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'All Too Human' by George Stephanopoulos

Stephanopoulos, like Clinton, is ‘All Too Human’

Sunday, March 21, 1999

By Bob Hoover, Post-Gazette Book Editor

	All Too Human By George Stephanopoulos Little, Brown $27.95

There are many right now furiously scribbling the political obituary of Bill Clinton, but before he’s buried, he should thank former aide George Stephanopoulos for this account of his first term.

As insider accounts of presidencies go — and there are hundreds of them — “All Too Human” is among the most lively and readable.

Stephanopoulos is a talented writer with a style cobbled from his acquaintances in the press, the presidential speech writers and the entertaining glibness of the TV pundit.

As he tells it, Stephanopoulos was involved in the day-to-day operation of the Clinton administration from its first controversy over gays in the military to the pathetic departure of the controversial aide, Dick Morris, another victim of his sex life.

Before it becomes forgotten in the trivial details of Clinton’s bedroom farce, it should be noted that his presidency managed an impressive record of domestic accomplishments and weathered a never-ending series of international storms.

“All Too Human” is not only a personal memoir but also a chatty, at times dismaying, account of the relationships inside the Beltway among politicians, officials and the press.

It’s an incestuous one, at worst, in which dinner invitations and friendships are the currency of power. Along with the Washington press corps’ coverage of the Lewinsky affair, “All Too Human” is a discouraging commentary on what a closed society Washington really is.

Stephanopoulos shines best in his lively accounts of business in the White House and shatters at least one illusion about Clinton.

Despite the president’s reputation as someone who easily dumps principles and ethics for the sake of his own survival, Stephanopoulos argues effectively that Clinton grappled seriously with moral issues as well as doing what was politically expedient:

“Humanitarian concern, real- politik and electoral politics all steeled Clinton in their own way,” he says.

Most of “All Too Human” is a qualified endorsement of Bill Clinton, whose personal magnetism seduced Stephanopoulos in a political love affair in which loyalty was the top priority.

When Clinton, at first secretly, then openly, brought Morris into the operation, Stephanopoulos felt the jealous hatred of a spurned lover.

But, despite his distaste for the amoral and conniving Morris, Stephanopoulos does give him credit for strategies that were effective in Clinton’s re-election.

He also offers a narrowly reasoned justification for Clinton’s approval of the so-called welfare reform bill in that re-election year. It’s yet another example of how the America political system runs on compromise rather than principle.

It’s also another example of Stephanopoulos’ tunnel vision. Focusing on strategy and vote counts, he’s unaware of how actions inside the Oval Office translate into life outside it.

The effects of welfare reform or Morris’ political ad campaign, which necessitated the raising of millions of dollars in now questionable fashion, are not Stephanopoulos’ concerns.

Yet, what he does highlight is the president’s almost desperate need for direction. Time and again, Clinton seemed unable to arrive at his own opinion and looked to his aides, including the duplicitous Morris, to supply him with one.

The president’s dependence on Morris was to turn Stephanopoulos’ nagging little doubts about Clinton’s character into full-blown disillusionment and led to his resignation.

The pressure also took a serious emotional toll, causing Stephanopoulos to seek psychiatric care that included antidepressants.

Much direction came from Hillary Clinton, called “the only liberal in the White House” by Stephanopoulos, who paints a sympathetic picture of her.

“She had paid a higher price [than her husband], taken harder hits, achieved fewer dreams,” he writes as the Clintons savored the president’s re-election. “Now, she’d have a second chance.”

Monica Lewinsky changed that scenario. Now, Mrs. Clinton’s hopes seem to rest on her own political plans rather than her husband’s.

When the author quit the White House after the re-election, Mrs. Clinton hugged him and said, “I love you, George Stephanopoulos.”

In his new role as ABC-TV commentator, Stephanopoulos ever-so-mildly disapproved of Clinton’s behavior in the Lewinsky affair and was soon a pariah at the White House.

These events are tacked on to the memoir as an epilogue, which delayed the publication from November to this month. This new last chapter lacks the insight into Clinton’s behavior and the writer’s rationalization for it that mark the rest of the book.

Instead, there’s a bitterness in Stephanopoulos’ tone that includes finger-wagging at his former boss’ actions.

Sadly, it seems that once he left the “team,” the president’s most avid cheerleader finds it easy to take the moral high ground.

It would seem he has reserved the term “All Too Human” for himself, not Bill Clinton.