Recording the Presidency

Looking for alternative sources for my dissertation research I read "The Clinton Tapes" by Taylor Branch. The author is no expert on the Clinton Presidency, but rather is an old friend of the President! What makes the book a valuable contribution to the history of the 1990s US Foreign Policy is that it is based on recorded conversations between the author and the President during his two terms in office.

The Clinton Tapes

The opening chapter gives some insight into why the President decided to initate a series of meetings with Branch, After winning the 1992 election Clinton started to look into methods of recording the history of his presidency, it seems incredible that during the interim period before inauguration when the President-Elect would need to make political appointments and prepare to govern, that Bill Clinton would be able to think about how best to record his legacy.

Branch stated that recording of meetings such as those used by Presidents Johnson and Nixon would not be adopted because of the possibility that the tapes could be subpoenaed. Minutes would not be taken of the informal and yet important meetings between key figures in the administration again because of the fear it could be requested, but also simply because of the issue - who would actually agree to take the minutes!

In March 1993 the first taped interview took place, Clinton stated that he wanted an interviewer and not just to create a "taped diary" as an interviewer could frame the debate, ask the important questions which perhaps if Clinton had recorded himself he would have ignored.

Recording History

The reason for blogging about this book is that it starts with an interesting discussion about the debates surrounding the need to record the presidency. It was widely commented in 2009 that President Obama could no longer use his blackberry because of issues relating to recording his usage of the device.

Preserving the history of a presidency is becoming a greater issue as important political decisions are made not in official settings, such as cabinet or congress but in informal meetings, the type in the UK referred to as the "Sofa government" as it is made of just a few individuals who meet so informally that they literally are on a sofa!

Freedom of Information Acts which have been enacted do in some way preserve history, however overall it discourages politicians from using communications forms which can be requested using the FoI Act, thus making the preservation of the history even more difficult! In "The End of the Party" Andrew Rawnsley quotes Tony Blair saying he wished he never pushed for the Act to begin with!