The Choice: How Bill Clinton Won by Bob Woodward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Lots of names would be applied to Morris's strategy. The most common was 'triangulation,' an alternative to the rigid orthodoxy of either conservatism or liberalism. The political spectrum was conventionally thought of as a line running from left to right, and political figures fell somewhere along that straight line. Morris argued that an innovative leader had to move out of the linear dimension to a point at the center but also above the conventional spectrum. That point then formed a triangle with the left and right."

This quote from Bob Woodward's The Choice. How Clinton won (1996) resonates with me not only because I have a strong dislike for orthodoxy of any kind. In mathematics, I am interested in the issues of dimensionality, thus moving from a one-dimensional straight line to a two-dimensional triangle makes me happier. OK, now seriously.

I am continuing my recent reading project that could be entitled "Politics and the media in the US". Mr. Woodward's work is the fourth in the series of my reads, and the fifth one is in the works (I am including the list below the review).

The book begins with the midterm elections of November 8, 1994 - a disaster for the incumbent president, Bill Clinton, a Democrat, as the Republicans capture both the Senate and the House. The reader will find a detailed chronicle of the presidential campaign between the late fall of 1994 and May of 1996. In my view, the coverage is fair and balanced: both sides are covered with a similar degree of depth and detail, and both sides are given comparable amount of space.

I am amazed how sympathetic the portrayals of both main candidates are: Bill Clinton's and Bob Dole's. They come across as well-intentioned, yet very human in their weaknesses and limitations. The faults of both sides and their errors in strategy and tactics are shown with quite some degree of sympathy. The book is also very well written; one of the examples of the literary skill may be how the author implicitly ridicules some minor candidates, without really saying anything negative about them.

On the Democratic side, the author focuses on the critical role of Dick Morris, Clinton's chief political strategist. Mr. Woodward writes:

"Morris was exultant. He had broken the system. He had broken Panetta, and Ickes, and Stephanopoulos. He figured now he could get control of the White House staff, place his people in key positions."

Despite Mr. Morris's ruthlessness in prosecuting his election strategy, he is also painted with a somewhat sympathetic brush. On the Republican side, the glowing portrayal of General Colin Powell, the almost-candidate, stands out, and the vignette about his extended decision-making process is riveting.

The Afterword, written in 1997, is very interesting. True, it benefits from hindsight, yet while the analysis of the election results is brief, I find it insightful. The reader will find there Mr. Woodward's list of ten political fundamentals for a winning presidential campaign.

The Choice is a masterclass work in political reportage. An interesting, captivating read, yet - at the same time - detailed, deep, and comprehensive. It manages to avoid most trivialities, and focuses instead on the important things - the so-called "Big Picture."

Four-and-a-half stars.

Other books on the US presidential elections and politics that I have reviewed on Goodreads:
H.R. Haldeman, The Ends of Power,
Lesley Stahl, Reporting Live,
Tom Rosenstiel, Strange Bedfellows.


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