Title

On the edge : the Clinton presidency

Description

Elizabeth Drew's On the Edge is the first inside, full-spectrum report on the Clinton Presidency. Since he came to office, Clinton has been hard to read - ambitious and uncertain, looking toward the future and hounded by the past. From the first days of the administration, Drew has been speaking with and learning from the President's top advisers, key Cabinet officers, and well-placed members of Congress, as she has watched - up close, behind the scenes - as plans are hammered out, policies set, and problems confronted. Drew tells the remarkable story of this turbulent term - and deciphers what it means.Clinton's far-reaching domestic proposals and considerable achievements are recounted, as well as the distracting and corrosive personal struggles, especially Whitewater. Drew portrays his legislative gambles - from health care to NAFTA - and his costly inattention to foreign policy - the confused policymaking on Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti. She reveals the struggles within the President's foreign policy team. She traces how controversies over such a wide range of issues and events - gays in the military, the mishandling of Zoe Baird's and Lani Guinier's nominations, the $200 haircut, the travel office, and the death of Vincent Foster - have undermined confidence in Clinton's Presidency and fanned the flames of "the character issue." She shows sides of Clinton never seen before and explores the critical and little-understood role of Hillary Rodham Clinton - both as a power and as a personality - and measures the truly unprecedented influence of Vice President Al Gore.On the Edge answers the questions of who Bill Clinton is, and what his Presidency means for this country.

Identifier

511609

671871471

Creator

Drew, Elizabeth

Source

Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection

Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.

Catalog record

Language

eng

Date

1994

Program air date: December 11, 1994.

Publisher

Simon & Schuster

George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives

Text

Transcription of Annotations
Notes on front endpaper: The Principles; The consultants; Gore's personality-most influential in history; Mrs. Clinton- How many late night meetings. CNN-Moscow-Yeltsin. P. 345-Drew present? Aspin-posture/hair-chumminess-p. 367. Bobby Inman. On the edge p. 387. Underlinings/notes: Harry Thomason wanted to change oath of office. Clintons unready to govern. Mrs. Clinton de facto domestic policy adviser. Clinton got lost in facts. Clinton loved Presidency, rarely used Camp David. Clinton annoyed that agents assigned to him, wouldn't talk to him. Mishandled stimulus bill. Lamb marks passages on various advisors/cabinet members such as Warren Christopher, Tony Lake and Les Aspin and their difficulties in office. Haircut/travel gate. Perceptions of Clinton concessions as caving to Congress. Difficulties in naming Supreme Court nominees. Perceptions of Gore--funnier, sharper, firmer. Notes: Giddiness," "fatigue," "phone calls," "Zoe Baird," "economic program," "Putting people first," "Michael Deaver," "Facts in head," "Clinton malleable," "consultants became more involved." "Press outright dislike for 1st family," "Clinton fake a tear," "Gore standing on principle," "VP most influential in history," "CBB v. Intelligence," "Needs affirmation," "Gays in military," "Vince Foster," "Clinton pressure on opponents," "Reinventing gov., health care, NAFTA," "Moscow, Somalia, Haiti," "Foreign policies never jelled," "Paula Jones," "Whitewater," "Middle distance journalism."

Subject

"Clinton, Bill, 1946-"

Relation

Original Booknotes interview

Rights

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