The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton

by Gene Lyons, Joe Conason

When Hillary Clinton spoke of "a vast right-wing conspiracy" determined to bring down the president, many people dismissed the idea. Yet if the first lady's accusation was exaggerated, the facts that have since emerged point toward a covert and often concerted effort by Bill Clinton's enemies--abetted by his own reckless behavior--which led inexorably to impeachment. Clinton's foes launched a cascade of well-financed attacks that undermined American democracy and nearly destroyed the Clinton presidency.

In vivid prose, Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, two award-winning veteran journalists, identify the antagonists, reveal their tactics, trace the millions of dollars that subsidized them, and examine how and why mainstream news organizations aided those who were determined to bring down Bill Clinton, The Hunting of the President may very well be the All the President's Men of this political regime.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, American, American History, The United States Of America, Political Science

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Margaret M - (having a challenging time and on GR as much as I can) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether you like Clinton or loathe him, whether you are republican or democrat or anything else. Whether you live in America or elsewhere in the world. You have to say Bill Clinton certainly had charisma and was a presence on the world stage. He played a huge part in Ireland bringing together a very divided community under The Good Friday agreement. For that alone he will have my support, but I don’t profess to know enough of American politics to register a party view.

Now to the book. It felt it was commissioned by the Clinton’s to address the many accusations levied against Bill and his wife. As such it was biased in favour of them and the Clintons opportunity to expose the relentless campaign to smudge and even destroy them. Do I have a problem with that? No. because it is one perspective and if you read it with that in mind, then the book is superb. If you want an unbiased view from all parties, then this is not the book for you.

What drew me to this book?. Well, apart from valuing what contribution Clinton made in Ireland, I wanted to know this perspective, because hell knows if you lived in the UK and Ireland, you thought he was guilty of a lot with vast amounts of evidence stacked against him. Whilst by no means innocent, you have to say with such dogged determination, and assumed evidence that the outcome would have been different if Clinton had been guilty. Because as the book suggests, and is my own personal opinion, Ken Stark had an unhealthy obsession with Bill Clinton and embarked on such a bitter and ruthless campaign to destroy him. This is my own personal view and one portrayed by the people who wrote this book.

What was missing from the book was the affair. Was it sex, was it not? (Which American friend JanB pointed out to me) If you want to use a book to set the record straight then you should address the elements many people do believe you are guilty of in some way. Many believe there was more to the Lewinsky story and as a married man who clearly betrayed his wife in some way, then there was something to apologise for especially as many people will look up to these figures.

Also if you know a lot about the story then the extra detail may feel tedious to wade through. However, for my personal taste, I loved the facts and how they are used to tell or embellish the story.

What was revealing was the dirty campaign, the shameful tactics, and bullying that we know goes on in Politics. The world they probably don't want us to see. To read about it was shameful and shocking.

If there was a book out there with an opposing or well rounded view then I would certainly read to get a broader perspective and the whole picture.

Exceptionally well put together, eye opening but with one perspective and that is 'the president was hunted for over 10 years'. This was one of the most absorbing reads I've had in this genre about one of the worst smear campaigns in modern times. Fabulous.

[Everydayreader1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors of this book have done a superb job of bringing to light what I've long believed Republican politics in the United States to be about, and for that I give them much credit. However, one must have a strong stomach to read it--and I mean that in a literal sense. Reading about vile actions of a political party in an attempt to destroy its opposition has made me feel physically ill. Regrettably, after reading 17% of this book, I am moving on to something that does not arouse such feelings of total disappointment and disbelief in the Republican party.

I do recommend this book to those with a strong stomach who can read this book without feeling physically ill. It will give you an education in GOP politics, and the lengths some are willing to go to destroy their political opponents. This book is truly a journalistic work that deserves to be read. My decision to move on without finishing the book is a reflection on me, and not on this work.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.” ---Sinclair Lewis, Nobel Prize winning author of It Can’t Happen Here, 1935

Conservatives with little critical reasoning skills will immediately try to discredit this book by reciting the old "It's got liberal bias" line...without benefit of thought or consideration as to the findings by two outstanding independent journalists. The book is fascinating, but will leave you so depressed and frustrated...and feeling like another civil war is needed in this country. The very folks who are so afraid of communism and fascism are the same ignorant people who cast their votes to make sure we move ever closer to that end.

[Will Byrnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very journalistic, detailed look at the players involved in the “vast, right-wing conspiracy” to take down Clinton. In fact the extreme level of detail makes it a bit much to slog through, but it is still worth the effort, even if it remains impossible to keep all the names straight. (In 2004 a documentary of the book was released. It is a narrower view, thank god, and is good enough)

[Michael Laflamme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, like a train wreck in slow motion. Crime and political thrillers can be tedious reading, because the author has to be ready to defend every point in court. It was already clear from media reports at the time, that there was no real story about the Clintons, only a bag of wind and a ponderous conservative prosecution that never acquired credible evidence of wrongdoing. The book details, in a solid systematic way, the expensive, amateurish, GOP fishing expeditions against the Clinton family, with a detailed analysis of the most bizarre cast of hack conspirators since Shakespeare. If you have patience for detail, this is a wonderful book of history that should make any American sad for the Republic and wary of more partisan persecutions in the future.

[Jon Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though Joe Scarborough doesn't like him, Joe Conason and Gene Lyons set out this ambitious book in 2000, just as the Clinton presidency was ending. It documents the rise of the Arkansas project, a right-wing Republican effort to derail the candidacy of Bill Clinton in 1992. The Whitewater investigation was also aimed at indictments at Hillary Clinton, an attorney working in Little Rock at the time. Many of the characters of this period through 1997 are still around, like Mike Isikoff of Yahoo and George Conway, Anne Coulter, Laura Ingraham and assorted right-wing "journalists." An intriguing book in the raking of American political muck. But a prelude to 2016, for certain.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book mentions what seems like every single character the Clinton's ever met or had dealings with from the time President Clinton was running for Governor of Arkansas. A bit tedious and hard to follow all the trivial small town characters of Arkansas, but somwhat interesting to read about folks who seem to have nothing better to do with their time than attempts to exact revenge or ruin a political competitor.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a fun read -- in fact an extremely disturbing read. The right-wing seems to feel that it is not constrained by any of the principles it publicly espouses. I feel better prepared top follow the political fortunes of Hillary Clinton in the coming year. This is one of those books that everyone should read.

[Karen-Leigh]

Apolitical all my life, the current US election has me riveted by its amazing nastiness. The public ignorance of their own political system and how it works and is being used is astounding. This book showed even more how dirty US politics has been for a long time. Everyone has an ax to grind. Women wanting money and fame. Men wanting money and revenge. Political rivals hiring spies to dig up dirt and taking a molehill and with twists and embellishments and paid liars turning it into a mountain. Then it takes more investigation and public money to dig through the lies to find the nugget of truth that turns out to be meaningless. People lying under oath and getting away with it unless you are the target of the lies and you lie to protect yourself or your family...you end up the loser. The journalists on radio, television, news magazines, and trash tabloids all printing lies all over the country for ratings. Media corporations making profits out of destroying their own country's image. Huge amounts of tax payer money used to investigate the life of a politician, looking for anything that would pull him down, not for truth but for political gain of one party over another. All this with absolutely no regard for the constitution or for the democracy of the country. All this with absolutely no regard for the honor of the office of the Presidency. Misinformation is still being spread because the truth is lodged in piles of documents never seen by the public and unread by journalists who should be mining them for truth. The lies printed, and since disproved legally, are what is remembered and constantly reiterated. It is nauseating reading no matter what side of the political fence you are standing on...if you have any interest at all in honest government. I read all of Linda Tripp's machinations and illegal taping and lies in this book and looked her up on the internet to find out what ever happened to her, only to read a new interview in January of 2016 filled with more vituperative lies about Clinton. New scurrilous information mixed in with repetition of old lies that have been exposed a long time ago. The media has given this woman, already proved to be a liar and tainted, a voice to add her muck to an already mucky campaign. This book ends with the Lewinsky scandal and here so many years later she is embellishing her story and given a platform to do it. How can it not be suspicious and manipulative? Soul destroying information on how our trusted public officials are corrupted.

[Keifer Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me as a way to fill in some of the gaps I had of the politics of my childhood.

Setting aside how I feel about the events within, I came to mildly dislike the book itself.

The tone oscillates from milquetoast journalism to snarkily partisan, and a lot of background information on the figures touched upon in the book is relayed in the narrative. Which would be fine, if the book didn't then proceed to reintroduce that background information for every chapter that they appear in.

The end result is a work that relays interesting events in a repetitious way.

[Richard Jespers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent if not distasteful book about the truth of 1989-1999: 1) The media who reported selectively about the Clintons 2) Excellent prose, not just another hurry-to-press poly-sci page-turner 3) Great documentation, much of it provided by the enemies themselves: the Tripp tapes, Starr’s transcripts, etc. Makes Watergate look like a bungled attempt of naughty children. Republicans will never change. They are Machiavellian to the core, and they will do anything to win. Anything.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conason is a bit too partisan at times. But there is little doubt that neocons were out to get him as payback for Nixon. Clinton gave them so much ammunition to work with too. In many ways Clinton is as responsible for the sullied office of the president as Nixon, but he wasn't impeachable. Dubbya was more so than Clinton.

[Sharon Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, I did not finish this book. It is incredibly interesting the lengths that the republican party have gone to in their witch hunt. Good lord, 7 investigations into those bloody e mails alone. How much money did that cost the tax payers!?
So this book will be donated. Clearly brains are not required here.

[Mark Welkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

with Gene Lyons

[Mike Bascom · Rating 3 out of 5]

the vast right wing conspiracy!

[Ed Smiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating if a bit byzantine look at attack politics at its most destructive.

[Toesnorth's mom]

excellent