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temporarily give him an FBI badge so he can walk unimpeded through the whole headquarters of the FBI. It's going to have to be somebody we completely trust so you'll have to come up with somebody we approve of. I don't want to butt in, but I have a suggestion.” I said, “Who's that?" He said, “Well, Don Whitehead, who's just won his second Pulitzer Prize for reporting.” I said, “That would be wonderful, but he's the head of the Associated Press in Washington. We can't get him.” Nichols said, “Try. What have you got to lose?”

I went back to my office and called Allen Gould who was the vice-president of the Associated Press, whom I had known at Columbia. I got him on the phone to see if I could spring Whitehead loose. I didn't think I had a prayer. Allen got on the phone. He said, “You son of a bitch.” I said, “What's all this?" He said, “I hear we've got to give you Don Whitehead.” It was all arranged. I said, “We just want to borrow him.” He said, “Yes. For six months we've got to give him to you. We're not very happy about it because things are popping around here and Whitehead is now a very big-shot, just won his second Pulitzer Prize. Now we've got to give him to you for six months!" I said, “You know, this wasn't my idea.” He said, “You don't have to tell me about it. I know everything.”

So Don Whitehead was given a six-month leave of absence by the Associated Press and he wrote for us The F.B.I. Story, which was number one for months on the best-seller list, an enormous best-seller. It still sells thousands of copies a