Behind the Oval Office: Winning the Presidency in the Nineties by Dick Morris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"This is a report of an overwhelming experience, two years working with President Clinton as he struggled to save his presidency and win the support of the American people for a second term. But it is also the story of how a presidential campaign operates in the nineties and how a new moderate consensus has formed in America."

I did not have to look very far to find a suitable epigraph for the review of Dick Morris's Behind the Oval Office (1997). The quote uses the very first two sentences of the book. The first one is the shortest possible summary of the book, while the second one shows how tremendously things changed in just 25 years. "Moderate consensus in America" characterizes the situation in 1996 pretty well. 25 years later, in the beginning of the Twenties, things are completely different! From moderate consensus to utter polarization! Anyway, back to the book.

Dick Morris, now a political commentator and author, used to be a pollster and political consultant. Although before working as the chief strategist of President Clinton's 1996 campaign, he had also advised Bill Clinton during his term as the governor of Arkansas, he mainly worked for the Republican politicians. He explains:

"I have worked for both Democrats and Republicans, which strikes some people as the height of cynicism. I would refute that. I do have political convictions , as will become apparent in this narrative, but I am not an ideologue in search of a candidate. I am happiest when I can put my technical skills at the service of someone I admire, [...] "

The most famous word related to President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign is Mr. Morris's concept of "triangulation." Here's the author's version of what he told Clinton:

"Triangulate, create a third position, not just in between the old positions of the two parties but above them as well. Identify a new course that accommodates the needs the Republican address but does it in a way that is uniquely yours."

(I have some trouble seeing the "above the two positions" part in Mr. Morris's election strategy; I just see it as a "mixed strategy" as known in the mathematical game theory, but then I am just a mathematician...)

The reader will find great many insightful (yet often specific to the given times in the American history) observations in the book. I like the bold statement:

"If the GOP was laying claim to 'I,' Bill Clinton was advocating 'we.'"

In my view, this is still one of the main differences between the two parties' political philosophies. On the other hand, here's what the author says about populism, as he summarizes Michael Kazin's work The Populist Persuasion:

"Democrats base their party on economic populism while Republicans use social populism instead. Kazin's basic point is that economic populism is declining, while social populism is rising. The enemy of economic populism is wealth and privilege. The enemy of social populism is the intellectual and cultural elite."

While this was true a quarter of century ago, I am not sure it is still true these days.

The reader will also find accounts of perpetual infighting in the campaign, jockeying for power and influence in advising President Clinton, and ugly intrigues like the story of Mr. Morris's memo to Bob Dole. The author's contempt for some people clearly shows despite his attempts to sound balanced and fair. What a contrast with the masterly neutral tone of Bob Woodward in The Choice that I reviewed here last week!

For me, the worst aspect of the book is the author's insistence of interlacing the interesting and worthwhile political analyses with the story of his personal downfall, caused by a flagrant form of marital infidelity. While I understand that this should have been mentioned to explain certain events, I don't believe the author should have returned to it so many times. Yet, even with that flaw, I recommend the book. A good, thought-provoking read!

Three-and-a-quarter stars.


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