The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point [Paperback]

Haynes Johnson (Author), David Broder (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0316111457 | ISBN-13: 978-0316111454 | Publication Date: April 1, 1997 | Edition: First

Taking as an example the Clinton health care reform initiative, the authors show how a policy that aimed to please everyone ended by satisfying no one due to pressure groups, political gamesmanship and the inertia of the American 'system'.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A remarkable feat of investigative reporting, this is probably the fullest account to date of the behind-the-scenes political battles surrounding President Clinton's failed health insurance initiative. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington reporters Johnson (Sleepwalking Through History) and Broder (Changing of the Guard) believe that Clinton made a major mistake in creating a special White House health-care task force headed by his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and business consultant Ira Magaziner. The First Lady's presence stifled the free expression of ideas by cabinet members and White House aides, and the president overlooked Magaziner's track record of overly complicated, failed public-policy proposals, the authors charge. Furthermore, the Clinton plan had fatal vulnerabilities, notably the absence of a few simple structural principles that could be readily grasped by the public. The authors expose the full extent of the massive lobbying campaign by the plan's opponents, among them conservative Republicans, insurance companies, health-care providers and the Christian Coalition. This probe into the failure to provide affordable, universal health coverage brilliantly illuminates why so many people believe that the government no longer represents them. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

These two Pulitzer Prize-winning political commentators spent three years interviewing politicians, experts, citizens, and lobbyists for this superb narrative about the healthcare debate of 1993-95. President Clinton, interviewed several times, admits he underestimated the strength of fiscal and conservative special interests. The authors also attribute the failure of the healthcare bill to the lack of an electoral mandate; the leadership of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was too committed to universal care to be unbiased; and a proposed bill incomprehensible to legislators and citizens. A pledge by the Newt Gingrich-led House to defeat any Democratic proposal doomed the bill. The authors go beyond the Beltway to show that adequate medical coverage is becoming a have vs. have-not issue, for the inner city and for a growing number of downsized middle-class workers. This complex set of events provides lessons and warnings for a government that has lost its spirit of bipartisianship and no longer represents the best interests of its citizens. Highly recommended for public libraries. [For a similar discussion, see also Theda Skopcol's Boomerang, LJ 4/1/96; previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/96.?Ed.]?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
-?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books; First edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316111457
• ISBN-13: 978-0316111454
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.4 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #464,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning inside look at politics, January 6, 2000

By 

Michael J. Berquist - See all my reviews

This review is from: The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point (Paperback)

The Clinton Health Care plan was a bold, dramatic attempt to transform the American health care system to take into account the fact that while America may provide the best health care in the world, far too many of its citizens are unable to afford it. Clinton's attempt, probably the most dramatic attempt at a government program since the Great Society, failed miserably and helped to elect a Republican Congress.

The battle the voters didn't see was the important one- the battle which nearly sank the Clinton Presidency and destroyed its ambitious health care proposal. The powers arrayed against the Clinton plan were formidable and well-financed, aided by the Administration's mind-numbing blunders.

"The System" has the entire story- the high hopes, the stunning reversals, the industry's toxic reaction to reform. The Clintonites quickly found that the old adage is true. No good deed goes unpunished.

"The System" is a very good book at who really calls the shots in American government and how little power people really have against the special interests. More valuable than ten years of civics lessons.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating insight into Clinton's Health Care Reform, September 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point (Paperback)

Broder and Johnson give an excellent look into the politics involved in everyday governing. From public speeches to secret meetings, the reader gets a new perspective on Washington and those who work there. The whole process of deal-making, lobbyists, and few compromises leaves the reader frustrated and enlightened about The System.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read this book for a preview of Clinton Round 2, November 7, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point (Hardcover)

Reviewing this history of the health reform effort, the central failure of the first Clinton Administration, is an excellent way to anticipate the shape of things to come in Clinton II. The authors, masterful insiders, use their unprecedented access to the highest levels of power to demonstrate how universal coverage, a goal supported by virtually all the key players, drowned in a sea of amateurish, hubris-ridden ineptitude on the part of the boomer generations' "best and brightest". Will history repeat itself in the form of another domestic Vietnam? Or have all the president's persons learned from their mistakes the lessons as set forth by the authors in their incisive conclusion, in which they conclude that the sickest entity of all may well be 'The System' itself