winning novel by  Allen Drury (qv), who was a congressional correspondent for The  New York Times during the 1950s, while he was writing the book.  Nearly every character is based on a real person (Lafe Smith is  based on John F. Kennedy (qv); Orrin Knox is based on  Robert A. Taft (qv), Fred Van Ackerman is based on  Joseph McCarthy (II) (qv) and the president is modeled on  Franklin Delano Roosevelt (qv). Even the blackmailing on Brig  Anderson, and how its resolved, is based on a real incident. And  the Leffingwell nomination is based on the House Un