POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words That Defined the Clinton Presidency
President Clinton won't be remembered for soaring, Lincolnesque rhetoric--even top speechwriter Michael Waldman admits that: "Clinton does not leave a long trail of chiseled phrases," writes Waldman in his memoirPOTUS Speaks(POTUS is the acronym used in White House memos for President of the United States). "Frequently his speeches read like what they are: transcripts of a highly persuasive man trying to win a listener's agreement." That's right on target. Clinton's best-known phrases have been either embarrassments ("that depends on what the meaning ofisis") or clichés repeated with numbing frequency ("Let's build that bridge to the 21st century"). Yet Waldman hails Clinton for "transforming the way a president uses the bully pulpit to lead," by adapting to the current media environment in which 24-hour cable channels dictate how the news is made, packaged, and delivered.Waldman, who worked for Clinton from 1992 to 1999, is an unabashed supporter: "I was proud to work for Clinton, proud of what he accomplished for the country. For all his mistakes, I think that Bill Clinton was not only a successful president, but an important one." In other words, this is no kiss-and-tell memoir of the type that haunted the Reagan administration. Instead, it is the story of how an administration built its rhetoric around its policies, as told by a key player and an apologist. Waldman describes, for instance, how Bob Dole inspired that phrase about building a bridge to the 21st century: during his acceptance speech at the GOP convention in 1996, Dole said he wanted to "be the bridge to a time of tranquility, faith, and confidence in action"--i.e., the past. Waldman also recounts a few hilarious anecdotes, such as what happened when he saw Robert McNamara and Ira Magaziner--the failed gurus of the Vietnam War and the Clinton health-care plan, respectively--meet in the White House mess. Another example: "Every few days, in the morning staff meetings, [economic advisor] Gene Sperling would issue a cryptic report on the fluctuations of a currency. 'The Thai baht took a big hit today,' he would announce.... The staff would nod gravely, as if we knew whether there was, in fact, a Thai baht."POTUS Speaksis simultaneously loyal and revealing--a neat trick. It's an entertaining account of the Clinton presidency told from an insider's perspective.--John J. Miller