Political Godmother

An underacknowledged newspaper publisher and conservative activist receives her biographical due.Kirkus Reviews Newspaper publisher and GOP kingmaker Nackey Scripps Loeb headed the Union Leader Corporation, one of the most unusualand influentiallocal newspaper companies in the United States. Her unapologetic conservatism and powerful perch in the home of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary elicited fear and respect while her leadership of New Hampshires Union Leader gave her an outsized role in American politics. In Political Godmother Meg Heckman looks at Loebs rough-and-tumble political life against the backdrop of the right-wing media landscape of the late twentieth century. Heckman reveals Loeb as a force of nature, more than willing to wield her tremendous clout and able to convince the likes of Pat Buchanan to challenge a sitting president. Although Loeb initially had no interest in the newspaper business, she eventually penned more than a thousand front-page editorials, drew political cartoons, and became a regular on C-SPAN. A fascinating look at power politics in action, Political Godmother reveals how one woman ignited conservatisms transformation of the contemporary Republican Party.