Tobacco wars
seldom do public office holders write memoirs which are inspiring without lauding their own heroics. In a rare inspiring book, A Question of Intent , David Kessler narrates the story of his seven years with America's largest but toothless watchdog the Food and Drug Administration ( fda ). Kessler, a trained medic and law grad had an impressive academic and professional career before he was offered the post of the Commissioner of the fda . He appears to be an over-qualified man for a political post in an under-achieving agency. He realises that the pressures on the fda by different lobbies and interest groups are immense, his staff lacks motivation and that he himself has no one in the Capitol Hill to look up to. But he is a good observer of events around him and a fast learner.
It is apparent from page one that he is an upright man who is a little lost in the corridors of power. However, he manages to achieve minor victories, which boost the morale of his organisation. His action against Proctor and Gamble against the use of the word
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