I think Clinton recognized that, by virtue of his being an outsider in Washingtonhe never served in Washingtonhe needed a link to the Congress, a really superb link, of the type that Bentsen afforded, especially since Clintons first priorities were economics.The Senate Finance Committee was going to be, more than any other single place, where the action was. So I think you had a President who was seen as very slickand he had that reputation before he became Presidentand then this upsurge in partisanship generally. Then of course, the Senate voted the next day and we only had 49 votes that we knew about and Senator Bob Kerrey was the undecided vote, the only one left. Its actually enjoyable, its fun. I was in Tokyo, asleep, so I was a bit taken aback. I think it just evolved rather randomly that not many of those former Carter people got involved with Clinton. So you wouldnt have had any involvement on Capitol Hill or anything like that at the time? After all, his achievements, while in my view quite remarkable, may not be long lasting. Do you recall at what point you felt that there was some momentum being reestablished? I think each person makes his or her own decision. The Times, which is typically, of course, a Democratic-leaning paper, was Clintons severest clinic throughout his whole Presidency, and on Whitewater went crazy. And the difficulty became quickly evident once the program was laid out. I think Henry Kissinger would still be Secretary of State if people had allowed him to be, whatever he thought of who he was serving. But Lloyd Bentsen was in that league, top five or six or seven. But the program wasnt structured that would give you half a loaf, was it? He said, What do you want to do? Today, we serve a prominent and diverse set of clients and investors, including leading multinational corporations, large institutional investors and financial sponsors, and high net worth individuals. My memory is a bit fuzzy on that. Clinton was offered a compromise by Senators [John] Breaux and [David] Boren. Well, it can be revived at any time, the Congress can just vote to revive it. In the last 48 or 72 hours, because that vote was also a cliffhanger, although not as close. You know, theres another element of this. Thats one of the things that kind of surprises. On preparing a whole set of materials and otherwise paving the way for Secretary Bentsen to walk into his office and be fully prepared to function from the first minute. It struck outsiders as the administration never passed up an opportunity to say, This is the preserve of the Federal Reserve. Some of the cookies we use are essential for parts of the website to operate and cannot be switched off in our systems. Clinton had in fact been working on Capitol Hill during this time and I guess I was just trying to get a sense about whether that was unusual. Is that a fair assessment? Mr. Clinton became aware of that. Yes. How do you think Clinton ultimately is going to be read by historians, this Presidency? So that was the revelation, so to speak, that occurred that day. I would say that had probably as much to do with the onset of a partisan period as did the Andrews Air Force Base summit, but Im just playing amateur historian here. Not likely, and was not the case in 92. You know, the only other thought I would express on this is, despite the drama of the moment and the stakes, everyone, as they say, puts on his pants one leg at a time. He had a certain way of carrying himself and a certain sense of very carefully managing his own stature. Yes, here in New York. I, and quite a few other people, had dinner with him, quite a few meaning 15 or so. Did you get the sense that this is true? I was politically active, though. Theodore Roosevelts name comes up occasionally as somebody that even Clinton himself had at least a temporary fixation on when he was evidently considering his own legacy as some one who took a progressive era, being a kind of rough approximation to the. But my role was shaped largely by two things: one, Bentsen and what Bentsen wanted; and two, the fact that I had a reasonably close relationship with the White House. New York, Corporate | Bentsen was just a legend and Clinton had never served in Washington and Lloyd Bentsen was a king of Washington. The feelings of people along the wayside were just very endearing. And it turned around and by November 84 as you remember, it was Morning in America and he won 49 states. But in any event, the cooperation in both cases was optimal. Im just saying the Japanese side very much viewed it as a zero-sum game, therefore anything we got was, from their point of view, giving up something. Now John Snow didnt learn that, hed never been there before and so forth and so on, whatever excuse fits him. We knew each other, but we turned out to be the first two to go down and I dont know why that was. I left the White House around April, took a couple of months off, and went back to New York. But it was not a novel idea at all. But an awful lot of people love being Cabinet officers and leave only most reluctantly. When it came to responding within the same news cycle to an allegation or some criticism of the program, we were able to respond immediately, and rapid response became a part of the political lexicon. It wasnt particularly formed before then. Eventually they did, but it wasnt because of this agreement, big macro forces had them do it. The President was in a tough spot because he was hearing from a lot of people that the effort was too ambitious, but on the other hand, Mrs. Clinton was in charge of it. But wasnt the Clinton economic plan somewhat right-of-center too? As I say, we assembled sometime between the 20th and 25th of November in Washington and then December 5th or 6th or 7th or whatever it was he made his choices. Once he decided he was for it, he really got into it. The social aspect of it also involved here? Roger Altman, chairman and founder at Evercore, discusses the state of the U.S. economy, the four things that need to be included in the next round of stimulus, and And Bentsen, who full knew this was going to be on the front page of the Wall Street Journal said, Im not in the Senate. They have made changes in policy, its not as though theyve stood still. Yes, we could have had that. Concessions involving individual members of Congress could often be done at a lower level, depending on the magnitude of the concession. But the student radical movement had not penetrated? Casey resigned and it was vacant. I knew Bob Kerrey quite well by that time and Bob was very unpredictable. So you can imagine sitting next to Mrs. Clinton at dinner. A lot of the talk was about the public credit markets responding, not so much the Fed. I have to admit I didnt. That was the first thing I did. I was often at the National Economic Council meetings that deliberated on those. Do you have anyyou were sort of one of the casualties of this campaign, but was the Whitewater thing separate from this hate stuff? Had run successfully for Vice President. It was an astounding speech. Id served four years in the Carter Treasury but I hadnt had that much exposure in those years to the President. This is a transcript of the interview, which you may watch here. Mike Levy, our person, whod been Senator Bentsens primary legislative staffer, was a true pro, and that particular axis worked like a charm. We might have a thousand independent counsels operating under the freedom of the press, investigations. But I only began to spend heavy time on that after the August passage of the Presidents economic program. Web446 Roger Altman Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO All Sports Entertainment News Archival Browse 446 roger altman But he did give a big speech about healthcare before NAFTA came to a vote, right, as I recall? All types of dire predictions were put forward. But its been shown before that if you can be to the right of center while still being seen as a true Democrat, its more effective, and Clinton did that. Were you making recommendations to him about how you might tighten things up in this area? Clinton loves meetings like that. Do you remember your impressions of Clinton as an undergraduate? Whats the question, why didnt Clinton embrace welfare ahead of healthcare? But I really could never figure that out. So the traditional Democratic field has had in it a few candidates who represent that. But I dont recall encountering him at all. That was the first time we had an opposition takeover. I mean, not one encounter, until the early to mid 80s when I was quite involved in various aspects of the Democratic Party and there were a few forums at various places that I would attend and I would occasionally run into him. I mean, not to take any credit away from other players, you wouldnt want to do that Im sure, but there must have been some. There was quite a discussion that day about long-term interest rates, as I said the credit markets rather than the Fed. By that time, Clinton had his idea of the middle-class tax cut, and he had his idea of cutting the deficit in half during his first term, I think it was. He could have been all rhetorical about it. The Federal Government doesnt have much of a role in education. He was quite in the minority at the time. Hed been in every relevant forum for 15 years or so and he had a perfect political ear, if I can say so. He said, Its up to you. They had a very unsuccessful discussion, which resulted in name calling and cursing. I should be very careful here. One was in connection with Putting People First, when we had the wonderful experience of taking a cab from the Little Rock airport and having the cab driver slow down and practically come to a stop for a second, and excitedly point out to us Gennifer Flowers apartment building. I think hes deeply appreciated. At the time we were working on it there was a sense on the Japanese side that it was a zero-sum game. I went straight down to Washington and moved in, and I was there on the day the office opened, as were many other people. And then, of course, the political people in the White House: George Stephanopoulos of course, and others in the White House. I mean, Lloyd Bentsen had been Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee for a long time, knew Alan Greenspan very well, knew the Fed very well. Why? Well of course, McLarty was replaced by Leon Panetta roughly a year after the administration began. I mean, I just thought he was such a hero. He knew every comma and apostrophe in the bill. Here we are in June 2003 and the election as we all know is November 04, so its 16 months or so before the election, 17 months, and right now of course, the campaign among the Democratic aspirants for the nomination is hot, full-bore, and has been for several months. Think Clinton ultimately is going to be read by historians, this Presidency zero-sum game Clinton economic somewhat. ] Breaux and [ David ] Boren discussion, which resulted in name and! Our systems stood still, it was a zero-sum game historians, Presidency. But wasnt the Clinton economic plan somewhat right-of-center too eventually they did, but it wasnt because of agreement. To spend heavy time on that after the August passage of the things that of... 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And [ David ] Boren whatever excuse fits him Federal Government doesnt have of!
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