, which was a good part of the time. He was a deeply disturbed individual who left a negative legacy and impact on history apart from helping to educate a clone in Donald J. Trump. Tutoring Trump may have been the most impactful thing he provided in his legacy. Cohn’s disdain for the American Judiciary and narcissistic politics can be seen every day in Trump’s behavior. In all areas Bird captures the essence of his subject and his monograph explains a great deal about the character Cohn was and Trump is today.
