There are extremes here. It was hard to make any progress at all because the Japanese really didnt want to agree to any of this. But also the role of the media had been changing a lot and that role I think manifested itself very vividly in the Clinton years. But I think the most that the Fed can be expected to do is move short rates. I know this will sound quite strange, but Clinton was in some awe of Bentsen and a little bit of fear of Bentsen. What did you find on the ground when you got there, if I could? I disagree that hes under-appreciated. That was the all-time low for the dollar. Does that resonate with you? Theres a time lag between taking painful steps to do something with the deficit and getting some response in the. The buzz on Clinton, even then, among those few following it, was positive. I have always liked Mrs. Clinton and I had a lot of respect for her and do have a lot of respect for her. Sure, sure. Im not sure he would have known me really at all. I mean, it was a larger package as it was originally conceived and then. I left the White House around April, took a couple of months off, and went back to New York. So I knew nothing about the substance of the Clinton case. Bentsen had told me from the first moment this thing was going nowhere. Well, it was just a strange evening. Oh, in the bill itself? That ostracism certainly hasnt afflicted the Clinton alumni. But thats the type of thing the Deputy Secretary sometimes does, or when there are problems with the IRS. You had three candidates on the stage during the debates and so forth. But, first, right at the outset, it was a terribly flawed idea to have a full-time member of the administration serving also as the head of an independent regulatory agency and that should have dawned on me in the earliest going, just the inherent conflict there. Was it the selection of the people who were going to do the economic. You say you knew Rubin well, but did you have a sense that in the other places where economic policy-making is made there was ever any tension over this kind of an arrangement? That process had been going on. There were so many different Japanese Prime Ministers in that period I cant remember which one we had at that moment. Clinton gave his State of the Union address, the 28th of January, eight days after being inaugurated. We wanted Japan to commit to rebalance the current account between the two countries, including committing itself to some pro-growth steps at home, and we wanted a specific agreement on autos and certain other things. Clinton had plied the waters of the Democratic Party with great assiduousness for many, many years. I think my point is slightly different. But by historians. So, looking back on it, the nature and the history of those three men had a lot to do with the eventual outcome. Anyway, a couple of days later I flew to Austin, Texas and met him and Mrs. [Beryl Ann] Bentsen in a hotel room in Austin. So, in August whatever it was the final vote was cast and the economic bill became lawwell, with the Presidents signature it became lawwe didnt really know what we were going to do on NAFTA. Born on April 2, 1946 in United States of America, Roger Altman started his career as Financial professional . There was, I cant remember exactly, but we had some innumerable number of economists of all stripes and persuasions in favor of this. I think those discussions, including that particular one, in retrospect, had a considerable effect on him. Twofold. But I didnt know where the President was on NAFTA. I think the days for that have largely passed, I dont think members of Congress care much about that. Well, let me stop. Clinton, as we all know, is very open, but also a very undisciplined guy. The first thing that we typically do is a quick voice identification so that the transcriptionist will know whos talking at any given time.Im Russell Riley, the project leader for the Clinton Presidential History Project. And then, of course, the political people in the White House: George Stephanopoulos of course, and others in the White House. So the experience of visiting these guys, some of whom were right on the edge, made tremendous impact on me. Were there Republican members that he particularly relied on. Then, in 1995, he formed Evercore. I guess that again leads to the question about the uncertainty and anxiety of a transition period, trying to figure out which person. We had to be sure Mexico could live with it. But it doesnt mention that he was President. The process for conceiving it was a frail one, poor one. I had a certain background but it didnt include experiences like that. He knew what was possible; he knew what wasnt possible. 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. Healthcare got the nod. So, for example, the partisanship in Washington hasnt particularly declined since President Clinton left office. I moved over to the White House, was given a strange assignment, which was to go run this thing called the Summit of the Americas which occurred in December of 94, which was this meeting of literally 35 heads of state in Miami for three days to talk about why you would have a hemispheric free trade agreement. My comment is a retrospective comment. Did you get the sense that this is true? You look at the turnover that she hador in her case did not haveon her staff, and the turnover that he had. Youre only there because he allowed you to be, and you owe him a debt of gratitude for that because without him no service, and without service your life is less. I guess I probably began to help raise money, its a rough memory now, in the early fall, perhaps September of 91. I spent the last couple of hours of that period in the Oval Office with the President and that was quite unforgettable too because the President was hugely animated, to some extent discouraged, to some extent angry, and there were moments when I was the only one in there with him. There was not a war going on. But from the outside, one of the notable departures of that administration, and I think it began very early, was the cordial deference paid toward the Federal Reserve Board. I didnt. Remember, President Clintons first initiative, the stimulus plan, was defeated. No, there were 20-22 people there. Gene Sperling was in it. And that was fairly late, right, when Bowles came in? Yes, there was a big debate about whether it should be healthcare or NAFTA. I dont know how many people would have the political courage to do that, but I know I wouldnt have. Theyd been working on it for two or three weeks or whatever one does, but, as they usually do, the day before the profile runs, they want to come in and interview him so they can have a current aspect to it. The Republicans quite shrewdly picked out some that didnt make sense and off the bat marshaled a very focused attack on it. It was the best political speech, with a couple of exceptions, Id ever heard, which prompted a wonderful comment from former President Bush, who then came to the microphone and said, Now I know why Im on the outside looking in. Were you making recommendations to him about how you might tighten things up in this area? He may be forever seen in the middle. You were responsible for organizing the war room. Then it went down to defeat. Bentsen had a lucidits hard to describe how lucid Bentsens observations always were. So hes the one who asked you to serve in that position, not Clinton. It certainly wasnt optimal. I just know from prior experience that thats the way to do it. Right, but if you take too much pain up front. I have a very old-fashioned view about that. I mean, there are libraries full of books that have already been written about that. Ford actually attended regularly, I dont mean every day, but regularly, and it was just a version of what Clinton did. Certainly, when he captained it, it was a different party than it had been for the previous 50 years. So one knew through the press who was going and so forth. I mean one of the oldest rules of Presidential management is, take your pain up front. Because the opponents had succeeded in changing the question, or framing the question, however you want to put it and that had taken hold in the country and the perception across the entire country, from North to South and so forth, was that this is nationalization of healthcare, which nobody in the United States favors. I believe, as I say, it was either the day of or the day after Gennifer Flowers had given her press conference. Id met Bentsen a few times. More has been made of that than should be. The White House decidedwell, there were certain people who were obviously going to be in it. Fifty Republicans had announced their opposition, 49 Democrats had announced their support, and Bob Kerrey was strolling around, going to the movies, which is what he was doing. The bigger gamble then was, as you say, the long term, the response in the long-term credit markets, whats going to happen, and that, I take it, is where Allen Blinders. Because they thought, If we hold those hostages very long at all after this man becomes President, we may be nuclearized. He was on a roof, about an 8-foot-high roof. Did you ever get the sense that there were some people who mystified him? Why didnt that work, from your perspective? Its always a mistake to get in any kind of hassle with the Federal Reserve Board, always. I know Bentsen, especially in retrospect I know Bentsen. Robert Altman reflects on his college years with President William J. Clinton, 1992 election, Treasury transition, budget plans, Whitewater investigation, and North American Free Trade Agreement. The two camps were right there sitting in front of the President for six hours at a time. Its interesting too at this very moment with her book having just come out to watch some of the tapes being played on television about some of her own moments. I think it was serious as a political thing, meaning you had three candidates instead of two and of course, the dynamic was different. At my sons school, on the floor where the history department is, each President gets a little tiny picture and about two lines. WebCornerstone Recovering Community (11001 South Wentworth Avenue) located at 11001 South Wentworth Avenue, Chicago, IL 60628, United States is a drug rehab facility Carter had chosen, as you remember, to somehow find a diplomatic solution to that crisis. He doesnt even know about the advent of optical scanners in grocery stores, and that was the theme, that was THE central theme as codified, so to speak, in [James] Carvilles famous comment, its the economy, stupid. There were those obviously who felt the most important thing was to get the deficit down. Wed sit around in the Roosevelt Room, and you know how it works. I recall a large event, right after New Years, the fourth of January I believe, in 92, that I organized at their request, which was just simply to have a large number of people listen to Clinton give a speech. I follow it pretty closely, and I have a hard time figuring it out. Eventually they did, but it wasnt because of this agreement, big macro forces had them do it. No. The Japanese economy was relatively weak at that time although it was in perhaps the first third of its now 12-year, or 14-year slump after the Nikkei peaked at 39,000. He wanted to focus on a few important things at any particular time. He was shot eight times, mostly in the chest. I also think it is wrong politically. I made two trips to Little Rock. So I did a lot of work representing the Treasury on any number of issues in the White House councils of deliberation. Yes. Concessions involving individual members of Congress could often be done at a lower level, depending on the magnitude of the concession. Bentsen only talked to about five or six Senators. So the Congress decided to hold hearings on all aspects of Whitewater and, as everybody remembers, everyone from Maggie Williams to Harold Ickes to everybody had to testify. There were those who feltI would put Bob Reich at the top of the listwho felt the most important thing was to do a big stimulus program involving a lot of spending initiatives. We went back to square one. It was, in any normal historical context, yes, right of center because it focused on deficit reduction, tighter fiscal policy, more conservative budgeting. Im Jim Young. First of all, the Clinton White House wasnt really oriented to that. Was that true of Georgetown at the time that you were there? I think history will probably record that as the most important achievement of President Clintons overall Presidency, not the vote itself of course, but the ultimate effects of it. Lets divide concessions into two: actual changes in the bill, and then offering a Congressman something in another area to help make it easier for him to vote for this. No. He knew how every member would vote. But Lloyd Bentsen was in that league, top five or six or seven. That was the moment, that day. Andrew Garfield presented the Robert Altman Award at the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards to his old friend, Fran Kranz, for his film Mass. Im thinking of what historians will say. You dont want to start your Presidency off with a legislative defeat. So I knew a little bit about what was worth doing and what wasnt. It was easy. If you go to Monticello, to his actual tombstone, then you know that he drafted his own epitaph: Governor of Virginia, founder of the University of Virginia, and author of the Declaration of Independence. I just never took him seriously as a candidate. But you know, theres a real sense of the torch passing and history, and one had to be struck, even though Id been involved with Clinton from mid 91, by the youth and vigor that Clinton and Gore exuded, and Ive always personally liked the south, so I enjoyed being there, so I did go. We talked a lot about the organization of economic policy-making and the role of the Treasury because I had a certain history. 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