News That Stays News

Portraits of Power December 16, 2010

A heartfelt obituary of Richard Holbrooke, American operator, and an Esquire profile of Harry Reid:

He worked in the mines as a child, in the dark with his silent father, scratching at the earth well after all the gold was gone. And after that he was a determined if not particularly skilled boxer. No knockout puncher, his best punch was a left jab, and he knew how to work the body, and so he won more than he should have. Once he was sparring with a pro, well out of his weight class, and he remembers that the next day his forehead was sore from the beating he took.