Scotty: James B. Reston and the Rise and Fall of American Journalism

When President Kennedy finished a difficult meeting with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the first person he talked to was not one of his advisers, his vice president, or his wife. Walking out of the meeting, Kennedy spoke first with James B. Reston (1909-95). And so it was for president after president, from Truman through Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, and Carter.

Reston was the most powerful, most admired, and most influential newspaper columnist America had ever seen, the best jou...