The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House

by John F. Harris

reviewed May 2019

The title of this book is perfect. This is a book that focuses on the two-term Bill Clinton presidency from 1992-2000. Regardless of your opinion of the man, it seemed that there were always scandals, always investigations, always hints of unscrupulous behavior that occurred during his tenure. We heard much more about these events than things that actually mattered when describing a President’s job description and accomplishments. Much of these allegations were yellow-journalism speculation, but many were proven to be true. Yet through all of this, Bill Clinton survived. How will history remember him? Author John F. Harris tells us that we’ll just have to wait and see.

This was a very well written book. I’ve tried to read bios of all U.S. presidents, yet the more recent the president, the more challenging it is to find such material. As stated above, history really needs time to digest the leader’s achievements before fair assessments can be made. There are plenty of books out there about the U.S. Presidents’ tenure in office, and of the four I’ve read recently (Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, and Clinton), this one was by far the best. Harris is an esteemed journalist, so he knows how to write without losing the reader’s attention. Although he covered the Clinton White House, he wisely keeps himself away from the action. This is a very unbiased book. We read about what makes Clinton great, but also the things that make him lousy. As lousy as things get, Clinton digs his heels in and keeps going. He’s truly a survivor.

When Clinton was elected, we must remember that he only received 43% of the popular vote. Had Independent Ross Perot not run, most historians conclude that George H.W. Bush would have easily been re-elected. That’s a bit scary since Bush ran an appalling re-election campaign. So once Clinton gets elected, there’s a fair amount of the public that clearly thinks he doesn’t belong there. It doesn’t help when you and your VP (along with the wives) look about 40 years younger than the Reagans and the Bushes. This was definitely a new generation of new leaders, and there are many among the old guard that never handle change well.

Things get off to a very rocky start as the young president is trying to learn how to lasso Washington. It doesn’t help when the majority of his advisors are just as young, cocky, and inexperienced as he is. Plus, there’s an awful lot of squabbling going on between these folks that are supposed to be helping their boss succeed. Then you add Hillary in the mix. I’m not saying adding Hillary to the decision-making process was a bad thing. Why shouldn’t a well-educated spouse help their mate? It’s just that, well, there’s that word “change” again. The country was used to First Ladies throwing tea parties on the White House lawn and speaking at Homemaker conferences. FLOTUS’s personality and work ethic was something that many found simply too jarring.

Then the 1994 mid-term elections happen. If there was ever any doubt that the current Commander in Chief was struggling, one needs to simply remember the election results. Pollster Dick Morris is quickly called in to make changes. Say what you want about the sleaziness of Dick Morris, the guy knows what he’s doing. He works with Clinton for the next two years around a topic known as ‘triangulation’, which simply means that Clinton (who, let’s be honest, was a VERY conservative Democrat) adopts many of the policies normally held by Republicans. The unthinkable happens; Clinton wins re-election. Of course, it helps when your primary adversaries on the Republican team are people like Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole.

Then, Monica Lewinsky.

She doesn’t necessarily appear out of the blue (was that a pun? If so, not intended). Author Harris lets us know throughout this retrospective that Clinton has a ‘problem’ being a womanizer. In fact, we may have never heard of Lewinsky and it not been for Whitewater and Paula Jones. I’m sure there are books out there that only detail Clinton’s sordid extra-marital affairs, yet Harris doesn’t overburden readers of this book with too many repugnant details. Yet these details are very relevant to why Clinton needed to be a “survivor”, so we do read a fair amount of the clandestine Oval Office encounters, the awfully embarrassing videotaped testimony, and the eventual impeachment. Definitely a sad time for the country.

After all of that mess was over and the Senate failed to convict him, there really wasn’t much time left in the administration. Those closest to Clinton (including his wife) seemed to forgive him and he plows through the remainder of his tenure in office. Harris then makes the observation that Bill Clinton was one of the very few presidents that exited the Oval Office on a ‘high’ note. That might be true, but things really couldn’t get much lower than they were during some of the years of his presidency. Plus, the economy was doing quite well, and that always seems to be a huge factor at election time.

In fact, you can’t help but speculate “What if?” What if the president simply learned to keep his pants zipped up? Many believe Gore could have easily won the 2000 election had it not been for the stains (there’s another unintended pun) of his predecessor. In fact, this book makes no secret that Al Gore was disgusted with his boss’s behavior, and preferred he stayed away from him during his presidential campaign of 2000. Then we come to the fact that Hillary spent an awful lot of time defending her husband throughout many of his trysts. Talk about a Catch-22. What else was she to do? Fast-forward to 2016, when SHE’S running for president, the cries of “Me too” and “Believe all Women” seemed to come back to bite her due to her complacent attitude towards her husband’s sins. Again, what else could she do?

Anyway, great book. I even paid full price (something I rarely ever do) and felt it was worth every penny. This is essential if you want to understand the ins and outs, the ups and downs, and the overall atmosphere of the Bill Clinton presidency.

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