THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040042
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: BY JEREMIAH J.A. CRONIN
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
ELIZABETH DREW'S ``On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency'' (Simon & Schuster, $24) shares several things in common with the presidency it describes: It is thorough, has brilliant moments of insight and could use improvement in the presentation.
Drew, a longtime Washington political writer and media commentator, continually cites President Clinton for lacking a forceful chief of staff to organize the White House; her book could have used a forceful editor to smooth over difficult phrases and make more effective use of what appears to be impressive access to the highest levels of the administration.
In ``On the Edge,'' Drew paints a picture of a ``New Democrat'' gone bad who is trying to fight his way back. This portrait is especially caustic in light of the Republican Party's November takeover of both houses of Congress.
Elected on a platform shaped by the middle-to-conservative Democratic Leadership Council, Clinton was quickly co-opted by incumbent Democratic legislators and the party wing that has managed to turn ``liberalism'' into a derogatory term. Inexperienced in Washington and determined to have the makeup of the executive branch reflect demographics, Clinton turned away some of the legitimate old hands who might have helped him and instead created a management team that became known as ``the kids.''
Of particular note is Drew's portrayal of Lloyd Bentsen, who recently resigned as secretary of the Treasury. Along with Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Bentsen is respected by the new president for his experience in the capital and his savvy. But, according to Drew, Bentsen became frustrated and impatient with an administration run by long meetings in which everyone's feelings get expressed and no one takes charge.
Drew emphasizes Clinton's love of meetings and his penchant for opinion-gathering and talk. He is never on time, and many decisions are never made or, worse yet, are made and then changed.
This presidential propensity became a serious problem during legislative negotiations, such as those held in 1993 over the budget bill. A group of House members were led to believe that the BTU energy tax was a non-negotiable part of the bill. It was a painful vote to support, they reasoned, but everyone would be pitching in to cut the deficit. After the House vote, however, Clinton pulled an about-face on the broad-based BTU tax, replaced it with a gasoline tax that was more appealing to the Senate and left supporters in the House wondering if he could be trusted.
Drew makes interesting mention of the support that Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, gave the Clinton administration after the deficit-reducing budget bill was passed. Evidently, Greenspan felt that Congress and the administration were working to make good on the efforts begun under President Bush, the same tough but necessary decisions that led him to break his ``read my lips'' pledge about taxes and do something real about the deficit. Greenspan agreed to keep interest rates low to support the economic plan. In light of recent rate increases, one might wonder if Greenspan is beginning to doubt Clinton's will to control his budget or that of the Congress to control the purse strings.
Documented throughout the book is the extraordinary role that Hillary Rodham Clinton has played in the presidency. From the beginning, she has had a lock on two important aspects of the government: staffing the Justice Department and reforming health care.
Drew says Hillary Clinton and her aide de camp, Susan Thomases, were given virtual carte blanche in filling justice positions. As for health care, the plan devised by the first lady and her adviser, Ira Magaziner, caused consternation among everyone from then-Chief of Staff Thomas McLarty to Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala; however, no one dared to take her on. As a result, her overly complex plan was dead on arrival when it reached Congress, giving the president a policy defeat in an area that he deeply cared about. Worse for the American people, it let stand a financial situation that, by the most conservative estimates, will put the federal budget over the edge.
Washington wonks will likely criticize ``On the Edge'' for being mostly old news. Like most chronicles of political history, it devotes ample space to identifying many strands in the web of events and relationships. To take in this massive amount of information, the reader has to work hard.
As one who does not follow the day-to-day workings of that Byzantium on the Potomac, I found the book informative, enlightening of current events and worth the effort. MEMO: Jeremiah J.A. Cronin is an environmental consultant who lives in
Norfolk. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Elizabeth Drew is a longtime Washington political writer.
by CNB