Draper - Do not ask what good we do : inside the U.S. House of Representatives

Robert Draper is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and National Geographic and a correspondent to GQ . He is the author of several books, most recently the New York Times bestseller Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush . He lives in Washington, D.C.

I undertook this project immediately after the 2010 midterm elections, when the Republican Party regained control over the House of Representatives. Observing that this GOP takeover had been made possible by the election of eighty-seven newcomersabout one-third of whom had never before held any kind of political officeI suspected that both the tenor and substance of the House were about to undergo dramatic change. My intuition was that as the Republicans point of the spear against the administration of President Barack Obama, the House was sure to be relevant and, at the risk of sounding crass, highly entertaining. So the day after the midterms, I notified both my agent and my publisher that I wanted to put aside the altogether different book project I had been working on for the past two years. Instead, I informed them, I aimed to produce a narrative of the 112th Congress as seen through the eyes and activities of its members, particularly its newest arrivals. After picking themselves up off the floor, my publishing team agreed that this was a good idea.

The conceit for the book was to immerse myself in the Houseto spend every day that it was in session on the Hill, doing interviews and observing the activities of this world-renowned yet (at least in book form) little-explored democratic institution. Though it would have been a fools pursuit to attempt to speak to all 435 congressional members, I did what I could to visit with a sizable cross section and was gratified by the openness of nearly all whom I approached. Between November 2010 and December 2011, I interviewed over fifty House members, some of them as many as fifteen times. I also benefited greatly from the insights of about two dozen former members, in addition to numerous current and former senior House staffers. In all, I conducted more than three hundred interviews for this book. A number of my sources requested that our interviews be on background in order for them to speak candidly. Where a quote or fact is not accompanied by an endnote, the reader should assume that the information in question came from one or more on-background interviewees. For that matter, many facts obtained by on-the-record sources were verified by others on background.

I knew at the outset that this would be a character-driven narrative; I just didnt know who the characters would end up being. Several months of interviewing went by before I concluded that among the protagonists, three would receive the lions share of space: Allen West, a Tea Party sensation with no political experience; Jeff Duncan, another Republican freshman, but one who lacked Wests celebrity and thus would encounter the familiar challenges of earning distinction among a body of 435; and the freshman classs institutional counterweight, Democrat John Dingell, the longest-serving House member in history. Im particularly indebted to them and to their excellent staffs for enduring my many impositions. At the same time, Im deeply thankful to all the other House members and staffers with whom I spoke for the book. Though any honest rendering of a Congress that achieved record lows in public standing could not be a particularly glowing one, I emerged from my experience with great admiration for the intellect and dedication of virtually every representative and staffer whom I encountered.

I could not have accomplished this book without my assistant Emily Umhoefer, whose job description came to include not only research and transcribing but also sitting in on House committee meetings and minding my dog Bill while I was away. Emilys dependability and hilarious take on House-related vagaries kept me sane throughout an otherwise frantic timeframe; Ill never be able to thank her enough. I also appreciate the archival research that Dan Kaufman contributed. Morgan Wimberley, Sarah Wheaton, and Ian McCue deserve thanks as well for the research they contributed to the book I put aside for this one.

Accomplishing this book required taking a year off from my magazine work. For their patience and support, Im very grateful to Jim Nelson and Mike Benoist at GQ; to Barbara Paulsen, Victoria Pope, and Chris Johns at National Geographic; and to Ilena Silverman and Hugo Lindgren at The New York Times Magazine, where the lengthy feature I published on House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy in June 2011 formed a kind of template for how I would write this book-length story.

Most of this book was written in blissful seclusion at the Glade, a lovely farmhouse in Wytheville, Virginia. For that memorable and very productive experience (which I highly recommend to writers and nonwriters alike), I want to thank the Glades owner, Jack Stuart, and its very able caretaker, Bill Mello.

Throughout my career, Ive benefited from the perspective and encouragement of literary friends, and that was certainly the case as I slogged my way through this project. Special thanks, then, to writer pals Sara Corbett, Mike Paterniti, Frances and Ed Mayes, Lisa Depaulo, Mark Leibovich, Peter Baker, Mark Salter, Kathleen Parker, Elise Hu, Jonathan Martin, Matt Bai, Manuel Roig-Franzia, Ceci Connolly, Maureen Dowd, Ashley Parker, Lee Smith, Hal Crowther, Allan Gurganus, Ann Hornaday, Jim Shahin, Mark Halperin, Jacob Weisberg, Greg Curtis, Jan Reid, Skip Hollandsworth, and Marty Beiser. In the non-ink-stained category of Washington, D.C., friends, Im grateful for the diversion supplied by Todd Harris, Doug Heye, John Scofield, Jessica Shahin, Susan McCue, Danielle Landau, Susan Raines, Jim Duffy, Louis and Dena Andre, Brad Garrett, Elisa Poteat, Gary Greco, and certain others who cannot be named here lest the merest association with me wreak havoc in their professional lives.

The best ally a writeror maybe anyonecould have is Sloan Harris at ICM, my agent and friend for the past fifteen years. Sloans judgment, literary and otherwise, has been crucial to me. Im lucky to have him and his assistant Kristyn Keene in my corner.

Im equally fortunate to be an author for Free Press. In allowing me to put my other book project to the side and wade into this one, editor in chief Dominick Anfuso and publisher/president Martha Levin demonstrated a level of faith that Ill always appreciate. Marthas support has extended far beyond what any author has a right to expect from someone so high up on the publishing food chain. Meanwhile, Dominicks excellent editing of the first draft improved the story in numerous ways. Thanks as well to Dominicks ferociously hard-working assistant, Sydney Tanigawa, and to all the rest at Free Press, including vice president and director of publicity Carisa Hays, publicist Jill Siegel, director of social media marketing Claire Kelley, production editor Edith Lewis, copyeditor Tom Pitoniak, and attorney Elisa Rivlin.

Its almost absurdly reductive to say that my parents and my brother John (to whom this book is dedicated) have always been there for me. But I feel absurdly lucky to say it anyway. Finally, I wont embarrass Lara Andre by listing here the countless ways in which she has made a difference in my life. Ill just say (with apologies to Fisher Ames) that in these days of faction, our togetherness means everything to me.

ROBERT DRAPER is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and National Geographic and a correspondent for GQ. He is the author of several books, most recently the New York Times bestseller Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush . He lives in Washington, D.C.