Outside Reading posts 7, 8 &9 of 12

When you are elected president, you are given a great amount of power, but even a tiny mistake using that power can cause great repercussions throughout the world. At one point early in the Clinton presidency, 14 men were arrested in Kuwait for planning the assassination of former president Bush as he was to receive an award in Kuwait City. A meeting was held in the situation room where Clinton and his top guns, including the author and Colin Powell, assessed the situation. The group was contemplating weather to launch a missile strike or stand idly by, and Mr. Stephanopoulos described what his colleague Warren Christopher said as: "Warren Christopher, whose taciturn North Dakota nature appeared to restrain his loquacious Arkansas boss, offered a one-sentence conclusion: 'You'll be judged on whether you hit the target' " (160). This simple conclusion emanates the simplicity of the situation and how simple the mind of the general American person is. In the end, after everyone around the table agreed that the best idea was to shoot the missiles off, Mr. Stephanopoulos said: " 'I don't think there's a choice, Mr. President' " (161). Clinton ended up launching the missiles, some of which hit the target. The book did not say the number of casualties, but the cost of defending the prior president was present.

A major roadblock during the Clinton Presidency was always put in place when the President was forced to nominate someone from a now-vacant position. In March of 1993, a justice on the Supreme Court resigned, forcing Clinton to choose a replacement before June 15th, when  he would have to announce his pick to the Senate. Mario Cuomo, the governor of New York at the time, was the President's top choice for the pick, but the nominee was unsure of his intentions, he did not know if he really wanted the job or not. "That morning, Cuomo was still ducking the president. Clinton had called him the day before, but Cuomo's secretary didn't put the call through, saying that the governor was in the middle of budget negotiations and couldn't be disturbed. Yeah. Cuomo didn't take the call because he couldn't decide what to do- again" (166). This shows that you have to address and act aggressive toward someone who is on the fence, or else you will be wasting your valuable time and energy fighting a lost cause with petty exchanges. Cuomo finally rejected the offer, but then his son Andrew made a push for him to be reconsidered in calling Mr. Stephanopoulos the day before the announcement. He said that he would try to convince his dad to reconsider and accept the president's offer. Mr. Stephanopoulos wanted badly for Cuomo to be on the court, so he took the message to the President. Eventually, Cuomo rejected the offer again and Clinton had to nominate his second choice. Mr. Stephanopoulos was deeply saddened and felt stupid for considering him a second time and Clinton said: " 'My wife, Hillary, gave me a book that says, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.'" (174). This great quote conveys that if you have already failed in an area once, don't stupidly do the same thing again.

The single most important bill of Clinton's presidency was about to be held for a vote in the house. It was his major economic plan, and the result would either boost or ruin his presidency. The outline of the plan was to increase taxes for the rich, and improve programs for the poor and middle class, to help the average American out and bolster the economy. Sometimes, every vote is so important that it is worth giving out endless promises to ensue them. A majority of 218 is needed to win a vote in the House of Representatives, and the Clinton camp predicted themselves about 30 votes short. They were madly trying to gain votes, and Mr. Stephanopoulos described the situation as: "Getting us to 218 would take a lot of hand-holding and hard dealing. The democratic leaders- Speaker Tom Foley, Majority leader Dick Gephardt, and Majority Whip David Bonior- did their part with Howard Paster up on the Hill. Bob Rubin, Lloyd Bentsen, and Mack McLarty called everyone they knew too. But Clinton would have to get the final few votes himself. In the end, this was his plan and his presidency. He was commander and crew" (176-177). The mass chaos that ensued trying to gain those votes was necessary to keep the presidency alive, which made watching the voting on C-SPAN immensely intense. "they turned in their green voting cards, and the Speaker's gavel cfame hammering down. The final vote was 218-216. Not a vote to spare. The president's study erupted in a riot of hugs that soon subdued into sober relief. Clinton wasn't ready to celebrate" (179). Being a part of a presidential staff is one of the most nerve-racking intense experiences on this planet when a vote is close. It is also crazy when votes are needed for your cause. But in the end, the sweet success of knowing you changed America for the better is more than an adequate award.