It was the most extraordinary public saga of our time, and Jeffrey Toobin gives us a definitive history of the ordeal that very nearly brought down a president. Here is the whole story of the Clinton sex scandals -- from its beginnings in a Little Rock hotel to its climax on the floor of the United States Senate with only the second vote on presidential removal in American history. Rich with Shakespearean characters and dramatic secrets, fueled with the high octane of a sensational legal thriller, and tinged by misguided, outlandish behavior that was played out at the very highest levels, Toobin's A Vast Conspiracy brings a dignity and integrity to this story that it has never before received.
The Clinton sex scandals will shape forever how we think about the signature issues of our day -- sex, privacy, civil rights, and, yes, cigars. A Vast Conspiracy will shape forever how we think about the Clinton scandals.
High points include a lucid first chapter that outlines Toobin's themes; fine thumbnail sketches of the personalities involved; and dramatic recreations of key events, like the interrogation of Monica Lewinsky and former Senator Dale Bumpers' address to the Senate at the climax of the trial. Toobin sees America's post-World War II tendency to settle political questions through court decisions as the major cause of the impeachment. Analyzing this tendency, he demonstrates his even-handedness by noting that it started with left-wing operatives like those in the civil rights and environmental movements, but that right-wing activists eventually used the same tactics to try to nullify the 1996 election of Bill Clinton. Toobin also points out how the thinking of feminists and the Christian right--usually bitter political enemies--converged in the "character" issue. This, in turn, provided cover for ratings-hungry media outlets eager to investigate the private lives of those in power. Although Toobin occasionally resorts to irony or even sarcasm, he never succumbs to the breathless vituperation of so many in the anti-Clinton camp ...
But I do agree with another reviewer that Toobin might have devoted more space to the media's role in creating and sustaining the scandal. It was absolutely vital. From swarming talk show hosts to stars of network news organizations, media figures did more than their share to keep the story going, despite the fact that 2/3 of the American people never though the crimes warranted the proposed punishment. (And, after a year-plus of all-Monica-all-the-time, I'm never again going to be able to hear the phrase "liberal media bias" without laughing.)
What most troubles me about the impeachment is that the same thing could happen again. There's now a template: a minority who never accepted the legitimacy of Clinton's election victories skillfully and ruthlessly exploited media and the courts to sidetrack the entire country for more than a year. A VAST CONSPIRACY shows the fatuousness of many of their claims. For instance, the five investigations of the death of Vincent Foster by agencies ranging from the FBI to the Starr commission came to verdicts of suicide, suicide, suicide, suicide, and suicide. But to this day, many Clinton-haters insist the president and/or his wife murdered Foster, then perpetrated a nefarious cover-up. I have no doubt that if Gore had been president on September 11, 2001, we'd already be deep into investigations and speculation about impeachment.
Well-organized ideologues of the extreme right are far more numerous and single-minded than their left-wing bogeymen. I fear they'll use the same techniques to go after the next Democrat who dares to get elected president.
Until then, many thanks to Jeffrey Toobin, and five well-earned stars for this excellent book.
