James Srodes

James Srodes is an American journalist and author. In 2015, the Virginia Press Association awarded Srodes its first prize for critical writing for his series of book reviews for the The Washington Times.

His latest book is a multiple-biography titled On Dupont Circle: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the Progressives Who Shaped Our World that was published by Counterpoint Press in 2013. The book, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times history book award and also was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, portrays a group of reform-minded strivers in Washington, D.C. between World War I and World War II. This group included Herbert Hoover, William Bullitt, Felix Frankfurter, Walter Lippmann, Sumner Welles, John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, Eleanor Lansing Dulles, Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. According to the Washington Independent Review of Books, “James Srodes deftly portrays their colorful stories. He also makes the bold argument that the 'set,' as he calls them, profoundly influenced U.S. policies for much of the 20th century.” According to a review in Publishers Weekly, “Srodes is refreshingly unafraid to question his subjects' motives.”

Srodes is also the author of Franklin, The Essential Founding Father. The biography of Benjamin Franklin was chosen by the City of Philadelphia in 2006 for its One Book-One Philadelphia community reading program in celebration of Franklin’s 300th birthday. The city’s Free Library system of 60 branch libraries circulated a special edition of the biography as part of the One Book program’s literacy promotion efforts. As part of that effort, Srodes appeared at a series of book talks and seminars at local library branches, schools and area colleges during a four-month period.

Srodes also was the moderator of a symposium featuring five other Franklin historians at the Free Library that was broadcast on C-SPAN’s weekend book program to kick off the Franklin Tercentenary Commission three-year traveling history and memorabilia exhibit of Franklin’s life and times. With Peter Earnest, executive director of the International Spy Museum in Washington, Srodes also appeared in a multi-city speaking tour tied to the Tercentenary showings on Ben Franklin-Super Spy. Srodes’s 2000 biography of the CIA architect and longest serving director, Allen Dulles: Master of Spies, was named the best intelligence book of that year by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. His first book was the 1982 international best-seller, Dream Maker: The Rise and Fall of John Z. DeLorean, about the controversial automobile developer. That book was optioned as a potential film written by James Toback. Following publication, the indicted carmaker’s defense lawyers subpoenaed Srodes, because they wanted him to name the law enforcement agents with whom he talked about John DeLorean’s alleged trafficking in cocaine.

Other books co-authored by Srodes include Takeovers, 1986; and Campaign 1996: Who’s Who in the Race for the White House, 1996.

As a financial journalist, Srodes has covered the White House and Washington economics beats for the bureaus of United Press International, Business Week, Forbes, and Financial World magazines. He served as bureau chief for Forbes and Financial World. From 1973 through 1996 he wrote a weekly column for the Sunday Telegraph of London and for newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Srodes writes regularly for magazines on politics and finance, and he has a weekly commentary program on the BBC Radio 4 World Service.

Srodes is a founder and past president of Washington Independent Writers, the area advocacy group for freelance journalists.

• On Dupont Circle: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the Progressives Who Shaped Our World (2013, softcover 2013, Counterpoint Press) (ISBN 978-1582437163) and (ISBN 978-1619021655)
• Franklin, The Essential Founding Father (2002, softcover 2003, Regnery History) (ISBN 978-0895261632) and (ISBN 978-0895261045)
• Allen Dulles: Master of Spies (2000, 2001, Regnery Publishing) (ISBN 978-0895263148) and (ISBN 978-0895262233)
• Campaign 1996: Who’s Who in the Race for the White House (1996, Harper Collins) (ISBN 978-0061009938)
• Dream Maker: The Rise and Fall of John Z. DeLorean (1986, Putnam Publishing Group) (ISBN 978-0399128219)
• Takeovers (1986, H. Hamilton) (ISBN 978-0241120736)