Dapper Dan Flood: the controversial life of a congressional power broker
by William C. Kashatus

Pennsylvania State University Press
350 pgs.

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Democratic Congressman Daniel Flood is something of a legend in Northeast Pennsylvania. From 1945 to 1980, Flood channeled millions of federal dollars into local highways, hospitals and various spendy construction projects. He made sure local military contractors could milk the cash cow of defense spending. When the federal government dropped the ball after a devastating flood in 1974, Dan Flood went into full-hero mode and took a broadsword to the bureaucracy, enlisting help from the feds, the military and even Richard Nixon...

Flood's slick, vaudevillian style cut quite a dashing figure in the often dreary coal mining communities of his home turf. He had an eccentric sense of style, sporting a Snidley Whiplash mustache and the boldly colored suits of a swinging used car salesman. Flood had a surprising ambivalence towards the local Democratic power brokers, yet he enjoyed broad support across party lines. He adroitly weathered political upheavals that saw his district transformed from reliably Republican to a Democratic stronghold. He prided himself on being a reliable point man for his constituents. His Wilkes-Barre office became the "confessional", a clearing house for any and all locals with a gripe or a need.

In Washington D.C., he made fast friends early in his career, aligning himself with movers and shakers like House Speaker Sam Rayburn who gave Flood unusual clout for a freshman representative. His powerful positions on various congressional committees meant big money for locally-based military contractors, including some with rather shadowy connections. On a national level, Flood was courted as a reliably old-school anti-communist, a position that greatly influenced his decisions in at least two controversial areas during his tenure: the war in Vietnam and the control of the Panama Canal.

In public, Flood supported the Vietnam war (and the military in general), but behind the scenes, he was quick to take a cleaver to overly ambitious military expenditures and he had a reputation for merciless grilling of military officials. The Panama Canal was a different story. United States control of the canal zone had been a contentious issue for much of Flood's tenure. But late in his career, after public sentiment shifted to giving Panama control of the canal, Flood refused to budge.

Flood was not the only politician who believed losing the canal would lead to Communist takeover of South America, but he was probably the most vocal and maintained his position long after others had given up. Flood may have been adept at working both sides of the aisle, but his hard line stance on Panama put him on the wrong side of the Democratic Carter administration.