The Lobbying Handbook by John Zorack

Mr. Zorack's 1990 book, The Lobbying Handbook: A Comprehensive Lobbying Guide, is a landmark "how-to" manual on advocacy. It is required reading for students in my Congress and my Interest Groups courses. Students especially appreciate the many "perspectives on lobbying" from Washington insiders, and this collection of brief essays alone makes the book a more valuable teaching tool than any of Political Science treatises on lobbying.

David C. King,
Associate Professor of Public Policy,
Harvard University, JFK School of Government

"... The Lobbying Handbook brings to the reader the basics of the lobbying business, the principles of lobbying strategy, and how lobbyists interact with the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch. I trust that all readers will find The Lobbying Handbook as valuable as I have."

- Senator Howard H. Baker,
Baker, Worthinglon, Crossley, Stansberry & Woolf

"A tremendous service for anyone interested in the way Washington works."

Mark Hatfield ,U.S. Senator

"John Zorack has earned the reputation as the best there is for judgment, common sense, and experience in Washington."

- Charles P. Ferris, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Fords, Glovsky, and Popeo

"An outstanding contribution to the practice of effective and responsible lobbying."

-Douglass Horstman, Government Affairs Counsel, Maytag Corporation

"It is going into our law library as the standard reference on the federal legislative process."

Frank Costello, Zuckert Scoutt & Rosenberger

"A beautiful and comprehensive book."

Terry Bracy, Bracy Williams & Company

"I suspect your book will become the ‘Bible' for the profession…"

- William E. Timmons, Timmons & Company, Inc.

"The most comprehensive and practical reference work that is available today."

- Richard M. Schmidt, Jr., Cohn and Marks

"The Lobbying Handbook - - It's absolutely incredible!'"

Patti Jo Baber Executive Director, American League of Lobbyists

successfully orchestrated a lobbying campaign to deregulate the air freight industry.
          Zorack is widely recognized for his legislative activities by the media including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Business Week which referred to him as "A Lobbyist for Mom and Pop" -- for his representation of small corporations. He has been interviewed on national and international television including Japan's TV Asahi and 60 MINUTES where Morley Safer commended his lobbying efforts. Author of The Lobbying Handbook, acclaimed as the "bible" for the industry, he is a guest on radio and TV talk shows involving lobbying.
          A recognized authority on lobbying, he chairs lobbying seminars and is guest lecturer at colleges and universities including presentations at Harvard's JFK School of Government for foreign delegations including the Russian Duma and members of the Israeli Government. He was invited to Hanoi, Vietnam in 1997 to make a presentation on lobbying for members of the Vietnamese Government.
          Since lobbying is authorized under the First Amendment he advocates a greater understanding of its principles and strategies, noting that democracy would be more even if citizens better understood the process.
          Zorack is a retired United States Marine Corps Officer having served in Vietnam and Korea. He is a graduate of Colorado College (BA), American University (MA-Communications) and the University of Denver Law School (JD).

For information on using Mr. Zorack as a guest lecturer,
Phone: 941-355-9302 & Email: jjzorack@earthlink.net

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
JOHN KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT

David C. King,
Associate Professor of Public Policy,
Director of Research, Institute of Politics KTBma

cambridge, massachusetts 02138
617-495-1665 (voice)
617-496-5960 (fax)
www.ksg.harvard.edu/~king
David King@Harvard.edu

To: Colleagues

From: David King

Re: John Zorack

Date: April 2004

It is my great pleasure to recommend Mr. John Zorack as a guest lecturer on lobbying. He has been a regular guest of mine at the Kennedy School, where he has appeared before large classes of young students and intimate gatherings of international politicians and scholars. In every setting and on every occasion, Mr. Zorack has brought forward a wealth of insights about the lobbying industry.

As a lecturer, Mr. Zorack highlights fundamental "dos and don'ts" of influence in Washington: tell the truth; come prepared; articulate constituency interests; tell the opposition's story before they do, and so on. Mr. Zorack communicates in an honest and compelling way - and he does so with examples from his many years of experience on Capitol Hill.

Indeed, I first encountered Mr. Zorack 15 years ago while I was a graduate student at the University of Michigan. I was writing about interest groups and lobbying with the late Jack Walker, who was my advisor at the time. While steeping in the academic literature, I chanced upon one of Mr. Zorack's frequent C-SPAN appearances, and I was transfixed. Here was a person who had lived the theories we were working through and could explain them in common language, free of jargon and gibberish. And so when I joined the Harvard faculty, one of my earliest calls was to John Zorack, because I wanted my students to experience the same thing that had struck me - this master's ability to blend theory and practice - to bring lobbying alive - to speak of the nobility of advocacy - and to inspire another generation of political activists.

If you are considering bringing in a guest speaker on lobbying - or if you're looking for a useful book on how the game is played - John Zorack is your man.

For information on using Mr. Zorack as a guest lecturer,
Phone: 941-355-9302 & Email: jjzorack@earthlink.net