He is a 1968 graduate of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, with high distinction and honors in Political Science.
[2] From 1972 to 1973, he worked for the Washington, D.C.–based Citizens Communication Center, a public interest law firm specializing in broadcasting.
[4] In 1977, Paper became the Democratic nominee for New Jersey State Senator in the 25th district, which included parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties.
[5] After his loss in the State Senate race, Paper moved back to Washington to take a post in the Carter Administration.
[8] He is the author of six books: The Promise and the Performance: The Leadership of John F. Kennedy(1975), Brandeis: An Intimate Biography of One of America's Truly Great Supreme Court Justices(1983), Empire: William S Paley and the Making of CBS(1987), Deadly Risks (2008), Perfect: Don Larsen's Miraculous World Series Game and the Men Who Made It Happen (2009), and In the Cauldron: Terror, Tension, and the American Ambassador's Struggle to Avoid Pearl Harbor.