David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0

A political columnist for Time magazine best known for writing Primary Colors, a roman à clef about Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign that he published anonymously, fueling a much-publicized guessing game over its authorship before he was revealed as the writer. He later wrote Politics Lost (2006), a critique of poll-driven political consulting, and has contributed to The New Republic, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone over a long journalism career.