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Don Baer: The Clinton Years
Don Baer is the former Communications Director for President Clinton and also served as a White House speechwriter.
CNN Moderator: What is your reaction to yesterday's news of the agreement that Bill Clinton reached with the independent counsel and to the last minute pardons coming in now?
Don Baer: I think the agreement with the independent counsel is a good thing. I think the vast majority of the American people, and certainly the political culture here in Washington, are ready for all that to be put behind us. And therefore, reaching some closure now, rather than having to wait to see whether or not the independent counsel was going to indict former President Clinton, is a good thing.
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The last minute pardons were expected, we were waiting for them. They're an interesting array of names. You know, President Clinton is someone who certainly has demonstrated over the years that he believes in fresh starts and a sense of redemption. I assume he's thinking of that in regard to names on this pardon list.
CNN Moderator: What impact will these events have on his legacy?
Don Baer: I don't think much of anything. The question of the resolution of the Whitewater investigation and associated events was going to loom in his legacy regardless of how it's resolved. But having said that, it's a good thing to resolve it now, rather than have it gone on potentially for another two years. If he were indicted, and he decided to fight that and take it to trial, that lasts a long time. It would carry all this, which would be a shame, well into the term of the next presidency. On the other hand, there's every possibility that if he had been indicted, he might have been pardoned by President Bush, and that could have had huge political implications for the country. All in all, I think it's in everyone's best interest to get it behind us.
CNN Moderator: How do you view the president's overall legacy? Is he leaving on a good or bad note?
Don Baer: I believe very strongly he's leaving on a good note. I believe he will be remembered as a good president, despite the various challenges and problems he faced and created. I think the country is stronger, it's richer, and it is better than it was eight years ago when he took office.
It's sometimes difficult for us to remember the state of America in 1991 and 1992. There was a sense of fear and uncertainty about a future that loomed ahead of us then, and Bill Clinton has, as he often said he wanted to do, prepared America for the challenges and big opportunities of the 21st century. He did that by making the American presidency a robust and a real presence in the lives of ordinary Americans again, in a way that was not clear it would be as we ended the Cold War and were looking ahead to what the future will hold. And I think people will miss him a great deal.
CNN Moderator: From your experience in the White House, what challenges and surprises would you forecast for the new Bush team?
Don Baer: I think there are a lot of issues and matters that come up that you don't plan for. It's hard to know what those things will be for the new president and his team. They seem to be a well managed group, who know how to define the terms of their success and how to discipline themselves in such a way to make it possible to reach that success.
I think one of the interesting things that happens is the extent to which people around the president—his aides, the Cabinet--decide to go their own way and leak to the press or break confidentiality with regard to the advice they give the president. A way of trying to make names for themselves rather than help the president they're supposed to serve. That is often the way of Washington. It certainly has been the way of many the past eight years. It can be a corrosive factor when you're trying to work together to help the country. It'll be interesting to see whether or not the narcotic effect of public attention damages the working relationships within that White House.
CNN Moderator: Another part of the Clinton legacy is his creation of the "New Democrat" image, making the party appear more centrist. Is the change real? If so, will it hold after Clinton leaves office?
Don Baer: It's absolutely real. It's one of the critical things he did as president. He put progressive forces on an entirely different course, going into the new century. He ended welfare as we know it and brought down crime. He moved his party toward being the party of fiscal responsibility, the party of values driving foreign policy. I happen to believe the country largely voted for a continuation of Clintonism without Clinton in this election. Whether voters voted for Bush or Gore, that's really where the bulk of them were.
CNN Moderator: Thank you for joining us today.
Don Baer: Thanks for having me.
Don Baer joined the chat room via telephone from Washington, D.C. CNN provided a typist. The above is an edited transcript of the interview on Saturday, January 20, 2001.
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