Eric Dezenhall

Kevin McCauley, from O’Dwyer's PR Report, regards Dezenhall "as one of the most effective in his specialty, calling him ‘the pit bull of public relations.'"

Dezenhall has written extensively, in news publications and through several fiction and nonfiction books. His subjects often deal with difficult and complex hidden underworlds, including organized crime and spies. He first chronicled the diaries of the late mobster Meyer Lansky in The Baltimore Sun in 2001; two years later he published Money Wanders, a fictional account of organized crime in Atlantic City, where Dezenhall spent his summers growing up. In 2011, Lansky was the main character in Dezenhall’s historical fictional novel, The Devil Himself, about Lansky's work with Naval Intelligence during World War II to secure the ports in New York City against Nazi sabotage. His 2018 non-fiction book (coauthored with Gus Russo) Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War chronicles the friendship between the KGB’s Gennady Vasilenko and the CIA’s Jack Platt. The book details for the first time Platt’s critical role in identifying the FBI’s Robert Hanssen as the mole inside the US intelligence community.

In 2001, Dezenhall reportedly tangled with Bill Moyers while representing the chemical industry based on Moyers’ documentary Trade Secrets. Dezenhall has been criticized for being a "spin doctor" who lowers the quality of public debate for the sake of protecting business interests. His effort on behalf of Exxon to pressure the Internal Revenue Service to revoke Greenpeace's tax exempt status was condemned by environmental advocates. His efforts on behalf of traditional publishers to combat open access to scientific research have been an ongoing source of controversy in the academic community.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, Dezenhall grew up in nearby Cherry Hill and Pennsauken Township. He graduated from Cherry Hill High School West and studied news media and political science at Dartmouth College. Dezenhall worked briefly in President Ronald Reagan's White House communications office. After a four-year stint at Porter Novelli, Dezenhall and boss Nick Nichols left to form Nichols-Dezenhall Communications Management Company in 1987. The company's name was shortened to Dezenhall Resources Ltd. in 2004 after Nichols retired in 2003.

Eric B. Dezenhall (born September 9, 1962; pronounced DEHZ-in-hall) is an American crisis management consultant, author, and founder of Washington D.C.-based public relations firm Dezenhall Resources. His aggressive tactics on behalf of his clients have made him both a target of criticism and a quoted pundit on crisis communications.