|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Rich Lowry: We Paid Heavy Price of the Clinton Years Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.comRich Lowry, editor of the National Review and author of the just released “Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years,” tells NewsMax that the thing that most jumped out at him during his interviewing for his book was the number of former Clinton aides who were candid in describing their former boss as weak – and therefore lacking in the leadership characteristic fundamental to the office of chief executive. “I doubt if one could find ex-aides to Ronald Reagan with the same opinion,” Lowry muses. Lowry may be one of the youngest pundits on the national scene. Born in Arlington, Va. in 1968 and educated at the local Yorktown High School and Charlottesville’s University of Virginia where he earned a degree in English and History, Lowry has already made a national reputation as a hard-hitting editor and commentator. He says his first major book, “Legacy,” evolved as his reaction to 9/11. As a journalist, he wanted to ferret out the roots of the disaster, and the more he worked the issue, the more he visualized those roots in terms of the preceding 8-year term of Bill Clinton. “The policies [contributing to 9/11] had roots in the 1990s,” he says. His book has already hit a nerve, and "Legacy" is slated to hit the published list of New York Times bestsellers. Lowry's epiphany, in turn, led him to the realization that there was as of yet no “comprehensive, really substantive look” at the Clinton years. By the time he starts his project in earnest, Lowry gleans that the failure of the Clinton years is more than the complacency that paved the way for 9/11. For instance, he tells NewsMax, “When you really delve into domestic policy as it formed, you discover that Clinton had nothing to do with it.” The media likes to credit for the economic boom of the 90s. In Lowry’s opinion, the smartest thing Clinton did during his tenure in office was to simply “get out of the way of the economy.” “It was his good fortune to preside over a wondrous prosperity,” says Lowry. Part of the fallout of that accidental occupancy of time during prosperous years has paid a strange dividend in the form of the reputed current Clinton nostalgia. Lowry also attributes the phenomenon to the simple fact that Clinton was a Democrat that held on to the White House for two terms, and “they loved him for his enemies.” Lowry readily admits that despite all Clinton has somehow managed “not to be drummed out of polite society,” actually becoming something of a folk hero in parts of Europe that thought the brouhaha over his sexual peccadilloes was overdone. Negative Peaks Despite the nostalgia and forgiveness, however, Lowry figures that Clinton, himself, is more realistic – on more than one occasion wryly pointing out the highlights of his presidency as the negative peaks of surviving impeachment and defeating Newt Gingrich. In any event, with “Legacy” Lowry has arrived at and climbed past the pinnacle of his boyhood ambitions. A devotee of William F. Buckley who would religiously tape the sage’s appearances on “Firing Line,” the author knew early on that he wanted to be an “opinion journalist” and work with the National Review. The journey to the heights began at U. Va. and a stint editing the conservative “Virginia Advocate.” Back in those halcyon days of high school and college, Lowry said he reveled in “swimming against the stream.” When asked what portion of the book is his favorite, the author admits to having fondness for the opening salvo, aptly entitled, “The Content of his Character.” In this biographical segment, Lowry explores the rugged dysfunctional Clinton family, concluding, “That he became president, rather than suffer some sad fate, is a testament to his intelligence, his determination, his marriage, and his character traits – the ambition, the compulsion to please, the ability to wall off bad news – that were adaptive to success in politics.” Like anyone who makes a study of something as complex as a Bill Clinton, Lowry admits to some ambivalence, conceding that Clinton is “hard to hate, having that roguish charm.” In the next breath, however, he moves to qualify the backhanded compliment. “But it’s the posing and preening that turns you off.” Lowry immediately goes off on the example of how Clinton made lots of warm and fuzzy statements and postured about “how much he cared about Africa.” In the final analysis, however, Clinton abandoned Africa, says Lowry. That same sort of process is again exemplified in the case of the Clinton welfare reform that started out with such rhetorical flourish only to blow away in the wind. NewsMax’s review of “Legacy” can be found by clicking Review. There, those who want to know more about the treasure trove can get a flavor of what’s in store. In the meantime as of this writing, the author tells us that “Legacy” is currently #12 among non-fiction top-sellers on Amazon.com. “That's pretty good!” enthuses Lowry. It's also bad news for the Clintons, who have been working overtime to rewrite their history. "Legacy" sets the record straight.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2009 NewsMax.Com |