The Clinton Tapes is a mesmerising account of a complex and fascinating man whose presidency was a rollercoaster of high-minded ideals and sordid scandal.
Early into his presidency, Bill Clinton and his old friend, the Pulitzer Prize winning historian, Taylor Branch, agreed to work secretly together on a taped ‘prompted diary’. Over the next eight years, Branch visited the White House no fewer than 79 times. The sessions were informal and they were all the more frank for that; they talked while Clinton ate salsa or puffed on an (unlit) cigar; once, Hillary wandered in, dressed in her bathrobe with a face pack on.
Sometimes, Branch prompted Clinton towards a specific subject; at other times, Clinton just spoke about whatever was on his mind. The threat of subpoena of the tapes was real; after each session, Clinton took them away, hiding them in his sock drawer. However, on his way home after each session, Branch in turn, also recorded a full account of their discussions.
These almost real-time recollections form the basis of The Clinton Tapes*.
Naturally, much of the book is given over to American domestic politics and intrigues, areas in which Clinton was the ultimate past master. But what fascinates the non-American reader are the passages that show Clinton astride the world stage and the often cynical and sometimes dissolute world leaders he parlayed with. For instance, much as the Arabs hated the Israelis, they loathed each other still more, even going so far as to spike any potential settlement of the Palestinian issue. Asad despised Arafat. Mubarrak detested the Libyans. They all feared Saddam.
From the first, Clinton wanted to lift the embargo on Bosnia so that its largely Muslim population could defend itself, but he was stymied by his own European allies. In public, they argued that more arms would “only fuel the bloodshed” but privately they “objected that an independent Bosnia would be ‘unnatural’ as the only Muslim state in Europe“. Mitterrand put it bluntly: “Bosnia did not belong”.
Clinton’s account of his first meeting with Jiang Zemin of China is chilling. “Jiang declared that Chinese rulers believed in discipline for their people, not from them”, saying “It’s wonderful you have all this freedom and money, but — you have 33,000 homicides — your cities are uninhabitable — who is to say your freedom is worth it?”
Mixed relief is provided by the alcoholic Boris Yeltsin, who, on a state visit to Washington, was discovered by secret service agents on the prowl for a pizzeria, “alone on Pennsylvania Avenue, dead drunk, clad in his underwear, yelling for a taxi”.
At first, Clinton appears to have been disdainful of both India and Pakistan. In private discussions, Indian officials apparently spoke with numbing casualness of their superior nuclear capacity, calculating that “a doomsday nuclear volley would kill 300 to 500 million Indians, while annihilating all 120 million Pakistanis”. The Pakistanis objected, but only because they believed Pakistan’s “rugged mountain terrain would shield more survivors than the plains of India”. Clinton was astonished by these easy calculations of life and death.
Then, in early 1995, Hillary and Chelsea visited South Asia. It was a routine ‘grip and grin’ tour for which Chelsea appears to have studied the Quran. But, calling on Clinton shortly afterwards, Benazir Bhutto seized her opportunity and laid it on with a trowel. She “interrupted their discussions to praise Hillary and Chelsea. She told him Chelsea’s knowledge of Islam had made a positive impact all over South Asia, especially Pakistan. By contrast with a superficial American press, which portrayed Hillary as a demure tourist — Bhutto said she had touched essential political chords. Clinton, (ever susceptible to an attractive woman?) was beguiled.
Pakistan, he told Branch, was still paying a “heavy price” for its support of the US’ surrogate war with the Soviets in Afghanistan. He “reeled off details of significant cooperation for which the Pakistanis deserved credit”. They felt “screwed on Kashmir” because the US had “long deferred to annexation by India against the majority wish of the Kashmiris”.
In 1999, however, Pakistan attacked India. Both sides flirted with nuclear warfare; semantics gave way to grappling with the “gravest alarm of his presidency.” Clinton swiftly took India’s side, bluntly telling Nawaz Sharif “Your army is in the wrong here”. When, despite Clinton’s explicit injunctions, Sharif arrived uninvited in Washington seeking his mediation, Clinton gave him short shrift. “If Sharif withdrew, the United States would express relief without praise”. If not, the US would “shift its historical alliance with Pakistan publicly towards India”.
Sharif wriggled and twisted. “Pakistan itself did not need to withdraw because the fighters in Kashmir were really mujahideen”; yes, “it was wrong but the Pakistan people were too aroused now to tolerate withdrawal”; the whole Kashmir gambit was the fault of Musharraf; “in the extreme he faced a choice between ordering a nuclear attack as a patriot or being overthrown as a traitor”. Clinton brooked none of this nonsense. Sharif whined that he could yield “only by baring his own neck to Musharraf”; Clinton snapped back, “So be it”. And so, of course, it was.
Clinton saw through Musharraf. “[He] is saying a lot of nice things about wanting to restore democracy, but he never includes any target dates.” Believing Musharraf wanted to kill Sharif, he lobbied hard for the general to refrain from more nuclear tests and to keep Sharif alive. “If he met those two conditions, there were things the US could do to help” his regime.
But by now, the shift was emphatic: “I am inclined to think we ought to be more friendly towards India anyway”. The US’ traditional tilt towards Pakistan was “unbalanced”. India was “the largest democracy in the world, with the biggest middle class”. Clinton had turned full circle.
“The Clinton Tapes” is a mesmerising account of a complex and fascinating man whose presidency was a rollercoaster of high minded ideals and sordid scandal, the pursuit of peace and international crisis. Was Clinton a great president? The jury is out. But for all his flaws, what an engaging and compelling man he is.
* The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History in The White House by Taylor Branch
