The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington

Robert D. Novak

History and politics are not areas in which I have done much reading. Like everyone else I am interested in contemporary issues and elections but my reading tastes have not lead me to read many history or political books. Happily for me, I happened to read an excellent review of The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington, by Robert D. Novak and I decided to purchase and read this 600 page memoir.

I had seen Novak on TV as I flipped channels, or caught a sound bite on a news show, but I knew next to nothing about him. The book review by Stephen Cox in Liberty magazine caught my interest because this autobiography sounded exceptionally frank and “un-self-serving”. Furthermore the book piqued my interest because it appeared to be heavy on “inside the beltway” knowledge and exposure or insight into the leading politicians, including presidents, of the last 50 years.

Not only was I not disappointed; the book exceeded my expectations. It was very forthright and full of revealing interviews and insights which I found totally seductive. Novak himself is a very interesting character. More importantly, as a reporter he came into close contact with all the big name politicians of the last 50 years and his stories shed light on many events of great historical importance.

While people more politically knowledgeable than I might view Novak as a conservative spokesperson, this is hardly the case. He voted for both Kennedy and Johnson, and was “a lead dog” in the trail that led to Nixon’s resignation.

I think his description of how he became known as “The Prince of Darkness” is characteristically open, honest, revealing, and is helpful in understanding the tone of this book: “I had a grim-visaged demeanor that led a friend, John J Lindsay of the Washington Post and later Newsweek to label me “The Prince of Darkness”—not because I was then a hard conservative but because of my unsmiling pessimism about the prospects for America and Western civilization.”

Rowly Evans, Novak’s co-author, and Novak penned a highly successful syndicated column that broke numerous important Washington stories. In a cover article about Evans and Novak and their column, the reporter Julius Duscha depicted them as having no ideological or political bias in their column. He described them as “giving everyone a hard time”. Hubert Humphrey was quoted as saying: “Evans and Novak would make conflict in heaven.”

Novak is an old fashioned hard nosed and hard-drinking journalist. His anecdotes and stories are fascinating, and paint a very accurate portrait of how the business of politics has been conducted over the last fifty years. He pulls no punches and exposes many of the lies and foibles of at least a half dozen presidents and a large number of senators, representatives and party functionaries. Novak is a feisty little man who even resorted to fisticuffs on a few occasions.

I believe that most readers would like this book as much as I did. I kept finding the insights into our presidents more and more interesting and revealing.

Review by Len Oppenheim

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