Saturday, April 28, 2007

An Eloquent Pen Stilled -- David Halberstam

re: Albert Mohler writes about David Halberstam, including, "Later, Halberstam would write War in a Time of Peace, in which he would interpret the 1990s through the lenses of Presidents George H. W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton. In this fascinating section of the book, Halberstam offers keen observations concerning President Clinton: /Some more traditional political analysts had begun to study Clinton's moves and failings not in ideological terms as to whether he was of the left or the right of center, but in generational terms. As the first baby boomer president, he was bright and talented but, they believed, spoiled. Like many boomers his expectations outweighed his sense of obligation. His talents -- and his charm -- were so considerable that they outweighed his faults. When he disappointed people, they always forgave him, and in time he came to expect their forgiveness. When things went wrong, he was unusually slow, even in private, to accept responsibility himself. The belief that what he represented generationally was critical to his political behavior was shared by some people who worked with him daily. Tony Lake and George Stephanopoulos would often talk about the difficulty they had in dealing with the president, deciding they bookended the boomer generation. Lake just a bit too old and Stephanopoulos a bit too young."...

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