The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House
Published May 30, 2005
—Bill Clinton was so upset that his weight-loss regimen in 2000 was not working that he made his aides release a bogus number after his annual Navy physical to make him five pounds lighter. (pg. 394)
—Hillary taunted her husband's aides as being wimps by not fighting hard enough on Whitewater - "JFK had real men in his White House!" (pg. 108)
—Tipper Gore was so disgusted in 2000 with Bill and Hillary that she stayed cloistered in a holding room instead of going to a New York reception with major Democratic fund-raisers where the Clintons would be. "No, I'm not doing it," she snapped to an aide. "I'm not going out there with that man."
—The first conversation between Clinton and Gore after the Lewinsky story broke. Clinton is shouting at Gore, "This is a fucking coup d'etat!" Gore just stared back blankly. pg 313.
—Former White House counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke on the record hitting Clinton for not having the guts to fire FBI director Louis Freeh, who Clarke called a major obstacle on anti-terrorism policy. "He should have just fired Freeh and taken the shit it would have caused." (pg. 408)
[...]
From pages 356-7 of The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House by John F. Harris, national correspondent for the Washington Post (the context is Sally Quinn's article from 11/98 explaining why the Washington Establishment was appalled by Clinton's behavior during Lewinksy):
Some time afterward the president was going over papers with his staff on the upcoming Presidential Medal of Freedom awards. Spontaneously, he launched into a little riff for his assembled aides. His nominee for the prestigious award this year would be none other than the famous [Watergate editor] Ben Bradlee, husband of Sally Quinn.The aides looked on in puzzled amusement.
"Anyone who sleeps with that bitch deserves a medal!" he explained.
Sounds like interesting reading.
One wonders if there are any revelations in this book that will have an effect on Hillary's inevitable run for the White House in 2008...
This book isn't exactly kicking ass on Amazon's sales ranking right now, but I suspect that will change in a few days.
- The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House
- Published: May 30, 2005
- Type: News
- Section: Books
- Filed Under: Books: Politics and Affairs
- Writer: RJ Elliott
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RJ Elliott is a graduate student studying Criminal Justice at the University Of Central Florida. His likes include nature, sports, and pierced blondes. He dislikes daytime television, left-wing dictators, and lead-tainted Chinese imports. He is ambivalent about Angelina Jolie.

Ben Bradlee is gonna be one angry motherfarker tonight when he reads that!
Bill, you got potty mouth!
Sally Quinn is very nice lady.
Now all my heroes are busted.
Bill Clinton, sayonara!