Clinton Bill - All too human : (a political education)

I couldn't have written this book without the support, friendship, and advice of countless family and friends. To anyone I missed, I apologize in advance.

William Novak was the best writing coach a first-time author could ask for. From our first meeting through to the evening I read him the last line of my last draft, he was never more than a phone call away. He spent months in 1997 interviewing me for dozens of hours, transcribing the notes and helping me to organize my thoughts. When I actually began writing, I had the luxury of reading him my daily output over the phone and receiving his suggestions. Once the draft was completed, his edits helped clear away the clutter in my writing. Bill was also a good friend, reminding me that writer's block was not a permanent condition and welcoming me into his home. I'm also grateful to Linda and the rest of the Novak family for their hospitality, and a special thanks to Ben Novak for his fresh and careful read of an early draft.

If Bill Novak was my coach, my editor, Bill Phillips, acted like a good director. He pushed me to tell my story as I lived it, to feel the experience again, and to be honest with myself and my readers. There were times when I felt he understood the narrative even better than I did. Bill's vision and enthusiasm never failed to pump me up. I'm also grateful for the encouragement I received from Gladys Phillips, and the help of Nicole Hirsh. Little, Brown's publisher, Sarah Crichton, never failed to make me excited about the book, and I appreciate her patience and savvy.

Peter Osnos, publisher of Public Affairs, was a bluntly shrewd reader and wise counselor.

A number of close friends took the time to review, discuss, and improve my manuscript, including M. J. Rosenberg, Dan Porterfield, Karen Herrling, David Dreyer, Mark Steitz, Mark Halperin, Karen Avrich, Diana Silver, and Wendy Smith. Thanks also to Betsy Uhrig of Little, Brown for her meticulous copyediting. Barney Frank, Paul Begala, Gene Sperling, Mark Katz, and Michael Waldman helped refresh my recollection about various episodes in the book. Whatever errors of judgment and fact remain are mine alone.

Columbia's Jenny Parker and Chris Glaros ran my life in a way that made it possible for me to write this book. In addition to organizing my often chaotic schedule and managing my office, Jenny was a thoughtful reader and research assistant. Before heading west for Stanford Law School, Chris was both my teaching assistant at Columbia and research assistant on this book, reviewing thousands of pages of public records and making sure I got my facts straight. Both Jenny and Chris helped supervise interns Leora Hanser, Jacob Kupietzky, Nandini Ramnath, Margaret Connolly, Allison Mascorro, James Frederick Carson, Jennifer Credidio, Georgia Aarons, John Ray Clemmons, Meena Untawale, Lauren Rosenberg, Stefan Davis, and Robert Mook. Thanks to all.

A special word also for Heather Beckel, Laura Capps, Emily Lentzner, Stacy Parker, and Marlene McDonald, who did such a good job as my assistants during the 1992 campaign and in the White House.

My agent and attorney, Bob Barnett of Williams and Connolly, is a good lawyer and good friend. Thanks also to Jackie Davies and Sylvia Faison.

And a final thank-you to Kirk O'Donnell and Ann Devroy. They taught me much about politics and life. I miss them both.

A candid and highly readable memoir fueled less by any score-settling agenda than by an insider's preoccupation with process and a natural storyteller's fondness for vivid characters and anecdotes. It is a portrait of a White House riven by infighting and disorganization, and an indefatigable if often indecisive President given to volcanic rages and sentimental spasms. A lively memoir.

Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

It's the raw stuff of history. Stephanopoulos takes readers behind the scenes to show tense arguments between Clinton and his staff, tantrums and tender moments with Hillary Rodham Clinton, and a leader whose efforts to manipulate uncomfortable truths only made matters worse.

Josh Getlin, Los Angeles Times

The reflective, honest tone makes this book essential for anyone trying to understand life inside big-time politics. It's free of the too-tidy anecdotes that clog most political memoirs. The stories ring real, and they're well rendered. Mr. Stephanopoulos has an ear for pithy characterization and a judicious sense of where Bill Clinton went not just wrong, but right.

Jonathan Alter, New York Observer

An honest and revealing book, in many respects insightful about the workings of the White House staff.

Owen Ullman, Business Week

A vivid evocation of politics as it is lived at the highest level. All Too Human is one of the finest volumes of political memoirs to appear on either side of the Atlantic during this century. It is subtle and acute, beautifully written and beautifully constructed. It will be read with pleasure in a hundred years' time.

Anthony King, Political Science Quarterly

Stephanopoulos was an eager player in the inner game. He is candid about the mental and emotional toll levied by his constant desire to please Clinton amid all the White House tensions and conspiracies.

Marianne Means, Houston Chronicle

Shrewd observations abound. All Too Human is an insightful, indeed a painfully revealing, book.

Harry C. McPherson Jr., The Hill

Stephanopoulos tells his calculated story well, with a novelist's flair for sketching scenes and characters.

Walter Kirn, New York Magazine

An intriguing memoir. A valuable look inside this dysfunctional White House. With welcome touches of irony, All Too Human depicts the insider's world of power politics.

Philip Seib, Dallas Morning News

Stephanopoulos gives an insider's view. He tells his story with verve and color. He is at his most lyrical describing the romance of the early days of a presidential campaign. All Too Human provides glimpses of the major players as we haven't seen them before.

Adam Cohen, Chicago Tribune

An intimate memoir a rare behind-the-scenes view of the presidency. Readers may relish the juicy details of life in the scandal-plagued Clinton White House.

San Francisco Chronicle

Rare and admirable a bittersweet memoir. To fully understand the Faustian bargain that comes with apprenticing yourself to a presidential contender, you need to read every page of All Too Human.

Walter Shapiro, USA Today

Reflective, brutally honest, funny in parts. Stephanopoulos is gifted with a mercurial mixture of political radicalism and astute diplomacy. All Too Human is the book about the Clinton years.

Ed Vulliamy, The Observer (London)

O n the Saturday before Christmas 1992, I was feeling lucky. A few weeks earlier, with my help, Bill Clinton had been elected president and soon I'd be working for him in the White House. But first I had to visit the Rose Law Firm. If you've read John Grisham, you've got a pretty good idea what Rose Law was like Little Rock's version of The Firm. Not that anyone's ever been murdered there (as far as I know), but its pedigree, power, and aura of buttoned-down mystery had made it a force in Arkansas for more than a century. It was also Hillary Rodham Clinton's firm.

All that made me a little nervous as I walked through the empty streets of Little Rock. I knew my background check was just a formality and believed I had nothing to hide. Still, I couldn't help worrying as I crossed the parking lot and, as instructed, let myself in the back door.

Waiting for me in the conference room was Webster L. Hubbell, a Little Rock legend football star, former mayor, former judge, law partner of Hillary, golf partner of Bill. We had met only once before, and I thought of him as part of a pair. Webb and Vince. Hubbell and Foster. Vince Foster was Hillary's other close partner, and closer friend. Upright, quiet, and rail thin, Vince reminded me of Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in