Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton (71 page)
Read Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton Online
Authors: Joe Conason
Tags: #Presidents & Heads of State, #General, #Leadership, #Biography & Autobiography, #Political Process, #Political Science
I continue to be among the fortunate clients of the Wylie Agency, where Jeffrey Posternak and Andrew Wylie offer encouragement and friendship as well as the best professional advice.
Very special appreciation is due for the generous support of Brian Snyder, Cecilia and Seward Johnson, and Bernard Schwartz, and for the counsel of Jill Straus and Susan Torricelli. My profound thanks as well to John Podesta and Debbie Fine for fellowship support from the Center for American Progress, and New York University’s Center on Law and Security, where former executive director Karen Greenberg and her staff were enormously helpful.
President Clinton agreed to participate in this project, spending many hours in conversation with me about his ideas and work. Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton kindly found time for interviews. I also appreciate the guidance of Nick Merrill, Cheryl Mills, Tamera Luzzatto, and Philippe Reines.
Not everyone who provided interviews or insights can be named here, but I owe the most sincere thanks to Douglas J. Band and Justin Cooper, as well as Jonathan Alter, Bill Babiskin, Ehud Barak, Bradley Beychok, David Brock, Ellen Chesler, Sandra Cress, Adrienne Elrod, Michael Feldman, Matt Gertz, Frank Giustra, Don Hazen, Harold Ickes, Pranay Gupte, Zelda LaGrange, Gene Lyons, Edwin Macharia, Terry McAuliffe, Matt McKenna, Eric Nonacs, John Podesta, George Polk, James Stewart Polshek, Jonathan Powell, Christopher Ruddy, Martin Rosenblatt, Douglas Schoen, Jake Siewert, Strobe Talbott, Karen Tramontano, Casey Wasserman, and Ted Widmer.
I am similarly indebted to Valerie Alexander, Ilya Aspis, Dr. Roger Band, Corey Ganssley, Jon Davidson, Amitabh Desai, Marc Dunkelman, Tina Flournoy, Robert Harrison, Ed Hughes, Amed Khan, Barbara Kinney, Terry Krinvic, Bruce Lindsey, Ira Magaziner, Kelly McCrystal, Walker Morris, Mary Morrison, Craig Minassian, Hannah Richert, David Ripin, Helen Robinson, Stephanie S. Streett, Angel Urena, Chris Wayne, Ed Wood, Clyde Williams, and Maggie Williams.
The Secret Service agents who protected President Clinton were required to put up with me on more than one long trip. I appreciate the patience and assistance of Dave Watson, Ralph Sozio, Mike Lee, Joe Russo, Jeff Irvine, Edna Perry, Will Dinkins, and all their dedicated colleagues.
The astute, diligent, and resourceful Emily Martin met my research needs capably and cheerfully, producing copious source material on very short deadlines. Sonia Houmis and her colleagues at TruTranscripts in New York transcribed interviews rapidly and superbly, as always.
The Writers Room provided a comfortable, quiet space to work and a friendly atmosphere enhanced by executive director Donna Brodie, Liz Sheman, and Vilma Torres.
It is difficult to express my lasting gratitude to the exceptional physicians who made my work possible, notably Dr. Thomas MacGillivray, Dr. Joseph M. Garasic, Dr. Faith Frable, and Dr. Allan Schwartz and his assistant, Trudi Santobello. I prefer not to imagine what would have happened without them.
The inspiration for this book began with a profile of President Bill Clinton that I wrote for
Esquire
in 2005. I still feel grateful for that assignment and the marvelous experience of working with David Grainger and Mark Warren, both outstanding editors.
The leadership and staff of The Nation Institute and the Investigative Fund could not have been more sympathetic, patient, and cooperative. I am especially grateful to executive director Taya Kitman and my longtime colleague Esther Kaplan, as well as Sarah Blustain, Kristine Bruch, Annelise Whitley, Eli Clifton, Kelly Virella, Hendrik Hertzberg, Roz Hunter, and all of my colleagues there.
I also depended on the undaunted staff at
The National Memo
, including publisher Elizabeth Wagley and all those who sustained our newsletter and website whenever I had to direct my attention elsewhere, in particular Matt Shuham, Eric Kleefeld, Sam Reisman, Henry Decker, Avi Zenilman, and Harold Itzkowitz.
I cannot imagine at all how I would have completed this book without the warm support of our friends who gave me so much in so many different ways. Dr. Gail Furman, Mary Pat Bonner, Joan Bingham, Sidney and Jackie Blumenthal, Arki Busson, Philippe Dennery, Karen Greenberg, James Hamilton, Stephen Jones, Rory Kennedy and Mark Bailey, Gina MacArthur, John Sexton, Uma Thurman, and Eugenie Voorhees were among those who stepped up when things got rough.
Our amazing family lifted me up in those dark moments too, especially Symmie and John Newhouse, Ann and Graham Gund, Jean and John R. Wagley, Sr., Dr. Barbara Landreth, Julie Conason and Geoff Bryant, and Rose Masinambow.
And above all, I owe everything to my wife, Elizabeth, and our children Eleanor and Edward, who light up my world every day.
President Clinton with the author in Zanzibar, July 2005
JOE CONASON
is editor-in-chief of
The National Memo
and an editor at The Investigative Fund. A widely published columnist and reporter, he is the author of several books, including
Big Lies
, and coauthor of the
New York Times
bestseller
The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton
. He lives in New York City with his family.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
authors.simonandschuster.com/Joe-Conason
ALSO BY JOE CONASON
The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill Clinton
(with Gene Lyons)
Big Lies: The Right-wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth
The Raw Deal: How the Bush Republicans Plan to Destroy Social Security and the Legacy of the New Deal
It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush
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INDEX
A note about the index:
The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, Grand Mufti,
168
Abdulla bin Abdul-Aziz Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,
165
,
166
,
168
–69
Abdullah II, King of Jordan,
248
Abed, Fazle Hasan,
288
Abramson, Jill,
410
Adams, Gerry,
248
Afghanistan,
68
,
74
,
76
,
77
,
128
,
256
Africa,
36
,
58
,
84
,
95
,
139
–40,
173
,
174
,
207
,
246
,
247
,
273
–74,
286
,
385
,
400
–408,
411
,
455
,
456
AIDS pandemic in,
56
,
60
–63,
104
,
105
,
111
,
115
–16,
118
,
119
–21,
129
–30,
141
,
144
,
147
,
150
,
153
,
157
,
158
–63,
172
,
176
,
178
,
227
,
240
,
278
BC’s trips to,
228
–35,
266
–68,
303
–7,
347
–50
African National Congress (ANC),
159
,
160
“After Mining Deal, Financier Donated to Clinton” (Becker and van Natta),
297
–98
Agassi, Andre,
288
“AIDS Is Not a Death Sentence” (Clinton op-ed),
121
–22,
140
AIDS pandemic,
56
,
59
,
62
–63,
91
–96,
102
–22,
139
–43,
153
,
164
,
170
,
227
–28,
230
,
231
,
234
,
240
,
243
,
244
,
251
,
264
,
265
,
267
–68,
290
,
295
,
297
,
307
,
341
,
348
,
350
–51
campaign against generic drugs in,
176
–79,
225
–26
in Caribbean,
118
–19
childhood treatment in,
276
–78,
282
Clinton administration funding for,
140
,
141
conspiracy theories about,
159
–61
drug companies and,
108
–12