watergate

A woman who was the trusted adviser to the governor of New York in the 1920s. The ambassador to Turkey in 1889. The attorney general in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. Belle Moskowitz, Solomon Hirsch and Edward Levi were all Jews involved in U.S. political life in different periods. Previously confined to the footnotes of political science textbooks or familiar only to political junkies, these figures and others are part of a new book charting Jews\’ impact on American political life.

The book, \”Jews in American Politics,\” (Rowman & Littlefield, $39.95) is not simply a \”locate the landsman\” exercise but an attempt to address a number of issues — such as Jewish political behavior, Jewish advocacy and the relationship between politics and Jewish identity — along with important demographic information and more than 400 biographical profiles.