Would a President Hillary Investigate Bush's Eight Years of Scandal?

Editor's Note: As Hillary Clinton has emerged as a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, this excerpt from Consortium News Editor Robert Parry's book, "Secrecy & Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq," is required reading on the issue of how an elected Hillary Clinton may treat the eight years of crime and scandal from the second Bush presidency.

The excerpt opens with a scene early in the second year of Bill Clinton's presidency with him explaining to White House guests why he didn't pursue geopolitical scandals that had implicated George H.W. Bush in gross abuses of power and arguably criminal acts.

President Clinton made clear he saw historical truth as less important than his hopes for Republican cooperation on his domestic agenda. But this willingness to sweep major scandals under the rug left the White House back door ajar for a restoration of the Bush Family dynasty a half dozen years later -- with disastrous consequences for the American Republic.

The relevance of this story today is that Bill Clinton's misguided "pragmatism" seems to a characteristic of Hillary Clinton's political persona, too, as she hedges her positions on the Iraq War and signals a willingness to support a dangerous confrontation with Iran.

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Excerpted from the Chapter, "The Wedding"

The light from the setting sun streamed through the windows of the East Room after the first White House wedding in more than two decades. Guests were picking desserts from a buffet table and conversing, some gesturing with crystal champagne flutes in hand.

Despite the formality of the surroundings, the event had a relaxed air. Earlier, President Bill Clinton had given a gracious toast in honor of the wedding couple -- Tony Rodham and Nicole Boxer -- and played the saxophone to entertain their families and friends.

The groom was Clinton's brother-in-law; the bride was the daughter of his political ally, Senator Barbara Boxer of California. Many other guests had supported his campaign for the White House two years earlier.

Clinton, a tall man renowned for his personal magnetism and ability to focus on each individual he meets at least for a few fleeting seconds, was moving among the guests like a host at the latter stages of a house party. Unlike many of the guests sipping from crystal or drinking from coffee cups, Clinton carried in his large hands a mug with the presidential seal.

As he came upon one knot of guests, Clinton started talking like one might chat with neighbors about troubles at work. He complained about how rancorous Washington had become, how beleaguered he felt, how horribly the press was treating him.

"He was unburdening himself," recalled Stuart Sender, a Los Angeles-based documentary filmmaker who was one of the guests.

Sixteen months into his Presidency, Clinton was learning about the hard-knuckled realities of the new Washington where campaigns never stop, where there is no respite for governance between elections.

Clinton was getting clobbered by the Republicans and by the news media over an old real-estate deal in Arkansas, known as Whitewater. The political heat had gotten so searing that Clinton had consented to the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Philandering

There had been a firestorm, too, over allegations from Arkansas state troopers about Clinton's philandering as governor. A woman named Paula Jones had emerged from that controversy with claims that Clinton had crudely propositioned her.

He also was taking flak over the firing of employees in the White House Travel Office, and there were bizarre suspicions circulating about the suicide of White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster, who had come with the Clintons from Arkansas.