by Peter Baker
First published 2000
Peter Baker chronicles the political storm that consumed Washington from August 1998 through February 1999. The drama begins on the night President Clinton testified before a grand jury about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, then delivered a disastrous televised address to the nation. Baker traces the escalating battle through the House impeachment proceedings and Senate trial, revealing the secret negotiations, strategic calculations, and personal agonies that drove the crisis. Democrats wrestled with calls for Clinton's resignation while Republicans organized a systematic campaign to remove him from office. Hillary Clinton learned her husband would publicly admit his affair. Lawmakers feared exposure of their own private lives. The constitutional crisis exposed deep partisan divisions and transformed American politics. Baker draws on 350 interviews, confidential files, diaries, and recordings to reconstruct the day-by-day progression of events that culminated in Clinton's acquittal on February 12, 1999.
Genres: history, 20th-century, political-science, politics, biography-memoir, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: political-drama, real-events
Setting: Washington DC
Period: 1998-1999
464 pages · Hardcover · Scribner