Charlie Sullivan

Charles "Charlie" Sullivan (b. c. 1900) was an American journalist. He served as a speech writer for President Joe Steele from 1940 until Steele's death in 1953.

Sullivan was a reporter with the Associated Press in 1932. A Democrat, Sullivan supported California Congressman Joe Steele in his bid for the Democratic nomination. (Sullivan's brother, Mike, supported New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt.) While covering the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Sullivan by chance met Joe Steele and his aid, Vince Scriabin while in his hotel. Steele's presence was unorthodox, and Sullivan agreed to keep this secret.

Sullivan covered the convention, including the first days of voting. At the end of the second day, when Roosevelt seemed to be gaining an edge, Sullivan happened to overhear Vince Scriabin placing a long distance phone call. Scriabin told the person on the other line that something had to be done that night, as tomorrow would be too late. Sullivan didn't think Scriabin noticed him at the time. Sullivan, while mildly curious, gave little further thought to the phone call until news came hours later that Governor Roosevelt, his wife, and several staffers had died in a fire in the Executive Mansion in Albany. James Farley, Roosevelt's field boss, released the New York delegates to vote as they pleased, and Steele won the nomination.

That same evening, Steele summoned Sullivan to his hotel room. Initially, Sullivan was convinced that Scriabin knew Sullivan had heard the phone call, and that Sullivan was now headed to his death. Instead, Steele and Scriabin met with Sullivan, thanked him for his "fairness" in reporting on Steele and his campaign. Steele promised that Sullivan would always have access to Steele's camp, and all parties looked forward to the election.

Charlie kept Scriabin's phone call to himself until a few weeks later, when, during a dinner with his fiancé, Esther Polgar, his brother, Mike, and Mike's girlfriend, Stella Morandini, Charlie grew quiet when the question arose as to whether or not the fire at the Executive Mansion had been an accident. Charlie intimated he knew something, but waited until they'd returned to Mike's apartment before sharing what he'd heard of Scriabin's long-distance phone call. While all agreed that Charlie hadn't heard Scriabin specifically order fire, they also agreed that it was possible.

Nonetheless, Charlie Sullivan remained a Steele supporter, and nobody pressed the issue. Steele won the election that November in a landslide. In his first month in office, Steele introduced legislation to nationalize the country's banks. Sullivan watched the legislation's lead opponent, Virginia Senator Carter Glass, enter the Oval Office determined to stop the nationalization scheme, but leave the office 90 minutes later and announce his support for it. Curious, Sullivan contacted Steele aid Stas Mikoian, the most approachable of Steele's aids, who, over a steak dinner, described how Bureau of Investigation chief J. Edgar Hoover had found evidence that Glass had fathered a love child with his family's Negro maid. Sullivan agreed to keep that information on background.