Arthur Hailey - Strong Medicine

Accordingly, it was announced that the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Merchandising, of which Donahue was chairman, would begin hearings in Washington, D.C., early in December. Witnesses, the senator stated during an October news conference, were already being subpoenaed. Others with firsthand knowledge of the subject were invited to communicate with the committee's staff. When Celia heard the initial report, she telephoned Childers Quentin, the Washington lawyer. "That really is bad news," he affirmed.”I'm afraid that your company, and probably you as its chief spokesman, Mrs. Jordan, are in for a rough time. If you'll consider some advice, I urge you to begin preparing for the hearings now, with help from legal counsel. I know how these things work, and I assure you the senator's staff will dig up and place on view every unsavory fact and rumor they can find.”

If the word demagogue, or demagogues, had not been coined by the Ancient Greeks around the time of Cleon, it would have been invented, out of necessity, to define United States Senator Dennis Donahue. No more striking example of the breed existed. He was born to wealth and privilege but posed, and regularly described himself, as "a son of the common people, truly one of them, and 'of the earth, earthy.' " No description could have been more inaccurate but, like anything repeated often enough, it became accepted and believed by many. Another way the senator liked to be portrayed was as "a spokesman for the poor and suffering; a foe of their oppressors.”

Whether, inside his soul, he really cared about the poor and suffering, only Donahue himself knew. Either way, he made good use of them. I Anywhere in the nation, where there happened to be a newsworthy David vs. Goliath struggle, Donahue hastened to the scene, stridently siding with the Davids, even on occasions when-to thoughtful people-Goliath was clearly in the right.”There are always more Davids, and they're useful at election time," an aide once explained in a moment of unguarded frankness. Perhaps for the same reason, in any labor dispute Donahue unfailingly supported organized labor, never favoring business even if labor excesses were involved. The labor and unemployment scenes were fertile fields for an ambitious politician, he had discovered early. Which was why, at times of higher than normal unemployment, the senator sometimes joined lines of job-seekers outside employment offices, talking with them. Ostensibly this was to "see for himself, and find out how the unemployed felt"-an admirable aim to which no reasonable person could object. Interestingly, though, the media always learned of the senator's intentions, so that TV crews and press photographers awaited him. Thus his familiar face, wearing its most soulful expression as he discoursed with the unemployed, was on network news that night and in next day's newspapers. As to other "common man" matters, the senator had discovered a recent, fruitful one in his objections to first-class, tax-deductible air travel by businessmen. If people wanted that kind of special privilege, he argued, they should pay for it themselves, and not be subsidized by other taxpayers. He introduced a Senate bill to make first-class air travel non-deductible for tax purposes, though knowing full well the bill would die somewhere in the legislative process. Meanwhile, the amount of news coverage was remarkable. Keeping the idea afloat, Senator Donahue made a point of traveling tourist class himself, by air, informing the press before each journey. However, no first-class passenger ever had as much- attention lavished on him as Donahue, back in his tourist seat. One thing he failed to mention publicly was that the bulk of his air travel was in the luxury of private aircraft--either chartered through a family trust fund or made available by friends. In appearance, Donahue was stocky, and had a cherubic face which made him look younger than the forty-nine he was. He was overweight without being fat, and referred to himself as "comfortably upholstered.”

Most of the time, especially when on public view, he exuded friendliness, expressed through an easy grin. His dress and hairstyle had a studied untidiness, conforming with the "common man" image. While objective observers saw Donahue for the opportunist he was, he was genuinely liked by many people, not only members of his own party, but political opponents. One reason was that he had a sense of humor and could take a joke at his own expense. Another was that he was good company, always interesting to be with. The last made him attractive to some women, a situation Donahue had a reputation for taking advantage of, even though he had a secure marriage and was seen frequently in the company of his wife and teenage children. This was the Senator Donahue who, shortly after 10 A.M. on the first Tuesday of December, gaveled to order the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Merchandising, and announced that proceedings would begin with a short statement of his own. The committee was meeting in Room SR-253 of the Old Senate Office Building, an impressive setting. The chairman and fellow senators sat behind an elevated U-shaped desk, facing witnesses and the public. Three large windows overlooked the Senate park and fountain. There was a marble fireplace. Beige curtains had printed on them the Great Seal of the United States. "All of us here," Dennis Donahue began, reading from a prepared paper, "are aware of the ghastly, worldwide tragedy involving children whose brainpower and other normal functions have allegedly been destroyed by a drug which, until recently, was prescribed and sold in this country. The name of that drug is Montayne.”

The senator was a strong, commanding speaker, and the hundred or so people in the room were attentively silent. TV cameras were focused on him. Besides Donahue, eight other senators were present-five from Donahue's own majority party, and three from the minority. To the chairman's left was Stanley Urbach, the committee's chief counsel, a former district attorney from Boston. Behind the senators were fifteen members of the committee staff, some seated, others standing. "What these hearings will investigate," Donahue continued, "is the responsibility for this series of events, and whether...”

Celia, who was scheduled to be the first witness, listened as the opening statement continued along predictable lines. She was seated at a green -baize-covered table and beside her was her counsel, Childers Quentin. She had persuaded the courtly Quentin to accept this extra responsibility because, as she told him, "There's no other lawyer who knows more than you do, now, about Montayne, and I have confidence in your advice.”

That advice, relating to today, had been specific and forthright.”Describe the full facts as honestly, clearly and briefly as possible," Quentin insisted, "and do not attempt to be smart, or to score off Dennis Donahue.”

The last admonition had been in response to Celia's wish to bring out in evidence the fact that, more than two years earlier when Montayne's U.S. introduction was being delayed at FDA-some thought unreasonably-Donahue had been among those protesting the delay, describing it then as "clearly ridiculous in the circumstances.” "Absolutely not!" Quentin had ruled.”For one thing, Donahue will have remembered that remark; if not, his staff will remind him, so he'll be ready to deal with it. He'd probably say he was one more victim of drug company propaganda, or something of the kind. And, for another, you'd arouse his antagonism, which is extremely unwise.”

The lawyer then outlined for Celia some Washington facts of life. "A United States senator has enormous power and influence, in some ways even more than a President because the exercise of power is less visible. There isn't a government department a senator can't reach into and have something done, providing it isn't outrageous or illegal. Important people inside and outside government will fall over themselves to do a senator a favor, even if that favor is harmful to someone else. It's a system of trades and, within that system, a senator's power-which can be used benevolently or to destroy-is the biggest trading chip of all. Which is why it's a foolish person indeed who chooses to make an enemy of a U.S. senator.”