Word: reaganism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...stars are twits at worst. Clinton, however, should know better. When Jimmy Carter (cynically) quoted Bob Dylan, it made him seem with it; when Reagan had Candice Bergen and Andy Warhol to state dinners, the effect was a certain (cynical) black-tie inclusiveness. This President, however, is not being calculating enough; his omigosh pleasure at hanging around with celebrities is too palpable. It seems particularly dumb for Clinton, whose candidacy was almost wrecked by allegations of past adulteries, to consort regularly with the Sharon Stones of the world. The show people mean well, and Clinton is guilty mainly of excessive...
After a week of desperately seeking advice on how best to right his troubled Administration, Clinton turned to an unexpected source for help: a Republican. On Saturday he tapped David Gergen, a veteran of the Nixon and Reagan White Houses, to join his staff. Gergen, a commentator, replaces communications director George Stephanopoulos as Clinton's top spokesman, and is expected to help Clinton emphasize the moderate, centrist themes on which he campaigned. Even this decision was made in typical Clinton fashion: without much warning, late at night, and with a last-minute O.K. from Hillary Rodham Clinton. In an interview...
That has been painfully apparent in the past two weeks. To build on the House victory, say senior Democrats and many Cabinet officials, Clinton must quickly reshuffle his White House. Gergen's arrival is a curious first step in that direction. Whether a Reagan Republican, even one moderated by years on the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, can effectively lead a band of young, fiercely partisan White House communications operatives is far from certain. Gergen says he is "convinced" Clinton wants to "run a bipartisan government." But other than Gergen's appointment itself, there has been scant evidence of any commitment...
...quality of presidential character is knowing what you don't know. Ronald Reagan relied on James Baker, and George Bush turned to John Sununu, because both Presidents knew they lacked the rigor required to run the Executive Branch alone. Clinton refuses to admit that he cannot do it all himself. "They need someone who can maintain iron discipline, who will look at the schedule and take a red pen to anything that isn't about the economy," said a senior Democrat. But Clinton needs someone who can also discipline Clinton. Says a close friend of 25 years: "They...
...Bill Clinton seeks to understand his quick transit from hero to goat (and hopefully back to hero) -- the roller-coaster common to the modern presidency -- this assessment from a 1983 New York Times editorial has become a totem among senior Administration officials. "Reagan was a goner, right?" says a Clinton adviser. "But then the business cycle took an upturn, and he won big a year later. Reagan's ups and downs remind us to take the long view. Bill Clinton won't be dead until he's laid out with his sax." It's simple, the President himself explained privately...