SEYMOUR HERSH This page intentionally left blank Seymour Hersh Scoop Artist Robert Miraldi POTOMAC BOOKS An imprint of the University of Nebraska Press © 2013 by Robert Miraldi All rights reserved. Potomac Books is an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Miraldi, Robert. Seymour Hersh: scoop artist / Robert Miraldi. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61234-475-1 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Hersh, Seymour M. 2. Journalists— United States—Biography. 3. United States—Politics and government— 1945–1989. 4. United States—Politics and government—1989– 5. United States— Foreign relations—1945–1989. 6. United States—Foreign relations—1989– I. Title. PN4874.H473M57 2013 070.92—dc23 [B] 2013023619 Set in Lyon by Laura Wellington. Designed by Nathan Putens. To Mary Beth Pfeiffer, who understands investigative reporting — and me. This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations ix Prologue: Chasing Sy Hersh xi Acknowledgments xvii 1. The Story No One Wanted 1 2. The Scoop Heard ’Round the World 14 3. Hersh Becomes a Target 28 4. “Front Page” Lessons in Chicago 45 5. Selling, Publishing, Failing 55 6. From the “Front Page” to the Pentagon 61 7. At War with the Pentagon 67 8. Fighting His Editors 76 9. Finding America’s Hidden Arsenal 88 10. Speaking for Gene McCarthy 98 11. Stunning Triumph over Germs 116 12. Scoop Artist Meets the Viet Cong 125 13. TheTimes Calls 132 14. Digging into Watergate 144 15. Cambodia, Bombs, and Impeachment 157 16. Hunting the Coup Plotters 169 17. Skeletons Tumble from the CIA Closet 185 18. The Submarine Caper 197 19. Going after “The Godfather” 211 20. The Big Apple Turns Sour 224 21. Scoop Artist versus Dr. Kissinger 234 22. The Summer’s Literary Furor 247 23. Who Shot Down the Korean Airliner? 258 24. Reporting the Worst-Kept Secret in the World 271 25. Sex, Lies, and Fraud 284 26. Going after Sy Hersh 298 27. TheNew Yorker Years 306 28. An Alternative View of the Mideast 317 29. Back on Top 328 Epilogue: A Muckraker’s Unfinished Business 339 Selected Works of Seymour Hersh 345 Seymour Hersh Timeline 351 Notes 353 Index 403 Illustrations Following page 156 1. Seymour Hersh, 1954 yearbook photo 2. Bodies piled in a ditch in the village of My Lai 3. Lt. William Calley Jr. leaves his trial 4. Hersh holds up a newspaper with one of his stories about My Lai 5. Hersh with Eugene McCarthy, 1967 6. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward 7. Hersh with his family, 1975 8. Hersh portrait by Vanity Fair photographer Jonathan Becker, 1997 9. Roman Genn caricature of Hersh, 2004 10. Hersh speaking on foreign policy at the University of North Carolina, 2011 11. Yoko Ono gives Hersh the LennonOno Peace Prize, 2004 12. Hersh on the book-signing circuit to promote Chain of Command, 2004 13. Hersh in his tiny two-room office in Washington DC