American Gulag The Death of Budd Dwyer

I had never been more stunned and deeply disturbed in my entire life. As I watched from the comfort of a friends living room, one mans personal hell had just spun wildly out of control and very abruptly ended. Life and death captured in vivid Technicolor right on television just for my amusement. The world can be a truly wretched place at times. I will never forget how the scene unfolded. A portly, balding middle …

…conference Dwyer handed out three envelopes. One envelope contained his funeral arrangements, another his organ donor card, and in the last was a letter addressed to newly appointed Governor of Pennsylvania Robert P. Casey. In this letter Mr. Dwyer wrote, "By the time you receive this letter, the office of State Treasurer of Pennsylvania will be vacant. I stress to you that I did not resign but was State Treasurer of Pennsylvania to the end."