Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How President Bill Clinton Compromised America's Long-Term National Security [Hardcover]

Robert Patterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2003

Here is the ultimate insider's account from the highest and most sensitive levels of the Clinton administration, revealing how the irresponsible use of power can lead to a terrible price paid by all Americans.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert "Buzz" Patterson was a military aide to President Clinton from May 1996 to May 1998 and one of five individuals entrusted with carrying the "nuclear football"—the bag containing the codes for launching nuclear weapons. This responsibility meant that he spent a considerable amount of time next to the president, giving him a unique perspective on the Clinton administration. Though he arrived at the job "filled with professional devotion and commitment to serve," he left believing that Clinton had "sown a whirlwind of destruction upon the integrity of our government, endangered our national security, and done enormous harm to the American military in which I served."

Dereliction of Duty is not a personal attack on President Clinton or a commentary on his various scandals; rather, it is a "frank indictment of his obvious—to an eyewitness—failure to lead our country with responsibility and honor." Lt. Col. Patterson offers a damning list of anecdotes and charges against the President, including how Clinton lost the nuclear codes and shrugged it off; how he stalled and lost the opportunity to launch a direct strike on Osama bin Laden at a confirmed location; how the President and the First Lady, and much of their staff, consistently treated members of the military with disrespect and disdain; and how Clinton groped a female Air Force enlisted member while aboard Air Force One, among other incidents large and small. A considerable portion of this slim book is devoted to the myriad ways in which President Clinton undermined the military, and hence the security, of the nation. He seriously questions Clinton's decisions to send troops to Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and Bosnia to accomplish non-military tasks without clear objectives. Having participated in each of these engagements, Lt. Col. Patterson personally "experienced the frustration of needlessly wasted lives, effort, and national prestige" as well as the alarmingly low morale that Clinton inspired.

This is certainly not the first anti-Clinton book, but it is different in that Patterson does not seem to have a political ax to grind. In fact, at times, he appears apologetic about having to write about his ex-commander in chief. Yet, in the end, this retired soldier felt his last act of service should be to share his experience with his country. --Shawn Carkonen

From Publishers Weekly

No man is a hero to his valet-or his personal military aide, to judge by this memoir of the Clinton White House by a retired Air Force colonel who carried Clinton's "nuclear football" and had intimate access to the President from morning jog to evening card game. Although Patterson claims to have no political agenda and to personally like the man, he revisits all the familiar touchstones of conservative Clinton-hatred (he also suggests that the former president bears some responsibility for the events of 9/11). In Patterson's account, Clinton emerges as a careless, disingenuous frat boy, mercilessly hen-pecked by the domineering Hillary, whose tirades leave him looking like a "beaten puppy." He presides over a chaotic administration focused on spin and fund-raising; he fondles an Air Force One stewardess and ogles Patterson's wife in the Oval Office; he loses the nuclear launch codes; and he cheats at golf-which Patterson views as "not just a peccadillo but symptomatic of the way he approached life." Patterson also asserts that Clinton "directly and severely harmed this nation's security." Clinton debilitated the military, Patterson claims, by downsizing it, trying to remove the ban on homosexuals and put women in combat roles, "gutting morale" with pay freezes and "rudderless" peace-keeping missions, and turning it into an "armed social services agency." Worst of all, Clinton was soft on terrorism and missed a chance to get bin Laden with cruise missiles. Patterson raises important issues, but he seems most often affronted by what he sees as Clinton's belief that he "was privileged to conduct himself at a much lower code of conduct than the men or women he would repeatedly order into harm's way." There's a case to be made for Clinton's laxness on security matters, but Patterson's rendition is too anecdotal and brief, as well as too disgruntled-offended, even-to convince many. 8 pages of b&w photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing (March 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895261405
• ISBN-13: 978-0895261403
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (495 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Clinton, Bill

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 126 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review the reviews March 26, 2003

By S. Elwood

Format:Hardcover

If you are curious about this book, then do one thing: review all of the following 35 reviews for it. You will quickly notice that the reviews give the book either five stars or one star (there are two with three stars, but they are the exceptions). Those who give the book five stars discuss the content of the book while those who give it one star disparage the author. A few of them also call the book a pack of lies, but don't give examples, except for one. A reader from St. Paul Minnesota said: "Unlike what Mr. Patterson here says, the President doesn't carry around the launch codes. One of his aides does that, in a briefcase. So if the codes were lost, it wasn't President Clinton that lost them. This is just one of the many untruths to be found in this book."

The BBC press on April 26, 1999, published an article entitled "World: Americas Clinton drops nuclear football." It details how President Clinton did in fact leave behind the nuclear football--as well as the aide it was attached to. "A Reader" is clearly not apprised of the facts, and his opinioon may be discounted as uninformed.

Also, reviewer Edwin Carr from Boston on March 21 said: "a distinguished officer like himself, who took the same oath that I did, to protect and serve an American President and maintain his confidences and protect the job and position of the President of the United States, could fail the oath he swore to protect. Buzz should be ashamed that he has betrayed the confidence of all of us who were privileged to serve a President. He betrayed his leader, who he chose to serve. He betrayed his country for divulging secrets he swore to protect."

Mr. Carr should be reminded that the consitutional oath he refers to is an oath to the people of the United States and not to one specific leader. Only leaders like Saddam require an oath to a specific leader, and that it is Clinton who betrayed his country and HIS oath. Patterson is merely giving details.

In conclusion, I would suggest you do yourself a favor: buy this book and use the web to verify the allegations contained in it. You will quickly learn that for what can be verified, the writer is right on the money.

109 of 137 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sounding the Alarm! August 2, 2003

By Stacey B. Castleberry

Format:Hardcover

A huge military operation, tensed and poised to launch air strikes on Iraq needed a nod from the president before dawn broke and the window of opportunity closed. But the Commander-in-Chief didn't want to be bothered to take the call. He was busy watching a golf tournament with his friend. His response more than once was "I'll get back to him later."

The situation room was crowded as America's counterterror network had Osama bin Laden in its gun sights and was begging the White House for permission to strike, but the president had managed to "disappear" for a while and could not be located to give the order. The results of that missed opportunity fell to his wife's senatorial state.

Once the president, as he was leaving for a round of golf, lost the secret nuclear codes for the 24/7 nuclear football that the military aide carrried for him. The SECOND time he lost them, they were never found.

Hillary banned military uniforms from the White House. After it was observed that it didn't go over well politically, they were grudgingly approved for wear ONLY at official functions.

When the red carpet was rolled out for our president and each individual staff member at a sleepover stop in Holland, they left with all of the liquor and stole the crystal as a special PR "thank you" to the gracious hosts.

On the very frequently used Air Force One, our Commander-in-Chief committed a crime that, had he actually been SERVING in the armed forces would have put him in prison.

President #42 was so concerned about the tornado torn state of FL that when he was being flown over it to see the damage, he simply could not take time out from his card game to actually look up to peer out the window, except for a brief second when the press helicopter flew by for a photo op.

These are tidbits from the book and what was apparently an 8 year long party at the White House that still needs a mop up from the current administration.

The apolitical Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson may think his long and distinguished military career was his greatest service to this country, but it wasn't. Writing this book in an effort to wake up a sleeping America is his most courageous and heroic contribution. It's not the truth that sets anyone free, it's KNOWING the truth that does. Many "salutes" to this USAF retiree.

Why did he write this book? In his words, "We must never allow the purveyors of such dangerous military policy and irresponsible foreign policy claim the power of the presidency again."

Yes, there are also interesting insights into VP Al Gore, and on the real person in charge (Hillary) of this Peter Pan presdident that are not to be missed.

Definitely buy this explosive book and hang onto it like it was the nuclear football for future reference, unless of course you'd like to pass it to your fellow Americans who'd like to avoid another national disaster,too.

80 of 100 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Whatever happened to objectivity? October 28, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Excellent book that has clearly hit raw nerves among the "vast left-wing conspiracy" as seen from the comments of the 1-star reviewers.

Lt-Col Patterson has done a great job of presenting his criticisms in an interesting and yet matter-of-fact, non-sensational manner. Not for him the hyped-up rhetoric so often used by partisan commentators (e.g. the 1-star reviewers) to disguise the lack of substance in what they have to say.

To the 1-star reviewers who criticise the author's claims as being unsubstantiated, you should consider that the author, if he is making up stories, risks being publicly discredited or sued. None of the 1-star reviews that I have read directly refute any of the incidents described by the author. Have Americans become so polarised and partisan that they have lost all sense of objectivity? (One reveiwer even said that Clinton managed to thwart all terrorist attacks during his presidency. Duh! Did you read the book? Do Riyadh, Al Khobar, Tanzania, Kenya, the USS Cole ring any bells? You cannot be objective if you don't rely on facts).

The 1-star reviewers who remark that the book is irrelevant because Clinton is no longer president appear to have lost the plot. Do you not think that the Clintons will try to get back to the White House (so that they can sell more nights in the Lincoln bedroom)? This is what makes the book so important.

The bottomline? It does not matter what the author's motives are. If what he says is true, it is a serious indictment of the Clintons' suitability to be leaders. Don't shoot the messenger; listen to the message even if it is painful to your ears.