The Breach : Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: joint caucus, perjury article, leadership aides, United States, New York, Asa Hutchinson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In case you missed "our long national nightmare" the first time around, or have recovered from the stunning deluge of coverage and pundit-babble inflicted upon the nation, or if you're just hazy on some of the details, The Breach is for you. Peter Baker, a longtime reporter for the Washington Post, covered the White House from 1996 to1999. He has used his experience and access to write the ultimate Beltway book about the six-month saga of the impeachment and trial of President Clinton, from the unfortunate, verb-parsing grand jury testimony of August 1998 to the Senate acquittal in February 1999.

The Breach is a refreshing departure from the daily onslaught of revelations, spin, and commentary that characterized the affair as it unfolded; it's a rigorously researched and extremely detailed account of what happened. Some of the information is new, even shocking, and often depressing. But mostly it's a reminder of how savage and surreal the whole thing was, with adulterers accusing adulterers and the fate of the Executive held to ransom. In a tale of rampant male ego, it is the old feminist saw "the personal is political" that perhaps best encapsulates the experience. Though The Breach is detailed, compiled from hundreds of interviews, investigation files, diaries, and recordings, it lacks that numbing quality the contemporary coverage had. This is inside baseball, written for C-SPAN geeks, Beltway bandits--wannabe or actual--and curious citizens alike. Perhaps the highest praise for such an endeavor is that even after all the hype, this book still manages to be a page-turner. --J. Riches

From Publishers Weekly

Baker covered the Lewinsky brouhaha and the impeachment of Clinton for the Washington Post; this very absorbing and very thorough volume tells the complicated story of both, from the president's admission in August 1998 that he had "misled people" to the Senate's votes in February 1999 to acquit him. Previous scandal chronicles have focused on the president's personality and his (real or alleged) misdeeds, or else on his most dedicated opponents (like independent counsel Ken Starr). Baker admirably concentrates instead on the day-to-day doings of White House staff and on members of Congress. He shows the conflicts between Clinton's political strategists and his legal team, the mixed reactions of congressional Democrats and the infighting among House Republicans, who went through three speakers (Gingrich, Livingston, Hastert) inside a month. He looks at the effects of the Starr report and at its impact on members of the media, like Larry Flynt and Christopher Hitchens. Finally, Baker shows how, in the trial itself, minority and majority leaders Tom Daschle and Trent Lott "labored together... to keep the Senate from coming apart." In addition to his Post reportage, Baker has used all manner of further research, interviews and documents, many of them (unsurprisingly) not for attribution. As a result, he describes many scenes and conversations he could not have heard, all reconstructed from participants' statements and notes. His story is less about Clinton than about the moral, political and practical judgments all the other folks in the process had to make. As such, it's a tale with continuing relevance: Clinton will leave office soon, but many of Baker's other players will stay. Hardly salacious and nearly without prurience, Baker's detailed narration will delight would-be historians; politics junkies will find it the book of the season. First serial to the Washington Post. (Sept. 18)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (September 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068486813X
• ISBN-13: 978-0684868134
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,431,175 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Final Book, September 18, 2000

By A Customer

This is an insightful, well-written account by a someone who was given unprecedented access to all of the players. Baker is not only a gifted writer, but is a talented investigative reporter who knows how to write without injecting his own bias into his writing. Undoubtedly his well-deserved reputation for accurate reporting was a major reason why so many opened up to him. This is a book that readers -- regardless of their personal views -- will find insightful, and perhaps, the "final" book on this sordid affair. It will certainly be a book that historians will refer to in years to come.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone should read this well-documented, insightful book, September 27, 2000

By A Customer

The people involved and the story of the impeachment are well known, but this book is so compelling in it's detail and behind the scenes reporting of events. I could not detect a bias by the author, and I am amazed that so many people involved in the episode spoke so revealingly to him. There was so much going on behind the scenes that we were not privy to, previously. It is an insight not only into the impeachment process, but into the politicians who were so conflicted in their roles and decision-making. It is just a wonderful book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tidying Up The Mess, August 28, 2001

By	"pjmorv" (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

The Breach is arguably the best political book of recent years. The Washington Post's Peter Baker took a topic everyone was sick of, and summarized it -- sticking to what really mattered. The book chronicles the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Period. Baker shows what went on behind the scenes, what deals were cut to keep Clinton in office, and the ambivalence of Republican leaders about pursuing a politically unpopular course. He shows why some members of both parties came to loathe Clinton, and how Clinton's own lieutenants felt. And he reveals why events unfolded as they did, and how once started, the process could not be stopped -- despite the efforts of some Republicans to "turn off impeachment" for fear of rushing down the wrong track of history. This is not a book about sex, nor a book about the Clinton marriage. Baker is writing a history for history, and sifts through all the pundit babble and misdirected salaciousness to report accurately on one of the most important events of recent American history. For anyone who was transfixed by the magnitude of the events but couldn't stomach the way it was handled by much of the press, this is the book for you.