Love or loath him, Abdullah Ahmad is a man of many talents and a successful public intellectual in a political environment that those who are in power seldom read and those who read, often dare not venture into politics.

Widely known or remembered as a young personal adviser, political operative and deputy minister of the second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak for 13 years from 1963 to 1976, Abdullah has always been admired for his political skills but also loathed for the power and influence he wielded behind the scene during the1960s and 70s.

He was trusted by Abdul Razak (then deputy prime minister and defence minister) to the extent that he was delegated the authority to write a private letter dated Dec 11, 1963 to then US president Lyndon B Johnson.