1 option
The truth of power : intellectual affairs in the Clinton White House / Benjamin R. Barber.
LIBRA E886.2 .B37 2001
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Barber, Benjamin R., 1939-2017.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Clinton, Bill, 1946---Knowledge and learning.
- Clinton, Bill.
- Clinton, Bill, 1946---Friends and associates.
- Clinton, Bill, 1946-.
- Presidents--United States--Biography.
- Presidents.
- Executive power.
- Intellectual life.
- Friends and associates.
- United States.
- Presidents--United States--Intellectual life.
- United States--Intellectual life--20th century.
- Intellectuals--United States--History--20th century.
- Intellectuals.
- History.
- Executive power--United States--Case studies.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Case studies.
- Physical Description:
- 320 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : W.W. Norton, [2001]
- Summary:
- President Clinton had a romance with big ideas. He intently cultivated intellectuals, seducing them with his characteristic charm and with the promise of real influence on the political stage. Yet most often he disappointed the big thinkers whose advice he sought.
- Benjamin Barber was first invited to Camp David in 1994, along with other prominent members of the academic community, to participate in a "seminar" with President Clinton on the future of Democratic ideas and ideals. Afterwards, he became a steady informal adviser to the White House. For a politically committed professor like Barber, the opportunity was exhilarating -- here was a chance to put ideas into action, to link ideas to power. The result was enlightening, if unexpected. The most unpredictable factor was the president himself: a man of astonishing intellectual gifts, a consummate listener and synthesizer of ideas, who nonetheless failed to present a stirring vision that could endure beyond his term in office.
- With perceptiveness, wit, and elan, Barber provides a startling meditation on truth and power -- and the truth of power, which is the responsibility of the elected not to an idea but to the electorate. He identifies the fault lines that future progressive candidates must straddle if they are to win -- and the gift they must have, if they are to be great, of calling forth the best in their fellow citizens. In the end, Barber gives us a unique portrait of our compelling and maddening ex-president, and the hopes and disillusionments he represents.
- Contents:
- Preface: My Affair with Clinton 11
- 1 The Road to Camp David 19
- 2 Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow 45
- 3 Arguments at Laurel Lodge 67
- 4 The Art of Speechwriting 104
- 5 A Blizzard in D.C. 132
- 6 The Community Service President 160
- 7 Chairman of the NEH (Not!) 182
- 8 Hollywood East
- A Dinner at the White House 202
- 9 A Guest from the Harding Era 217
- 10 Clinton vs. Jihad vs. McWorld 239
- 11 Hillary Takes Over 263
- 12 The End of the Affair and the Legacy Question 286.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 0393020142
- OCLC:
- 46359321
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.