(Sept. 21) — Taylor Branch, a historian best known for his books on the civil rights era, had a secret that he kept for years: 79 interviews — mostly late-night conversations at the White House — that he conducted with Bill Clinton over the course of his presidency.
The interviews are the basis for Branch's new book, 'The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President,' which is to be published Sept. 29.
Now that the conversations are going public, Clinton has some misgivings about them, Branch said in an interview with USA Today.
"I think it's fair to say he's nervous," he said, explaining that Clinton has spent hours on the phone with him since he received page proofs of the book. While he wouldn't discuss Clinton's concerns, Branch said "I didn't change anything that he asked me to change."
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A Window Into Clinton's Presidency
From the start of his presidency, Bill Clinton wanted to make sure historians would get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of his White House years. So he invited historian Taylor Branch to interview him. The result: 79 taped conversations that are just now becoming public in Branch's book 'The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President.' Click through for some highlights.
Diana Walker, Liaison / Getty Images
Diana Walker, Liaison / Getty Images
Clinton and Branch met while working on George McGovern's presidential campaign in 1972, according to USA Today. The two lost touch after that, but Clinton began inviting Branch to the White House for the conversations in 1993. He wanted to make sure historians would some day have access to what was going on in his presidency behind the scenes, Branch said.
In one 1999 conversation, Clinton, who had avoided talking to Branch about the Monica Lewinsky affair that led to his impeachment, finally let out that he had the affair at a moment of weakness. It began in 1995 after a series of setbacks including the death of his mother, the Democrats' loss of Congress in 1994 and the Whitewater investigation. "I cracked; I just cracked," Clinton told Branch.
Clinton also told Branch about an argument he had with Vice President Al Gore after Gore lost the 2000 election. Clinton said that Gore should have let him campaign in Arkansas or New Hampshire. Clinton was popular in both states, and either one would have given Gore enough electoral votes to win. Gore replied that Clinton's scandals were a "drag" on him throughout the campaign, and the two "exploded" at each other, according to Branch's book.
The interviews were kept secret from nearly everyone on Clinton's staff except for his scheduler. Branch would keep running lists of questions on issues of the day, and when he was summoned to the White House, he taped the conversations, turning them over to the president after he was done with them. He told USA Today that he later learned Clinton hid the tapes in his sock drawer.
In a Q&A with GQ magazine, Branch said that the Clinton he saw during the interviews was more idealistic and steadfast than the person who sometimes got hammered in the media for being indecisive. But Branch couldn't say anything about it because of worries that the investigators probing Clinton would subpoena the tapes.
"I couldn't communicate with people, because I felt like I was in a different galaxy," Branch said. "I didn't see a way of fighting it that didn't endanger the project. ...So I just basically had to be quiet and not talk to people."
