The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House

Shortly after winning the presidency in November of 1992 over incumbent President George Bush Clinton soon had to both come to grips and realize that his work was cut out a lot more for him, than he, or his campaign staff could've ever realized. Ultimately, he had to accept the fact that he would have to do some drastic compromising from his campaign promises. Clinton of course campaigned to be a "New Democrat" who would restore the economy to the forgotten middle-class and overturn the Reagan-Era greed of the 1980s, by investing in jobs, education, and health insurance reform. After meeting with Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, he soon realized that it wouldn't be so easy. As it would turn out, taking bold action to reduce the overwhelming national deficit would become the top-notch priority of his economic recovery plan, and would hog up most of his budget. Therefore his beloved domestic investment agenda would have to be sacrificed. Including his promised tax-cut for the middle-class.

So even before, let alone after Clinton took the oath of office, Clinton had his work cut out for him. He had to realize
early that his approval ratings would sink miserably and there would be disenchantment among his strongest supporters, let alone the American people. In many ways, two camps developed in his White House. There were the fiscal conservatives such as Robert Rubin, Leon Panetta, David Gergan. Then there were those from his campaign staff who wanted him to continue with his campaign pledges of investment such as Paul Begala, George Stephanapolis, and James Carville.

Greenspan's influence over the new president was amazing. Although it was from a neutral point of view, Greenspan
made Clinton understand how it was crucial that Clinton tackle the deficit. Or else long-term interest rates would never come down and the economy would never take off. Without the economy taking off, no way would Clinton ever be able to get back to doing the things that he was elected to do, let alone re-elected in 1996. Clinton had to come to accept that he would have to sacrifice many things, among them, his political popularity, but know that the long term effects would pay off dividends for both him politically, and for the US economy.

Fortunately for him, it did apparently work out for the best, and he did (with the extreme help of a Republican Congress
balance the federal budget in 1997) reduce the deficit and gave us a budget surplus. What should also be strongly considered is that he did this, at the behest of cutting the DOD and the intelligence community, which contributes to events such as September 11th, 2001.

What is also amazing about this book, is that Woodward gives you a fly-on-the-wall view of the battle to pass this
budget through both the House and the Senate. It also gives you the word for word account of a bitter phone conversation between Clinton and Nebraska Democratic Senator Bob Kerry, in which Clinton tells Kerry to go f--- himself, when Kerry refuses to vote for his budget, which turned out to be the crucial vote.

As it would turn out, Kerry would vote for it, making it a tie. Gore then gave the over the top vote and the budget was
passed.

This book was very, very good, and that is why I was able to go through it so quickly.

-Nicholas J. Vertucci


Big Fan   April 17, 2002
John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada)
23 out of 25 found this review helpful

Ok, I admit it; I am a big fan of Woodward. I will read everything he puts out and probably enjoy it. With that being said here is another book of his that I will profess to really enjoying. For my money he is the best political writer in the business today. He has so many contacts that many times in reading the book you could swear he has the White House bugged. This book follows the Clinton team through the first two years that they are in office. You get all the standard Woodward items with the book, great details, wonderful he said - she said conversations that really make you feel like a fly on the wall, an easy to follow and well laid out book.

I have read the book All Too Human that George Stephanopoulos wrote and in the book he describes the interviewing technique of Woodward, he stated that Woodward has a great style of getting you comfortable with him and then before you know it you are spilling all the secrets. What was also interesting is that Stephanopoulos wrote that Woodward audio tapes all of his interviews so that leads me to believe that the information in his books has not gone through a reporter taking notes loss of detail. One last bit of info is the Stephanopoulos said that once this book came out the Clinton's got so mad at George for all of the info he told Woodward that they basically shut him out for a year. That must mean Woodward got it right.

A great follow up to this book is the Elizabeth Drew book "Showdown: The Struggle between the Gingrich Congress and the Clinton White House", it picks up where The Agenda leaves off. This is an interesting book that I really enjoyed. IF you like Woodward you will like this book, if you are interested in the first two years of the Clinton presidency then this is also a good source of information.


Good review of Clinton's early years as President   June 18, 2000
Paul Underwood
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is a very good synopsis of Clinton's first few years. Much insight is given and issues are discussed. Also, many interesting pictures. Good source of history.


A quick, journalistic expose rather than history   August 5, 1997
20 out of 21 found this review helpful

If you're looking for a critical analysis of the first 100 days of the Clinton White House, this is not the book for you. Woodward's unimpeachable ability to get the most minute human details about his subject merely presents the scene; he leaves it to others to blow rhetoric hot and cold about our controversial President. Woodward places the reader inside the White House, where you feel the frenzied pressure of trying to pass an economic reform package. And for a political junkie, Woodward's fly-on-the-wall style of reporting is great fun. Congress emerges as a hodge-podge of competing special interests and constituencies, and you feel the White House's frustration with it's own ignorance of Byzantium On The Potomac. The Outsiders from Arkansas receive their crash course in Washington politics, and it's not pretty. With every compromise struck, two hard-won bargains are lost. Yet the players never seem petty, but merely hostage to the varied yet insatiable demands of the American electorate. These are men and women of conscience and duty, yet must work in the most competitive of environments. After reading this account, one cannot help but reconsider his last diatribe about the bums in Washington: Woodward eloquently and entertainingly presents the burdens The System imposes on our elected officials and their staffs. All in all, an entertaining, surprisingly fast read


Talking 'Bout The New Kid In Town   June 15, 2005
Bill Slocum (Norwalk, CT USA)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

"The Agenda" reads pretty dull for the first 100 or so pages, skimming over Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign and the promises he would make (and sometimes, break) with celebrated muckraker Bob Woodward displaying more his gimlet eye for detail than his nose for news, or more unhappily for readers, any interest in characterizing the ideas and personalities of the Clintonistas in more than bold strokes.

Maybe Woodward wanted to give us some of the numbing sensation President Clinton experienced when he and his wife Hillary woke up in the White House, only to realize it wasn't Disneyland and they couldn't change the world overnight. Even with firm Democrat majorities in the House and Senate, there would be those who, whether out of caprice, malice, or simply not seeing issues the same way, wouldn't play ball.

Complicating matters was a national economy that Clinton had made the central concern of his campaign ("It's the economy, Stupid" became such a mantra Clinton insiders shortened it to ITES) and now threatened to bury him after years of profligate spending by his Republican predecessors. Before any meaningful change could occur, Clinton had to work on such capitalist esoterica as interest rates and deficit reduction.

The liberal side of Clinton balked: "I hope you're all aware we're all Eisenhower Republicans," Woodward recounts Clinton yelling at his cabinet. "We stand for lower deficits and free trade and the bond market. Isn't that great?"

It is at this point, more than a third of the way in, that "The Agenda" zooms right up there with "The Brethren" and "The Final Days" in terms of Woodward tomes. Not that Woodward's prose ever sings (he is strictly meat-and-potatoes that way), but the story evolves into one of good intentions clouded by hubris and political calculations. Even when progress is made, passions run high, way high, too high.

Political consultants who should have been given letters of reference after the Inauguration are instead allowed to roam through the White House browbeating economic advisors about low poll numbers more than three years before the next presidential election. Congressional Republicans are ignored so contemptuously that conservative and moderate Democrats on the Hill get nervous.

And then there's Hillary, who while her husband desperately insists he's no tax-and-spender, casually tells a roomful of senators she'll need $100 billion in new revenue to nationalize health care. When a friendly Democrat asks for her to back up on that obvious red flag, she replies: "That's the truth and they better get used to it."

The book ends with the successful passage of Clinton's first budget and with Hillary's health care initiative still alive. In fact, things would get worse for Clinton before they got better; 1994 presented him with Republican control of the legislature for the first time in 40 years. That's probably not what he had in mind when he talked about being an "Eisenhower Republican."

As a character study, it's not much, but "The Agenda" lays out the early history of the Clinton Administration in what seems a fair and balanced as well as absorbing style. A lack of quotes hurts; Woodward notes that all his many interviews were done not for attribution, and won't be made public for 40 years.

Even Mark Felt didn't have that good a deal. Also the reader misses out on being able to understand who told Woodward what and gauging why they did so. But since some like George Stephanopoulos say Woodward was on the mark (even though his participation cost him Clinton's good graces), it seems like the reporting here was solid. Woodward isn't a pundit, thank God, and he's no Zola, but he shows here why he is considered by so many to be one of the best reporters ever.