A few well-placed calls would get "a groundswell of public opinion" rolling against whatever plan this Conway person might have in mind.

I could shut the whole thing down with one well-placed call.

But after a few well-placed calls to Washington, the bill was killed, and Mr. Robbins was transferred to Washington.

I was furious, but not enough to ruin his life, which Harl could do with a few well-placed calls.

A well-placed call got the younger Joe invited to join a local campaign, and a few years later he won a seat on the Bellmawr school board.

A string of well-placed calls had finally provided Susan Landry with the name of the investigator handling Brognola's case.

At 81, the former first lady is obliquely but persistently campaigning - through friends, advisers, lawmakers and her own well-placed calls and letters - to reverse the president's decision.

After an intense hour of negotiation and some well-placed calls to the Culture Ministry in Cairo, Father Porphyrios prevailed.

What did raise eyebrows was the possibility that the plea involved not only a well-placed call or two from Mr. Weill to board members of the school but also the philanthropic largess of Citigroup itself.

Did that well-placed call constitute excessive use of family influence?