Epstein Secrets

," the senior official said. "I would guess that President Clinton views that as a compliment." Spiegel Was Yasser

n "Game Change," their account of the 2008 race. "He thought that Obama might actually believe that Reagan's tenure had been superior to his own." Bill Clinton's attacks hurt Hillary as much as they did Obama. The Times denounced Clinton's fairy-tale comment as a "bizarre and rambling attack" and as exemplif

More than anyone, he pushed Hillary to take the job of Secretary of State. "President Clinton was a big supporter of the idea," an intimate of the Clintons told me. "He advocated very strongly for it and arguably was the tie-breaking reason she took the job." For one thing, having his spouse in that po

n, recently suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is primarily responsible for the failure of the Middle East peace process. 8. Ben Rhodes Behind Obama's biggest foreign-policy speeches -- his campaign address before 200,000 people in Berlin, his 2009 Cairo remarks on Middle East poli

d. In 1972, Nixon won another term by a popular-vote margin of twenty-three points. In 1984, Reagan won his reelection by eighteen points. In 1992, Clinton won his by nine points. In 2004, Bush beat John Kerry by just 2.5 points, the smallest margin of victory for the reelection of a President since t

reelected Obama could suddenly find his best historical opportunity thrust upon him. Here the arc of Obama's Presidency begins to resemble that of Bill Clinton's. Both pursued bold domestic agendas in their first two years before Republicans made large midterm gains in Congress, which led to repeated clashes

eality of whatever situation they've inherited. "President Clinton used to say to us, `Look, this is what every Pre

like to leave." VII E FTA_R1_02204189 EFTA02720660 After I talked with Plouffe, I wandered down to the basement of the White House to meet with Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national-security adviser. That day, Obama was meeting with Francois Hollande, the new French President; the building was filled w

he debate over the proper scale and scope of the federal government dates to the Founders, but it has intensified since the Reagan revolution. Both Bill Clinton and Obama have spent as much time defending progressive advances—from Social Security and Medicare to voting rights and abortion rights—as they hav

ago, he told the President's staff that he expected Obama to stop at each of the fourteen tables and talk for a while. No one would have had to ask Clinton. Obama's staffers were alarmed. When you talk about this with people in Obamaland, they let on that Clinton borders on the obsessive—as if the appe

an XXL France or Germany." Obama's "long game" on foreign policy calls for traditional categories of American power and ideology to be reordered. Ben Rhodes, the deputy national-security adviser for strategic communications, told me that Washington was "trapped in very stale narratives." "In the foreig

n the 3,000 to 5,000 desired by the military and the full 30,000 wished for by Biden. She also might seek a compromise on the withdrawal timetable. Clinton wants to push ahead on the negotiating front as well, though with a special twist. She wouldn't talk solely with the Taliban leadership; rather, sh

drawal total and end dates could change somewhat. No one, not even Obama's most intimate national-security aides—Tom Donilon, Denis McDonough, and Ben Rhodes—can be certain of their boss' final calculations, but key officials feel confident that the president's secret thinking will generally hold. Sorti

ns a roomful of unelected officials, they will have planted the seeds for future unrest, and Egyptians will have missed a historic opportunity," Mrs. Clinton warned "When unelected authorities say they want to be out of the business of governing," the United States expects them "to lay out a clear road map

y much welcome the strong stance that Turkey has taken and believe it sends a critical message to President Assad that ... he should step down," said Ben Rhodes, Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser. In a series of statements, Davutoglu has insisted it is "no longer possible to trust the Syrian gov