Voter's Challenge, The
Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry talks about the challenge voters face before elections, when they are bombarded with information from the media that is frequently unaccompanied by analysis. In the end, Mr. McCurry explains, the Ameri...
Coming of Globalization, The
Former Secretary of State James A. Baker talks about the emergence of globalization as a force on the world stage towards the end of the George H.W. Bush administration. He explains that the impact was broad-based, affecting both foreign affairs and...
Cabinet Meetings
Former Secretary of Labor and university professor Robert Reich reveals that, while there were "relatively few" Cabinet meetings in the Clinton White House, there were a lot of what he calls "sub-cabinet meetings." "That is," Secretary Reich explain...
Dealing With Mexico's Financial Crisis
Director of the National Economic Council and former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers talks about the financial problems Mexico experienced in the 1990's and the very real question of whether Mexico and possibly other countries around the ...
Easy Days and Hard Days
Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry recalls that his easiest days were those when there was only one topic on the minds of reporters in the White House press briefings. Mr. McCurry says his greatest challenge on those occasions was figur...
Washington Monument Syndrome, The
Former Secretary of State James A. Baker talks about what he calls "The Washington Monument Syndrome." Secretary Baker explains that career people in the various federal government departments and agencies, along with the Congress and the press, ".....
Early Political Training
Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry talks about early lessons in ("...how to deal with pressure...how to deal with lawyers...when crisis erupts in our political system") that would help him in later years when he went to the White House ...
Being Secretary of Labor
Former Secretary of Labor and university professor Robert Reich reflects on his service as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. "It was the best job I ever had, it's the best job I ever will have. It was harrowing, it was scary...But it...
Building Consensus
Director of the National Economic Council and former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers talks about the importance of forging consensus and finding common ground as the key to getting things done politically.
Comparing Presidential Crises (Part Two)
Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry talks about the congressional response to Watergate in the 1970's and to President Clinton's sex scandal twenty-five years later. Mr. McCurry says his memory of Watergate is not the "misbehavior" of Ri...