Roy Cohn: ‘The Evil Forrest Gump of the 20th Century’

Before Donald Trump, there was the lawyer Roy Cohn. In “American Scoundrel,” the couathors Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark examine the life and legacy of Mr. Cohn, a driving force behind McCarthyism, a pop culture villain and a key influence in Mr. Trump’s approach to power and politics. The Opinion columnist Carlos Lozada, the Opinion political writer Michelle Cottle and the Vanderbilt history professor Nicole Hemmer discuss the new book and how, even though he died in the 1980s, Mr. Cohn’s influence continues to live with us in politics and pop culture today.