Inside the Clinton White House

An Oral History

Russell L. Riley

Oxford Oral History Series

An authoritative inside account of the Clinton presidency
Drawn from over 400 hours of candid conversations with members of President Clinton's cabinet and other close colleagues, including Madeleine Albright, Leon Panetta, William Galston, and Tony Lake
Sheds new light on the role of Hillary Clinton in the health care reform effort of 1993

Inside the Clinton White House

An Oral History

Russell L. Riley

Description

President Bill Clinton led one of the most influential and consequential White House tenures in recent memory. However, because of the office's traditional climate of confidentiality, many details of his behind-the-scenes activities have remained absent from the written record. How did the administration manage the horrific conflicts in Haiti, Somalia, and the Balkans that came to a head shortly after the President took the oath? What motivated the President to place First Lady Hillary Clinton at the helm of the ill-fated Health Security Act of 1993? And how did the President's closest confidantes and aides respond to the outbreak of the devastating scandal that nearly ended his presidency?

Inside the Clinton White House offers an intimate perspective on these questions and many more, granting readers unprecedented access to the sensitive Oval Office banter that changed the course of history. Bringing together material from 400 hours of candid conversations with over sixty individuals, respected oral historian Russell L. Riley weaves this illuminating testimony with important contextual information to form an irresistible narrative, taking the reader from Clinton's first potential White House bid in 1988 to the final days of his remarkable and controversial career. Extended sections of the book are devoted to important domestic and foreign policy campaigns, the complicated politics of the President's two terms and impeachment, and portraits of important personalities in the administration, including Vice President Al Gore and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. These forthright and often surprising accounts add a layer of nuance to an iconic figure in America's recent history, as told in the words of the people who knew him best.

Inside the Clinton White House

An Oral History

Russell L. Riley

Oxford Oral History Series

Preface
Part I: Beginnings
1. The Man Who Would be President: Prelude to the White House
2. The Decision
3. The Announcement & Three Georgetown Speeches
4. Staffing the Campaign
5. The New Hampshire Primary: Vertigo
6. Competitors, Issues & Style
7. Getting Ready for the General Election: The Manhattan Project and Choosing Gore
8. The Democratic National Convention and the Bus Tour
9. The General Election Campaign-Clinton vs. George H. W. Bush
10. The View from the Other Side
11. The Transition to Governing
Part II: Domestic and Economic Policy
12. Out of the Gate: Deciding on What to Do First
13. The 1993 Budget and the Stimulus Package
14. NAFTA
15. Healthcare
16. Welfare Reform
17. On Other Domestic and Economic Issues
Part III: Foreign Policy
18. A New Foreign Policy for a New World Order
19. Haiti
20. Africa
21. The Balkans
22. Northern Ireland
23. Other Foreign Policy Issues
24. Clinton with Foreign Leaders
Part IV: Politics and the Clinton White House
25. Inside the Washington Community
26. Republican Revolution and Recovery
27. The Reelection and Productive Middle Years, 1996-97
28. Scandals-and Impeachment
Part V: People
29. Clinton's Intellect
30. Clinton's Political Talents and Operating Style
31. The Man Who Was President
32. Gore
33. Hillary
34. Staff
35. Stories
Part VI: Conclusion
36. Observations on the Clinton Legacy: "A Tale of Two Presidencies"

Inside the Clinton White House

An Oral History

Russell L. Riley

Oxford Oral History Series

Author Information

Russell L. Riley, Associate Professor and Co-Chair of the Presidential Oral History Program, Miller Center, University of Virginia

Russell L. Riley is Associate Professor and Co-Chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, where he has conducted nearly 300 oral history interviews with senior officials from every administration from Jimmy Carter onwards. He is the author and editor of several books on the American presidency, including The Presidency and the Politics of Racial Inequality: Nation-Keeping from 1831 to 1965 and The President's Words: Speeches and Speechwriting in the Modern White House.

Inside the Clinton White House

An Oral History

Russell L. Riley

Oxford Oral History Series

Reviews and Awards

"[A] masterful history of the White House told from the perspective of those who were there. Russell Riley has collated countless hours of elite interviewing into a vivid and eminently useful narrative history of the presidency of Bill Clinton... The frankness of the text combined with Riley's gift for narrative and structure make this book a vital contribution to the literature not only on William Jefferson Clinton, but also on presidential politics and oral history, as well" - Journal of Politics

"[Inside the Clinton White House] contains plenty of insights... Every chapter crackles with anecdotes and serious discussions for political junkies, including Clinton partisans and Clinton detractors." - Kirkus

"The inevitable question that trails every action or reaction within a presidency is, What really happened? Here now in Russell Riley's Inside the Clinton White House is the answer-more accurately, the answer(s)-for Bill Clinton. They come in the stunningly candid oral history recollections of the people who were there with Clinton. The end result is not only a serious account of the working and thinking in a modern presidency. It reads like a page-turning adventure novel."-Jim Lehrer, former PBS TV anchor and novelist "

"This oral history is indispensable in understanding President Clinton and his times. The interviews are wonderfully readable and splendidly evocative, page after page, and provide a window for us to understand how policy was transformed from the maelstrom of the campaign into the mechanisms of governance." - Richard M. Pious, Adolph and Effie Ochs Professor (emeritus), Barnard College and author of Why Presidents Fail

"Russell Riley has done a superb job of editing reminiscences of the tumultuous Bill Clinton presidency. Recollections of insiders about what it was like to be in the White House on learning that Vince Foster had committed suicide, that the president had engaged in sex with a young intern, and that Republicans were going to impeach him will keep readers enthralled page after page."-William E. Leuchtenburg, author, The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton "

"[A] valuable volume featuring everyone from Clinton secretary Betty Currie to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright... [It] reminds us that most presidential history" - scandals included

"Compelling...[Russell Riley] has made an essential contribution to our understanding of the Clintons and their times - providing potent ammunition for partisans, useful evidence for scholars, and juicy historical tidbits for all." - Washington Post