Fletcher Knebel

Fletcher Knebel brought years of political journalism to novels about power, institutions, and public crisis. Seven Days in May, written with newspaper editor Charles W. Bailey II and published by Harper & Row in 1962, imagines military leaders plotting to remove the United States president after a disputed disarmament agreement. The collaboration matters because library records and the first edition credit both writers. Knebel had covered national politics and produced the syndicated column Potomac Fever, while Bailey later led the Minneapolis Tribune. Their novel became a major bestseller and supplied the basis for John Frankenheimer's 1964 film, adapted for the screen by Rod Serling. Knebel continued exploring political instability in books such as Night of Camp David and Convention, the latter also written with Bailey.