The Life and Career of Gerald S. J. Cassidy: How Lobbying Became Washington's Biggest Business

Robert G. Kaiser, Washington Post

Chapter 15: Propelled by a $4.5 million fee from the government of Taiwan, Cassidy & Associates rises to a new level among Washington lobbyists.

For a lobbying firm whose reputation was built on winning earmarked appropriations for universities and hospitals, helping General Dynamics Corp. save the Seawolf submarine was a thrilling experience -- "one of the biggest lobbying efforts ever," in the words of Vincent Versage, Cassidy's team leader for the project. It put Cassidy & Associates into a new league.

The Republic of China on Taiwan confirmed this new status in 1994 when it picked Cassidy for a sensitive and lucrative assignment -- to persuade the United States government to change its policy toward the leader of Taiwan, and allow him to visit the United States.

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