by Nancy Gibbs
And he would get it: Ibid.
Word came back: The details of Nixon’s insinuation into the Clinton White House are explained in detail in Marvin L. Kalb’s The Nixon Memo: Political Respectability, Russia, and the Press (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 144–47.
“Nixon opened with five minutes”: Strobe Talbott, The Russia Hand: A Memoir of Presidential Diplomacy (New York: Random House, 2002), 46.
“In fact, he’s preaching to the preacher”: Ibid., 47.
“kiss the peace dividend goodbye”: Serge Schmemann, “Moscow Journal: Who’ll Speak Up For Russia Now? Nixon, No Less,” New York Times, February 19, 1993.
“He was very respectful”: Crowley, Nixon Off the Record, 166.
Clinton invited him to the White House: Ibid., 171.
He reminded the first lady: Bill Clinton, My Life (New York: Knopf, 2004), 505.
“And we’d be better off today”: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003), 226.
If Clinton failed to meet this challenge: Kalb, The Nixon Memo, 153–54.
Bob Strauss told Nixon: Crowley, Nixon Off the Record, 169
“Clinton is making a gutsy call”: Hugh Sidey and Christopher Ogden, “Advice From Two Old Pros,” Time, April 5, 1993.
picture of the Clinton-Nixon conversation: Kalb, The Nixon Memo, 150.
Nixon tuned into the news from Vancouver: Crowley, Nixon Off The Record, 177.
“how the game is played”: Ibid., 180.
Nixon “exploded” at Clinton’s absence: Ibid., 189.
One of the plotters cooperated: Eventually, Kuwait sentenced six of the plotters to death. 422 The Incredible Shrinking President: Michael Duffy, “The Incredible Shrinking President,” Time, June 7, 1993.
the attack would come in forty-eight hours: George Stephanopoulos, All Too Human: A Political Education (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1999), 160.
“Thought it was a tough call”: Ibid., 161–63.
Clinton dispatched Christopher: James Collins, “Bill Clinton: Striking Back,” Time, July 5, 1993.
“Presidents, especially gentlemen presidents”: Stephanopoulos, All Too Human, 163.
“Don’t tread on me”: Bill Clinton, White House statement, June 26, 1993.
Nine years later: “Bush Calls Saddam ‘the guy who tried to kill my dad,’” CNN.com, September 27, 2002.
Hillary apologized for having “strayed from the fold”: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History, 35.
“can sell three day old ice”: Thomas M. DeFrank, Write It When I’m Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007), 135.
Clinton insisted later: Taylor Branch, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), 51.
“There were other candidates”: Margaret Carlson, “I Didn’t Get Hired to Fix Everything: Bill Clinton,” Time, September 27, 1993.
“We, the United States, could not sell abroad”: Gerald R. Ford, speaking in the East Room, September 14, 1993, White House transcript available at http://www.4uth.gov.ua/usa/english/facts/speeches/clinton/93–4.txt.
He would only get: Crowley, Nixon Off the Record, 202.
Raul Cédras was turning an impoverished country: Ibid., 208.
Clinton called Nixon in January: Kalb, The Nixon Memo, 168.
Other players on the Russian political scene: Richard M. Nixon, “Moscow, March ’94: Chaos and Hope,” New York Times, March 25, 1994.
to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral: Kalb, The Nixon Memo, 175.
“Nixon said I had earned the respect of the leaders”: Bill Clinton, My Life, 593.
“Nixon at his best”: Ibid.
“I hope it hasn’t affected his mind”: Apple Jr., “For Clinton and Nixon, a Rarefied Bond.”
Nixon’s daughters later called: Billy Graham, Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 462–63.
“He was one of those husbands”: Branch, The Clinton Tapes, 135.
“pay homage to the memory of President Nixon”: Bill Clinton, “Presidential Proclamation on Richard Nixon’s Death, April 24, 1994,” available online at nytimes.com.
Clinton offered the Nixon family: Apple Jr., “For Clinton and Nixon, a Rarefied Bond.”
Clinton wanted, among other things: Branch, The Clinton Tapes, 153.
And so Clinton changed the one key line: Stephanopoulos, All Too Human, 265.
“seemed to believe the greatest sin was remaining passive”: Bill Clinton, “Remarks at the Funeral Service for Richard Nixon, April 27, 1994,” available online at The American Presidency Project.
“‘I wish I could pick up the phone’”: Ibid.
Chapter 21: “I’m Sending Carter. You Think It Will Be OK, Don’t You?”
“You and I will succeed”: Douglas Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter’s Journey Beyond the White House (New York: Viking, 1998), 357.
“Carter’s too chicken-shit”: Ibid., 355.
“Bill Clinton cares more about Jimmy Carter”: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History, 89.
Clinton later blamed Carter: David Maraniss, First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), 38.
The Georgian’s calls: David Halberstam, War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals (New York, Scribner, 2001), 175.
These slights did not go unnoticed: Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency, 366.
“He was obviously not an experienced carpenter”: Alessandra Stanley, “On Tour with Jimmy Carter; Words of Advice, Bittersweet,” New York Times, January 14, 1993.
This was accurate: Maraniss, First in His Class, 330.
A week later: Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency, 370.
When he finally sat down with Christopher: Ibid., 371–73.
“When President Clinton came into office”: Monitor breakfast transcript, November 3, 2005.
The question with North Korea: Don Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997), 306.
When the threat of further economic sanctions: Ibid., 312–13.
When that mission went slightly awry: Details of the Nunn-Lugar non-mission are recounted in Joel S. Wit, Daniel B. Poneman, and Robert L. Gallucci’s Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2004), 185–86.
Clinton pretended to know nothing: Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency, 383.
Carter came away convinced: Ibid., 398.
The North Koreans trusted Carter: Ibid., 392.
After some back-and-forth negotiations: Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas, 318.
“Is Kim Il Sung bluffing”: Cover, Time, June 13, 1994.
“[He] clearly viewed his own role”: Wit, Poneman, and Gallucci, Going Critical, 207.
And each time Carter asked: Ibid., 207–8.
Locals were stripping the food markets: Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency, 399.
The Korean stock market: Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas, 322.
Carter went to bed: Wit, Poneman, and Gallucci, Going Critical, 222.
But U.S. diplomats: Ibid.
Carter huddled with Kim’s aides: Ibid., 224–25.
Gallucci admitted that he had not: Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency, 404.
“Not since the presidency of Lyndon Johnson”: Ibid.
“The problem is that North Korea”: Wit, Poneman, and Gallucci, Going Critical, 228.
One cabinet member saw it: Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency, 405.
“A difficult exchange”: Wit, Poneman, and Gallucci, Going Critical, 232.
But then Carter: Wit, Poneman, and Gallucci, Going Critical, 232.
In fact, nobody at the White House: Ibid.
Carter’s end of the discussion: Ibid., 234.
Before leaving Seoul: Ibid.
Hope for reconciliation faded further: Ibid., 235–36.
“I figured if they could say to themselves”: Ibid., 240.
If anything, the Haitian military: Cathy Booth, “Still Punishing the Victims,” Haiti, Time, April 11, 1994.
Arkansas senator Dale Bumpers: Branch, The Clinton Tapes, 187–88.
Reputable alternatives to Cédras: Ibid.
“I can always find something else”: Ibid., 186, 192.
“United States be the Lone Ranger”: William J. Clinton, “Address to the Nation on Haiti, September 15, 1994,” audio file available online at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/mediaplay.php?id=49093&admin=42.
Perhaps mindful of that episode: Branch, The Clinton Tapes, 199.
“Sam Nunn and Colin Powell to go”: Author interview with Jimmy Carter, December 2, 2011.
Powell recalled that Clinton: Colin L. Powell and Joseph E. Persico, My American Journey (New York: Random House, 1995), 598.
“You think it will be OK”: Stephanopoulos, All Too Human, 313.
“I was going to invade”: Author interview with Bill Clinton, November 16, 2011.
“But I took a chance”: Powell and Persico, My American Journey, 398.
“We used to be the weakest”: Ibid., 600–601.
“My wife would understand”: Ibid., 600.
General Hugh Shelton: Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency, 427.
(“Not bad for a poor country”): Powell and Persico, My American Journey, 601.
The delegation hurriedly left: Ibid.
“I will obey the orders”: Ibid., 601–2.
U.S. paratroopers: Bill Clinton, My Life, 618.
The conversation, such as it was: Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency, 432–33.
It fell to Sam Nunn: Ibid., 433.
“golfing partners don’t give as many mulligans to ex-presidents”: Bill Clinton, “Remarks on Presenting The Medal of Freedom to Former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn Carter,” August 9, 1999.
Chapter 22: “Bill, I Think You Have to Admit That You Lied”
The club’s two closest members: Stacey Jones, “Carter Breaks Silence on Clinton, Says Nation Will Heal,” Emory Report 51, no. 6 (September 28, 1998).
“But I do care, passionately”: Gerald R. Ford, “The Path Back to Dignity,” New York Times, October 4, 1998.
“I mean, can you imagine me”: DeFrank, Write It When I’m Gone, 145.
“my errors of word and deed require their rebuke”: Bill Clinton, White House speech, December 11, 1998.
echo of Ford’s bestselling memoir: Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter, “A Time to Heal Our Nation,” New York Times, December 21, 1998.
There was a historical echo: DeFrank, Write It When I’m Gone, 146.
“I won’t do that”: Ibid., 147.
When he did call Lott: Bob Woodward, Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), 499.
While Ford was willing: Amid all these secret negotiations, the club gathered for a funeral. One week before the Senate acquitted Clinton of all charges, Clinton, Ford, Carter, and Bush all flew on Air Force One to Amman, Jordan, for the funeral of King Hussein. The four men got along well, Clinton said later, mostly because Carter maintained a pleasant disposition on both legs of the journey. Clinton repeatedly offered his predecessors a chance at some kip in the presidential beds, but all three refused. Ford, at eighty-five, could not keep up the pace as the official party trudged through Amman’s snaggletoothed backstreets and soon dropped out, but Clinton was amazed that he made the effort at all.
“Of course, I don’t think”: Branch, The Clinton Tapes, 633.
Ford’s hometown reminded Clinton: Bill Clinton, interview by Marty Allen, July 18, 2010.
Bush and Clinton: The Rascal and the Rebel
Born forty-four days apart: The next closest are Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809), born forty-five days apart.
Chapter 23: “He’s Never Forgiven Me for Beating His Father”
“left office with his integrity intact”: C-SPAN Video Library, “Bush Presidential Library Dedication,” November 6, 1997, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/LibraryD&showFullAbstract=1.
“Of course, he’s never forgiven me”: Taylor Branch, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), 539.
Bush had groaned when he learned that: Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs, “The Quiet Dynasty,” Time, August 7, 2000.
“My heritage is a part”: Walter Isaacson, “George Bush: My Heritage Is Part of Who I Am,” Republican Convention, Time, August 7, 2000.
the “worst year of my life”: George W. Bush, Decision Points (New York: Crown Publishers, 2010).
“A good leader sets priorities”: Robert Draper, Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush (New York: Free Press, 2007), 295.
“But do not challenge”: Ibid., 68–70
“‘It’s a genius slogan’”: Author interview with Bill Clinton, November 16, 2011.
“I don’t always respect the guy”: Margaret Carlson, “The Shadow Moves On,” Time, January 29, 2001.
“They like me”: Branch, The Clinton Tapes, 620.
But, Bush added: Frank Bruni, “Bush Ridicules Gore’s Proposals For Tax Cuts,” New York Times, October 25, 2000.
Must have worked: Carlson, “The Shadow Moves On.”
The incoming president was trolling: Draper, Dead Certain, 91–92; see also Carlson, “The Shadow Moves On.”
“It’s a mistake to underestimate him”: Carlson, “The Shadow Moves On.”
“I’d run again in a heartbeat”: Branch, The Clinton Tapes, 633–34.
Clinton ignored virtually all: The Clintons either returned or paid for these gifts.
Bill Daley described it as “terrible, devastating and rather appalling”: Michael Hedges, “Even Loyal Liberals Join In The Clinton Bashing,” Houston Chronicle, February 19, 2001.
“to watch a shiny new ex-president disappear under a freak mudslide”: Karen Tumulty, “How Can We Miss You If You Never Go Away?”, Time, February 26, 2001.
Clinton wrote an op-ed: William Jefferson Clinton, “My Reasons for the Pardons,” New York Times, February 18, 2001.
“We don’t have to do anything”: Tumulty, “How Can We Miss You If You Never Go Away?”
“People will tell you”: James Carney, “Easy Does It,” Time, March 19, 2001.
aircraft had been forced down: “China-U.S. Aircraft Collision Incident of April 2001: Assessments and Policy Implications,” CRS Report for Congress, available online at www.fas.org, updated October 10, 2001 (pdf file).
“They’re not going to like me”: Nancy Gibbs, “If You Want to Humble an Empire,” Time, September 14, 2001.
“never stab him in the back”: Author interview with Bill Clinton, November 16, 2011.
The president invoked FDR’s phrase: George W. Bush, “Remarks at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance,” September 14, 2001, transcript available online at the American Presidency Project, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=63645#axzz1g3ecaWlh.
Vice President Cheney: Philip Shenon, The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation (New York: Twelve, 2008), 29–30.
“But the context”: George Tenet and Bill Harlow, At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA (New York: HarperCollins, 2007), 109; Philip Shenon, in his study of the 9/11 commission, reported that Clinton signed orders authorizing the killing of bin Laden in December 1998 and early 1999.
He told the 9/11 commission: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, The 9/11 Commission Report: The Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (New York: Norton, 2004), 199.
The men, along with Bush’s father: Elisabeth Bumiller, “White House Bond: Teamed by No. 43, 41 and 42 Hit It Off,” New York Times, February 19, 2005.
“I was a pickle stepping into history”: Transcript from portrait unveiling ceremony, June 14, 2004, available online at wa
shingtonpost.com.
“I never believed it”: Author interview with Bill Clinton (never published), June 18, 2004; see also Branch, The Clinton Tapes, 588.
“‘Hillary is in politics’”: Author interview with Bill Clinton, November 16, 2011.
“I hope I can be as gracious”: Alexander Mooney, “Bush: Obama’s Win ‘Good For Our Country,’” CNN.com, November 12, 2008, http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/12/bush.obama/index.html?iref=allsearch.
Chapter 24: “I Love You More Than Tongue Can Tell”
“the final motivating factor was my admiration for George Bush”: NBC News special on Decision Points, November 8, 2010.
“slightly outrageous streak”: Larry Barrett, Time, March 1989.
“parents would roll their eyes”: Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House (New York: Center Street, 2007), 327.
“In reality, I was a boozy kid”: George W. Bush, Decision Points (New York: Crown Publishers, 2010), 20–21.
“‘That’s W’s job’”: Gibbs and Duffy, The Preacher and the Presidents, 328.
“Half the time”: George Bush and Doug Wead, Man of Integrity (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1988), 121.
George “could be made to feel”: Laurence I. Barrett, “Junior Is His Own Bush Now,” Time, July 31, 1989.
“I don’t know how accurate I am”: Ken Stephens, “Partners in Perseverance,” Dallas Morning News, March 30, 1989.
“I know there were times”: Barrett, “Junior Is His Own Bush Now.”
“Call me when you get back”: Kevin Sherrington, “More Than Meets the Name,” Dallas Morning News, May 2, 1989.
More than anything else: Barrett, “Junior Is His Own Bush Now.”
Bush might criticize: Karl Rove, Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight (New York: Threshold Editions, 2010), 120.
“The moment”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 109.
“I’m a warrior for my Dad”: Walter Isaacson, “Republican Convention: George Bush: My Heritage Is Part of Who I Am,” Time, August 7, 2000.
“What I can do these days”: Hugh Sidey, “Conversations with a Father,” Time, September 24, 2001.