....old news...
....yawn...
"AnAmericanCitizen" <NoAmnesty@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:5qnai395gf9uro06on404t63tjoqavbil0@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> Newser's book: Ford saw Clinton as a *** 'addict'
>
>
> BY TRACY CONNOR
>
> DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
>
> Sunday, October 28th 2007, 4:00 AM
>
> Gerald Ford was disturbed by Bill Clinton's skirt-chasing ways - and
> thought he
> should check into a *** addiction clinic.
>
> A new book on the late 38th President reveals he had strong views about
> the Clintons:
> He thought Hillary wore the pants and that Bill couldn't keep his
zipped.
>
> "He's sick - he's got an addiction. He needs treatment," Ford told Daily
> News
> Wa****ngton Bureau Chief Thomas M. DeFrank, author of "Write It When I'm
> Gone:
> Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford."
>
> Ford's wife, Betty, who founded a pioneering treatment center after her
> battle with
> alcoholism and drugs, agreed.
>
> "You know, there's treatment for that kind of addiction," she told
DeFrank
> during the
> same conversation in 1999. "A lot of men have gone through the treatment
> with a lot
> of success. But he won't do it, because he's in denial."
>
> The Fords first got to know the Clintons in the summer of 1993, when
they
> invited the
> new First Family to their home in Colorado.
>
> Gerald Ford's impressions of the Oval Office's latest tenant were mixed.
> He believed
> Clinton was charismatic, articulate, a "helluva salesman" and the best
> politician
> he'd ever seen - even better than John F. Kennedy.
>
> But he considered Clinton a foreign-policy wimp, and sensed that he
hadn't
> learned
> from mistakes in his personal life - allegations of womanizing that
dogged
> him during
> the campaign for the White House.
>
> That opinion was based on behavior Ford witnessed the weekend he hosted
> the Clintons
> in Colorado.
>
> "I'll tell you one thing: He didn't miss one good-looking skirt at any
of
> the social
> occasions," Ford said later.
>
> "He's got a wandering eye, I'll tell you that. Betty had the same
> impression; he
> isn't very subtle about his interest."
>
> Nevertheless, when the Monica Lewinsky ***-and-perjury scandal erupted
and
> barreled
> toward impeachment, Ford was willing to help Clinton - to a point.
>
> After the House voted to impeach Clinton but before the Senate's
decision
> on whether
> to convict him, the sitting President phoned the ex-President.
>
> "He said he needed my help and wanted to know if I could help," Ford
> recalled not
> long after.
>
> Ford had written two Op-Ed pieces in which he called for Clinton to
admit
> he had lied
> to federal investigators in exchange for censure over impeachment.
>
> He told Clinton that he would help him, if he agreed to such a deal.
>
> "Bill I think you have to admit that you lied. If you do that, I think
> that will help
> - and I'll help you. If you'll admit to perjury, I'll do more," he said.
>
> "I won't do that," Clinton told him. "I can't do that."
>
> Ford was stunned by Clinton's lack of contrition. "It's a character
flaw,"
> he
> concluded.
>
> Still, he seemed to feel for Clinton on a personal level.
>
> "I'm convinced that Clinton has a ***ual addiction. He needs to get help
-
> for his
> sake. He's already damaged his presidency beyond repair," he told
DeFrank.
>
> In Ford's eyes, Clinton's weaknesses were in sharp contrast to his
wife's
> iron will.
>
> "She's stronger and tougher than he is," he said. "When she takes a
point
> you're
> gonna have to be damn sure you're well informed because she won't
> compromise as
> quickly or as easily as he.
>
> "She's very bright. She's strong, and I think he defers to her. When she
> gets her
> dander up, she ain't gonna roll over."
>
> And he had no doubts about her ambitions. "Hillary is gonna be on the
> ticket in '04
> or '08, one or the other, you can write that down," he said in 2002.
>
> Yet he didn't think she would win - "I don't think the country is ready
> for a lady
> President," he said - and he didn't live long enough to find out if he
was
> right.
>
> The Clintons, through spokesman Howard Wolfson, declined to comment
about
> the book.
>
> tconnor@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
|
