Jeff Shesol is the author of "Mercury Rising," most recently, as well as Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court, and Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud That Defined a Decade, both selected as New York TimesNotable Books of the Year. He is a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and is a founding partner of West Wing Writers. A Rhodes Scholar, he holds degrees in history from Oxford University and Brown University and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The New YorkerNews Desk.