Den of Spies: Reagan, Carter, and the Secret History of the Treason That Stole the White House [9780063330603]

Overview

“A persuasive affirmation of a shocking conspiracy theory.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Unger has pursued the story of the October surprise for more than 30 years, often to his own cost. …peppered with amazing details… Den of Spies comes out in a world where dark machinations to win power no longer seem so unthinkable as in the days of Carter, Reagan and Bush."—The Guardian

The explosive inside story of the October Surprise conspiracy, a stunning act of treason that changed American history. New York Times bestselling author Craig Unger reveals his thirty-year investigation into the secret collusion between Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign and Iran, raising urgent questions about what happens when foreign meddling in our elections goes unpunished and what gets remembered when a covert operation results in treason and victory. 

It was a tinderbox of an accusation. In April 1991, the New York Times ran an op-ed alleging that Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign had conspired with the Iranian government to delay the release of 52 American hostages until after the 1980 election. The Iranian hostage crisis was President Jimmy Carter’s largest political vulnerability, and his lack of success freeing them ultimately sealed his fate at the ballot box. In return for keeping Americans in captivity until Reagan assumed the oath of office, the Republicans had secretly funneled arms to Iran. Treasonous and illegal, the operation—planned and executed by Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey—amounted to a shadow foreign policy run by private citizens that ensured Reagan’s victory.

Investigative journalist Craig Unger was one of the first reporters covering the October Surprise—initially for Esquire and then Newsweek—and while attempting to unravel the mystery, he was fired, sued, and ostracized by the Washington press corps, as a counter narrative took hold: The October Surprise was a hoax. Though Unger later recovered his name and became a bestselling author on Republican abuses of power, the October Surprise, a foundational event in modern American history, remained his white whale, the project he—as well as legendary investigative journalist, the late Robert Parry—worked on late at night and between assignments.

In Den of Spies, Unger reveals the definitive story of the October Surprise, going inside his three-decade reporting odyssey, along with Parry’s never-before-seen archives, and sharing startling truths about what really happened in 1980. The result is a real-life political thriller filled with double agents, CIA operatives, slippery politicians, KGB documents, wealthy Republicans, and dogged journalists. A timely and provocative history that presages our Trump-era political scandals, Den of Spies demonstrates the stakes of allowing foreign meddling and the politics of the moment to obscure the writing of our history.

This definitive account reveals the full anatomy of an act of political treason:

• The October Surprise Conspiracy: Go inside the secret deal between Reagan’s 1980 campaign and the Iranian government to delay the release of 52 American hostages for political gain.
• A Thirty-Year Investigation: Uncover startling new evidence from the author’s decades of reporting and the never-before-seen archives of legendary journalist Robert Parry.
• Espionage and Treason: Follow spymaster Bill Casey as he deploys a network of double agents and CIA operatives to execute a shadow foreign policy that changed the course of American history.
• Illegal Arms Deals: Follow a dark money trail of illegal arms shipments funneled to Iran in exchange for keeping American citizens in captivity.