Who's Who
Americans may be enamored of Bill Clinton, but those who work closest to him, Secret Service agents, aren't. It's not just that agents are bothered by Clinton's tendency to stray from their bubble,...
...What makes this interesting is that Berry has no experience as a Washington lobbyist...
...When Joy Silverman, a rich Republican fundraiser, complained to the FBI that she was being harassed by Sol Wachtler, 80 FBI agents were assigned to the case...
...And, of course, there was that front page New York Times photograph of Clinton on a Little Rock golf course berating his young assistant, Andrew Friendly...
...How lobbyists curry favor with both parties is illustrated by two members of the Duberstein Group, a Washington lobbying firm...
...Susan Threadgill 55 34 The Washington Monthly/April 1993...
...Michael Berman, president of the firm, helped prepare Carol Browner for hearings on her nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency...
...Clinton's slowness in filling out his administration was illustrated when, on March 2, we asked a top aide at the Department of Commerce how many Clinton people were on board...
...Although Hillary Clinton is praised around town for the intelligence she is bringing to the health reform effort, heads are shaking about her passionate loyalty to Thomases, whom Hillary describes as "a brilliant strategist...
...John and Nancy aren't married, but in the nineties, power couples don't have to be...
...If you wondered how Ronald Reagan ever brought himself to abandon his old pal, Ferdinand Marcos, the answer appears to be with great difficulty, and only after personal intervention from then Secretary of State George Shultz...
...That shouldn't come as much of a surprise to Clinton campaign observers who witnessed the candidate on several occasions—with microphones open—reprimanding aides over petty mishaps...
...If you want to be sure you're getting equal protection under the law, cynics say it helps to be rich, especially if you're a Republican fundraiser and there's a Republican administration in power...
...His answer: 5...
...He is a banker who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas and who plays golf with Bill Clinton...
...a vital, energetic, loving, enthusiastic person who works hard at everything she does, cares deeply about all kinds of issues and people, and is a wonderful friend...
...It's not just that agents are bothered by Clinton's tendency to stray from their bubble, but by his quick resort to verbal abuse when minor matters go awry...
...When Espy expressed curiosity about this bizarre behavior, he was told "we were never allowed to address the secretary directly...
...She is said to have been an advocate of Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood...
...Candidates for third place include John Hart, a White House staffer who handles intergovernmental affairs and Nancy McFadden, the right-hand person for Hillary's man at Justice, Webster Hubbell...
...Paul Berry has been hired by Global USA Inc., a lobbying firm with major Japanese clients...
...Two years ago, Berman's partner, Kenneth Duberstein, helped guide Clarence Thomas through hearings on his appointment to the Supreme Court...
...The president has been uncomfortable [with me] ever since," Shultz told his aides later...
...Since Susan Thomases, the Clinton campaign scheduler who continues to wield influence behind-the-scenes at the White House, is considered by many observers to be boastful, vindictive, and politically inept, her recent remark to The Washington Post's Lloyd Grove that "Hillary and I are a lot alike in a lot of ways" has sent tremors through Washington...
...one of the most creative political thinkers that I personally know...
...Unlike his predecessor, Robert Mosbacher, Brown does not use a private entrance, and he has taken down the awning Mosbacher had erected so that he wouldn't get wet going from his limousine to his office...
...One White House aide says his "stomach gets tight" when he sees Thomases coming down the hall...
...Career civil servants say the Clintonites are more accessible than their predecessors in the Reagan and Bush administrations...
...Global also signed Michael Brown, son of the secretary of Commerce...
...Espy learned of a similar absurdity on a recent airplane trip...
...Of course, Bill and Hillary are first on the list of power couples, followed by Bruce and Hattie Babbitt...
...According to John McCaslin of The Washington Times, an aide who was sitting just inches away from Espy handed a report to Espy's chief of staff and asked him to present it to Espy...
...This seems to be a lesson of the Wachtler-Silverman case in New York...
...Both Ron Brown at Commerce and Mike Espy at Agriculture have rescinded rules barring rank-and-file employees from the vicinity of the secretary's office...
...Additional doubts about the First Lady have been aroused by Chelsea's now famous statement to the Sidwell Friends nurse who needed parental permission to give her an aspirin: "Call my dad, my mom's too busy...
...According to Secret Service sources of The Washington Times, Thomases is the only White House passholder with access to the presidential family quarters...
Vol. 25 • April 1993 • No. 4
