Was there anyone who knew Washington, D.C. like Mary Clemmer Ames? Certainly no one could tell the story of the nation's capital in the same way. Honest and unsparing, she at times caused broken relationships with her discomforting words about the powerful. Witty, at times hilarious, gossipy, and full of tons of fun facts about the steamy swamp that is the center of our nation's political life. In this popular book, she turned her witty, irreverent style on the high and mighty, as well as making you howl at such subjects as the Dead Letter Office, the Patent Office, and the Mint. Mary Clemmer was a newspaper woman; the first ever paid the princessly sum of $5,000 for her work in 1871. Her eye for details and her insider knowledge would put her in the running for a top spot in media even today. In 19th-century Washington, there was no one like her.