Scandal : how "gotcha" politics is destroying America /

Davis, Lanny J.,

Scandal : how "gotcha" politics is destroying America / Lanny Davis. - First edition. - xv, 288 pages ; 25 cm

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-279) and index.

Revolutionary venom, its progeny and the gentlemen's agreement from Harding to Kennedy -- Seeds of the culture wars : the 1960s -- The post-Watergate media revolution -- The scandal cauldron : the 1980s -- To be "Borked" and "Gingriched" -- Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton : bookends to the scandal culture -- The Clinton "scandals" : much smoke, little fire -- Death of the independent counsel statute - and good riddance -- The boomerang effect : Gingrich and Livingston -- Hypocrisies on the left and right -- The new center -- Purple nation and the "grand coalition" government. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

"In this much-needed book, Lanny Davis, former Special Counsel to President Clinton, reveals the depths to which politics in America has sunk, taking to task both the Democratic left and Republican right for their reliance on scandals and the politics of personal destruction. Using personal anecdotes, interviews, and historical examples, Davis traces the roots of this scandal culture from our nation's founding to its current level of destructiveness. Focusing on post-Watergate developments like the scandal-hungry press corps, overzealous independent counsels, and hyper-partisanship, Davis shows how politicians, media, and interest groups alike use scandal for their own self-interests. This is a clarion call to the American people to reject the scandal-mongers inside and outside the Beltway who engage in an endless cycle of "gotcha" politics."--BOOK JACKET.

1403974950 9781403974952

2006043605


Scandals--United States
Political culture--United States


United States--Politics and government--1945-1989
United States--Politics and government--1989-

JK2249 / .D38 2006

973.92

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