IN THE SUMMER OF 1985, S.I. Newhouse, chairman of Conde Nast publications, the newspaper and magazine empire he co-inherited from his father, offered me a lift back to the office in his limo after our monthly lunch. Small, shy and nebbishy, Si, as he was known, was the only power that counted at Conde Nast.
What was unique—and most endearing—about Si was that he never behaved like a media mogul. As we drove back to the office, he suddenly said, “You know, there’s no such thing as real power in America.”
“What do you mean?” I said. “Well,” he said, “the President has no power. Congress can thwart him. I’m supposed to have media power, but I can’t get arrested!”
“You have power,” I said, “but you sometimes choose not…
