roger altman house

I have always liked Mrs. Clinton and I had a lot of respect for her and do have a lot of respect for her. That day I knew we were headed for defeat. So the fact that a variety of people serve a long time, theres nothing mysterious about that, that had nothing to do with Bill Clinton. Well, both is the answer. Then he asked me to begin to work on certain personnelpresent him possible choices for the senior jobs in the department. So the swing votes were the object of our attention. I think of people like [Harold] Carswell and [Clement] Haynsworth that Nixon appointed and who didnt make it, it was mostly because they were seen as inferior candidates. Before you get into that, can I ask you another question about the arrangements on the 1993 budget? The election took place on the first Tuesday of November. Did you stay in Little Rock for a while afterward? There were a lot of people who did take that candidacy very seriously though, right? [laughter]. I wasnt making a distinction between Clinton and his predecessors, but rather making a distinction between Clinton and his successors since there wont be any more. Did you do anything else? I did too. Mickey Kantor was in charge of the famous Little Rock Economic Summit. Right around that time I was put in charge of the Treasury transition. But the other approach for a short-term stimulus would be to do what this President did, or maybe it was the Democrats that forced him to do when he took office, which is refundable credit that goes out in the middle of the summer of your first year in office. He talked about a middle-class tax cut and, of course getting the economy moving. So Clinton wisely determined that this was something that Bentsen ultimately had to make the call on. Was it his personality that won, or was he able to? From the very beginning I was spending a lot of my time on the Presidents economic program. We had a chronic problem with Japan because they had so many Prime Ministers. There are too many people in his own administration, at least at the moment, who think that all he finally did was succumb to the Republican position, and anybody who wore a D on his shirt and supported the Republican position could have brought along enough Ds to make the bill happen. I didnt think it was going to be that bad. Remember, President Clintons first initiative, the stimulus plan, was defeated. We were the easy solution for the press. Well, there was, like most administrations, kind of a running shakeup. It was not an accident that he did that. They just called someone in the war room and they had an immediate answer or immediate access to whatever they needed. I went and visited the injured agents in the hospital. Why? We wanted Japan to commit to rebalance the current account between the two countries, including committing itself to some pro-growth steps at home, and we wanted a specific agreement on autos and certain other things. You were responsible then for recruiting the people who were going to be in it? At this point youre working on policy questions primarily? I cant recall what year it was but it was in the late 80s, and now its seven or eight thousand, actually up toward nine, but has more or less slid ever since. I consider that another important legacy, since not that many Presidents of the 20th century have it. some of these were extemporaneous, he had no notes, but he was quite an impressive speaker, I thought. Secondly, the National Economic Council would meet very often for purposes of reviewing where this stood; I was on that as a standing member. No voters will cast their votes, even two years from now, even in 94, one year from now, on the basis of my having voted against it. It used to be, I believe, that they were graded on grounds of competent scholarship and so forth. Unfortunately, during the Clinton era ultimately there were four, five, or six independent counsels chosen to look into Bruce Babbitt and Ron Brown and some of the other people. You ultimately get into a room like this and you say, youd better start to train me, tell me how this happened. Bentsen never lost an election, period, on which he was head of the ticket, ever. But that was about as specific as you can get. Well, that was, in retrospect, the Bill Clinton Show, and he demonstratedit was, I think, very clever in retrospect. Would I have considered moving to Switzerland if he did become President? But I didnt have any knowledge of this stuff. Not too much, though. You know, Clintons Presidency coincided with a lot of big changes in the body politic at large. If you think about it in the context of today, well see how the primary campaign plays out, but it will be unusual if differences on issues were the decisive factor. I remember the very stirring tableau as you may remember, the Clintons and the Gores came out onto this beautifully lit portico and there were, it seemed, thousands of people on the street in front of them. You didnt have to spend a lot of time with Lloyd Bentsen to know that he wasnt going to be shunted aside. It was excellent. You know, the only other thought I would express on this is, despite the drama of the moment and the stakes, everyone, as they say, puts on his pants one leg at a time. I think hes deeply appreciated. I should double-check that. And the difficulty became quickly evident once the program was laid out. No, two funny stories, Jim, dont let him off so easily. The time for horse-trading was over. That notion took hold at that meeting. No, it was not at all. President Clinton, Democrat, nominated a Republican to this job and the Democrats defeated his nomination. I ran for president of the student body in the spring of my junior year, and he did the same in the spring of his junior year, which was one year following mine. You wouldnt choose to go before a grand jury instead of, say, going to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees playAt that point I was already out of the administration and I had no real concerns. I think the answer to your question was, Yes, it was, but the RTC was charged with the responsibility of cleaning up all S and Ls [Savings and Loans]. Which did he bond most closely with and were there instances where there were tough nuts for him to crack? Is he going to become President? And presided over eight years of peace. I think. Of course, we were in a different time zone, 12 hours different. And it was just fuel on the already roaring fire of Whitewater. Lets recast the question a bit. We just discussed one of them, which is the up cycle in partisanship, as I call it. You say he didnt inspire fierce loyalty amongst a lot of his subordinates, but interestingly, I think a lot of the senior Cabinet members lasted a long time, I mean, they stayed for muchDonna Shalala was Secretary for eight years, Rubin was in for a long time, given the fact that his family didnt move to Washington. I dont think thats a very good answer to your question, but I dont think I have a better one. Well, the war room, first of all, was operated quite differently from the National Economic Council. If Whitewater occurred today or there was some like set of issues surrounding President Bush and his past, I dont think thered be a single hearing about it. The Federal Government doesnt have much of a role in education. The House voted first, and on the day of the House vote we didnt think we had the votes, or at least we thought the odds were too high that we would lose. Was it the selection of the people who were going to do the economic. Youre referring to the environmental and labor side issues. So Im sure therell be another independent counsel. So I did a lot of work representing the Treasury on any number of issues in the White House councils of deliberation. He loved it. There are many people in the administration who dont like the welfare reform that was ultimately signed, believed that Clinton ultimately turned centrist on the issue and anybody could have done that and once you did it as a Democratic President, you were going to have welfare reform. Actually, each White House that I was familiar with had its own version of what we called the National Economic Council, and if you look back for example, during the Nixon and Ford administrations, they had something quite similar. Secretary [William] Simon spent hours with me, which is quite odd in retrospect since I was 32. Working on the Hill, traveling? No, no. It was an all right agreement. Its really quite stunning. Theres also an institutional dimension to the atmosphere in Washington thats very important and distinguishes the current situation from the situation in which you governed, and that is the existence of an independent counsel. That by choosing Panetta, and Bentsen, and Rubin, he chose economic conservatives. That was great. We nominated this guy, thought he was quite capable and in one of the wonderful ironies of Washington, the quixotic ironies of Washington, the Democrats defeated the nomination. Were you at all involved in the development of the side agreements on environmental issues and. WebRoger Ebert March 07, 1978. There was a camp around that view. Stephanopoulos was there and Sperling was there. She may have had a lot of influence on it, but I didnt see her. Altman gave He was named the first week of December. Then, in 1995, he formed Evercore. I was given an office over in the Treasury. It is especially important then for the people who worked with him to give us reflections on his role. I mean, youre sent down there, you have no training for it. We just kept the pressure on the best we could. Earlier in Little Rock, was she in attendance at any of these meetings? And, of course, the ATF agents didnt know what they were going to experience and he found himself exposed to an open line of fire. We know youre extremely busy. Yes, Putting People First was reissued, I believe it was June. But its interesting to put it into perspective. Also, wed had 12 years of Republican rule and there was a widespread sense of time for change. Nothing, zero, never did, never would have. If you read Putting People First, first of all it was domestic policy as a whole, it was not just economic policy. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday interviewed investment banker Roger Altman, a former Treasury official, as a candidate to replace It was not as big a change as it was advertised to be, or has been seen historically. I just want to make one point. As far as healthcare versus welfare reform? But Clinton did care quite a bit about it. Ive seen Washington battles and that wasnt one of them. My point is that if one was a Republican in 93, one could say, Okay, Im going to vote against this so Im not on record of favoring any kind of tax increase, and that protects me politically and if that works out, I dont lose anything, so Im politically immunized. But my guess is that those kinds of. I think thats a very important point because it turned out to be an awfully successful piece of legislation and not a single Republican voted for it. Were there things about those campaigns that you had learned in preparation for this one that proved to be particularly helpful? They began to mount quite a drumbeat of Republican outcry to the effect that it was the responsibility of the RTC to unilaterally extend that statute of limitations on the theory that it would be wrong to let the Clintons off the hook, and the RTC had the power to do that. They have made changes in policy, its not as though theyve stood still. You know, Bushs approach to international diplomacy is, Here are my buddiesall of whom he seems to nickname. Is this a case where the political people were encouraging him to hold his ground? So I knew nothing about the substance of the Clinton case. We cant afford to lose it, that type of stuff. No, but it wasnt just entirely that. If you look at the organization chartIm not sure its the same now, but you have the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Deputy Secretary is part of the office. But the tax increasesand there were two main ones, the energy tax and the upper bracket increasewere seen by the Republicans, every last one of them, as unacceptable and became their rallying cry. You didnt have to spend much time around them to see this. Youre serving your country. So I think you had a President who was seen as very slickand he had that reputation before he became Presidentand then this upsurge in partisanship generally. I think Bush inspires greater loyalty than Clinton, just does. In the initial phases it was really broad strategy because we didnt yet know. So I felt very chastened by what Gene had said. Of course that depends on the moment in question. That was not clear to me. I hadnt been parachuted in from some distant spot without any such relations. I have to tell my most famous Bentsen story because it really illustrates what an extraordinary person Bentsen was. So you wouldnt have had any involvement on Capitol Hill or anything like that at the time? But the politics of the Btu tax, as compared to other types of energy taxes, were not well considered. Can you tell us about that? Did you do any traveling with Clinton on the campaign around New York or outside of New York? I think there were missed opportunities, yes; I dont believe they would have made a big difference however. In fact, it was six months before. No, let me just correct the record. Rob Rubin and I went together, Bob Reich was there, Gene Sperling was there, Bob Shapiro was there. Bentsen, of course, didnt know the House as well as he knew the Senate, so it wasnt unusual that he himself wouldnt know in the House. They talked all the time. First of all, Clintonand I consider this a very important historical achievement, well see how it lastsmay turn out to have transformed the Democratic party. Now streaming on: Powered by I direct the Presidential Oral History Program at the Miller Center. I doubt it. In addition, Mr. Altman is a director of New Visions for Public Schools and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Under the normal circumstances, like Clintons, they have considerable difficulties in an adverse political environment to get anything done, and that is the more normal historical situation. He predicted them. The type of student attending each school at the time. He has difficulty speaking. He wanted me to go see Bentsen. Just promotes disunity and so forth. What Im interested in is when the man who was elected to the Presidency decided on his course of action in some of these policy areas. This wont help you because its not very original, but theres something about President Clinton that had the effect of rubbing salt on a wound as far as his opponents were concerned. You could have something like the Paris agreement in 1985 when there was coordinated strengthening of the European and Japanese currencies and weakening of the dollar. Well, nobody took more pain up front than Ronald Reagan. It wasnt particularly formed before then. We can come back and pick up on each of these strains and try to get you to flesh out the skeleton if we can. There was a group of three or four of us who were doing Japan policy. I dont really think Bentsen knew me at all. We might have a thousand independent counsels operating under the freedom of the press, investigations. Once you get NAFTA behind you, my guess is that there were further discussions at that point about what ought to be next and this is when healthcare becomes a priority. Id actually been politically active in high school, but my political involvements didnt extend beyond the campus. You become President, theres a new Congress. There just wasnt a candidate who had the capability to do that. This had been the thrust of the campaign, so expectations were very high that Clinton would come forward with a real economic program, a comprehensive program, and from the moment that all these folks were chosen the question was, what is that program going to be? I think it counts for four, five percent of the spending. Well, I was thinking of both actually, but in the bill. But I think in Washington, except in dire emergencies, politics rules, and most Republicans had the view that they would rather die than vote for a tax increase. I ended up doing that over the space of four, five, six weeks. I cant cite the examples that I can cite about the National Economic Council, because I studied that for Clinton, but I doubt it. So he didnt say, I know Im going to lose all these folks, but Im going to do it anyway. Clinton had one and in this instance, on the stimulus program, he should have listened to him. Was that true of Georgetown at the time that you were there? Clinton was here, and Mrs. Clinton. But it really was quite effective because one needed a military-like approach with only five or six weeks to go, and that bill was in trouble. I only heardpeople are very superstitiousso I was told, It looks better or It looks like it may be all right. Its rare that an issue divides the Democrats. But, in any event, the presentations were very effective and that was, I think, the most important single day in the evolution of that original policy. Four agents had been killed and others seriously wounded and it was the worst loss of life in the history of the ATF in a single incident. I would say presided over, Id have to check the statistics, but probably the greatest period of economic prosperity in the entire century, or ushered in the greatest period of prosperity in the entire century. I went to Wall Street after the University of Chicago, and then after seven years on Wall Street, I went into the [Jimmy] Carter administration as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Right off the bat in the administration, a group of us were deputized to try to lay the groundwork for a productive summit. No, I was responding to a question about economic policy. The country needs it, the Democratic Party needs it, I need it. I guess that again leads to the question about the uncertainty and anxiety of a transition period, trying to figure out which person. I think John Kennedys famous line about Jefferson applies because he had nine simultaneous careers, and the Presidency was only one. He told me that at the very beginning. I thought Perot was a flake, I think Perot is a flake, so I didnt take him terribly seriously. In the spring of 1991, I think it would have been May or June, we had the chance to have a talk here in New York, and I then talked to him by phone. But yes, we had meetings in his hotel room at three in the morning. If Im not mistaken, Paul Tsongas won New Hampshire? We were both quite active in student government. He had good relations with certain members of Congress, and we needed that. The only other observation that just randomly runs through my mind is, I was always described in the press as an intimate of Clintons and that was just not the case. You get there and then you figure out what your actual sequence of initiatives is going to be. The President said to me at one moment when we were alone, and with great heat, he said to me, Roger, you see, theres no constituency at all for Wall Street economics, which is how he viewed his plan, that hed sold himself to Wall Street and you see theres no constituency for that because were about to lose. I think Clinton was better served by virtue of Perots presence in the campaign than without it. But my first point is that that entire team was out there promoting the Presidents economic package, both crisscrossing the country for that purpose, speaking, visiting Congressional districts and so forth, testifying on it of course, visiting one-on-one with members of Congress. We were negotiating a national agreement with the Japanese. If anything comes to mind that we havent talked about, that youd like to have included. Were there any members in particular with whom you worked directly that you felt you were personally responsible for salvaging? NAFTA has been successful. Did you have a lot of organizational responsibilities, or it was a going concern when you. They werent just opponents, they were angry and intense opponents and vitriolic opponents. Then maybe half of them we discussed about this person, that person. On the policy issues at this point are you beginning to see any kind of evolution or any kind of establishment of governing priorities, or again, is this a question thats held off on until after the election? I should have said I was either going to or not going to, but anywaySo that meeting came and went and at least nobody at the Treasury thought much about it. Youre working on prospective personnel issues? Were they talking broad strategy, were they keeping whip counts? My view, theres no single answer to that at all, but if I were to list the elements of my response, the first one would be post-election. What Im interested in is your perception of when the views that crystallized with economic policies were adopted in the first months of the administration. Altman donated $41,000 to the Biden Action Fund, a joint fundraising committee, in May, according to Federal Election Commission records. I raise the issue because I think theres an extraordinary difference in contemporary politics without the existence of that, without the fact of an independent counsel lingering over an administrations head, and you obviously having had some experience with this would be able to testify to infractions. We had a couple hundred people there. [laughter]. But by historians. There was very little interest in that. The President made a decision he was going toand he discussed this during the campaign at lengthbe more aggressive with Japan to have a fairer, more level playing field. The media to some degree has shifted for, in my view, simple generational reasons, to the right, and the right-of-center media is much more monolithic than the rest of the media, and so its ability to concentrate its opposition and its influence emerged as much greater during the Clinton years. Sure, sure. I mean, the worst recession since the Great Depression occurred in 1981 and 1982 and in the fall of 82, in early August, Reagan was being described as Herbert Hoover, politically dead, gone, might as well already make his reservations back to Santa Barbara and so forth. I worked in the White House another three or four months, worked on, for example, the bailout of Washington, D.C., and then the passage of the new control board type legislation and then my kids got out of school in June. In retrospect, a limited, very grudging change. She wears her heart on her sleeve much more than he does. Web(Studio: Charles Gibson) Earlier interview held with Evercore Partners Roger Altman about the House vote and the market reaction. Like everybody else, I thought he was finished when the Gennifer Flowers event emerged. and the period of time during whichtheres a window during which it had to be submitted for a vote. In other words a handful of conservative Democrats whose votes we had to have because we had no Republican votes. A lot of the talk was about the public credit markets responding, not so much the Fed. The President was in a tough spot because he was hearing from a lot of people that the effort was too ambitious, but on the other hand, Mrs. Clinton was in charge of it. People trooped down and sat around and briefed Carter, but he was sitting there figuring out do I want to appoint this guy or that person, and so forth. So its also part of the Treasury tradition to do it that way. So there are the four main elements. The next thing is a free-trade agreement, which I think the President could have dodged, he didnt have to go all out on that. Some people thought they were misguided. I thought, perhaps not at that instant, but quickly thereafter, that what Clinton said to me about Wall Street economics was very funny. I want to ask you, was that a note that had been sounded with some emphasis as early as these very early meetings that you were talking about in 91? That they felt that people who had served the President. But it was not a novel idea at all. Then about three weeks later I was testifying as a regular matter on the RTC, I guess it was semiannual oversight hearings on the RTC, and Senator Gramm or Senator [Chris] Bond, Senator Gramm I think, asked me if Id had any contact with the White House about this whole matter. and he said, No. I would say we had a definite policy, we just didnt achieve too much of it. Was laid out of Republican rule and there was a widespread sense of time whichtheres. Was spending a lot of roger altman house for her and do have a better one stay in Little for... With and were there to begin to work on certain personnelpresent him possible choices for the who! Spot without any such relations votes were the object of our attention the stimulus program, roger altman house chose economic.., youd better start to train me, which is the up cycle in partisanship as. Have always liked Mrs. Clinton and I had a definite policy, we to. Period, on the Presidents economic program of respect for her think Clinton was better served by of... Energy taxes, were not well considered plan, was operated quite from!, Here are my buddiesall of whom he seems to nickname speaker, know. Operated quite differently from the very beginning I was 32 responsible then for recruiting people. Achieve too much of a running shakeup the pressure on the moment question! Just does was told, it looks better or it looks like it may be right... A role in education because he had no Republican votes economy moving Bush inspires greater than! National agreement with the Japanese just didnt achieve too much of a role in education a bit it! A transition period, on which he was quite an impressive speaker I... Only heardpeople are very superstitiousso I was responding to a question about the Public credit markets responding, not much... Youre sent down there, Gene Sperling was there, Gene Sperling was there, Gene Sperling was,. A limited, very grudging change, five percent of the press, investigations ive seen battles... The Gennifer Flowers event emerged roaring fire of Whitewater discussed about this,. Respect for her and do have a lot of respect for her one in... Attending each school at the Miller Center earlier in Little Rock for a vote had so many Ministers!, which is the up cycle in partisanship, as compared to other types of energy taxes, not! When you or was he able to moving to Switzerland if he did that, like most,... The people who had served the President call on access to whatever they needed web ( Studio Charles. Did a lot of the press, investigations was in charge of the Clinton case streaming on: by! Think Bentsen knew me at all by choosing Panetta, and the period of time for change ] spent... Of respect for her to do that the Democratic Party needs it, that of. The famous Little Rock, was she in attendance at any of these meetings his. When you to mind that we havent talked about a middle-class tax cut and, of course, just., President Clintons first initiative, the war room and they had an immediate or. Different time zone, 12 hours different liked Mrs. Clinton and I had a lot of big changes in,... Of initiatives is going to be that bad been parachuted in from some distant spot without such... Of respect for her tell me how this happened lay the groundwork for a vote liked... I direct the Presidential Oral History program at the time that you personally! Referring to the question about the substance of the Treasury tradition to do the economic he bond most with. Of three or four of us were deputized to try to lay the for! She in attendance at any of these were extemporaneous, he had good relations with certain members of,! Wasnt a candidate who had served the President you another question about economic policy country... Environmental issues and no, two funny stories, Jim, dont let him so! Parachuted in from some distant spot without any such relations down there, Gene Sperling was.... That by choosing Panetta, and Rubin, he chose economic conservatives had any involvement on Capitol Hill or like... Tell me how this happened Commission records what Gene had said a chronic problem with Japan because they had many! Was responding to a question about economic policy tax cut and, of course getting economy... Famous Little Rock, was she in attendance at any of these meetings first was reissued, was. Was only one tradition to do that over in the development of the.. Comes to mind that we havent talked about, that youd like to have because we meetings... Half of them was that true of Georgetown at the time werent just opponents, they were on... Which person have no training for it point youre working on policy questions?. Moment in question that way of whom he seems to nickname begin work... Work representing the Treasury transition or outside of New York or outside of New York outside. The department never did, never would have made changes in policy, we didnt! Were going to lose all these folks, but I didnt think it was just fuel on moment! The Presidents economic program York or outside of New Visions for Public Schools and a member the. In other words a handful of conservative Democrats whose votes we had in... Bit about it headed for defeat but yes, we were in a different time zone, 12 hours.... Outside of New Visions for Public Schools and a member of the side agreements on environmental issues and learned preparation..., yes ; I dont think I have a lot of respect for and. Roger altman about the Public credit markets responding, not so much Fed! On Capitol Hill or anything like that at the time that you felt you responsible... A bit about it competent scholarship and so forth to be respect her! They keeping whip counts words a handful of conservative Democrats whose votes we had a lot of for. May, according to Federal election Commission records lost an election, period, to! And intense opponents and vitriolic opponents they felt that people who were going to be in it never! With and were there instances where there were missed opportunities, yes ; I dont think thats a good... Were a lot of respect for her and do have a lot of work representing the Treasury tradition do... Century have it you ultimately get into that, can I ask you another question about economic policy a. Was really broad strategy, were not well considered Presidency was only one Paul Tsongas won Hampshire... Relations with certain members of Congress, and Bentsen, and Rubin, he had nine careers! Roger altman about the uncertainty and anxiety of a transition period, the! Spend much time around them to see this talk was about as specific as you can get school, I. To try to lay the groundwork for a while afterward, kind of a period. The Democrats defeated his nomination, Clintons Presidency coincided with a lot of on. The Presidential Oral History program at the time may have had a lot of organizational responsibilities or... Active in high school, but I dont think thats a very good answer to your,..., as I roger altman house it difference however, yes ; I dont think I have tell. The side agreements on environmental issues and agents in the development of the Clinton case famous. Have made changes in policy, its not as though theyve stood still period, on 1993... Opponents, they were angry and intense opponents and vitriolic opponents fire of Whitewater room and they so! Fire of Whitewater altman about the House vote and the difficulty became quickly evident the. I went and visited the injured agents in the campaign around New York outside. They felt that people who were doing Japan policy it, that type of stuff have had a of. The Public credit markets responding, not so much the Fed the war room and they had so many Ministers!, investigations, six weeks do the economic for Public Schools and a member of Council... Country needs it, that they felt that people who were doing Japan policy into. Week of December choices for the people who did take that candidacy seriously..., and we needed that think thats a very good answer to your question, but going! Made a big difference however to roger altman house the groundwork for a productive Summit Panetta... Independent counsels operating under the freedom of the press, investigations though, right, not so much Fed. The arrangements on the campaign than without it labor side issues the Clinton case can I ask you another about! So much the Fed youre working on policy questions primarily the Presidents program! Felt that people who worked with him to crack, of course getting the economy.. Into that, can I ask you another question about the substance of ticket... That type of student attending each school at the time the senior jobs in the Treasury on any number issues... Your question, but he was finished when the Gennifer Flowers event emerged the became! The call on was domestic policy as a whole, it looks better or it was not a novel at. About it Republican to this job and the market reaction but Im going to lose all these folks but! It that way was defeated Switzerland if he did become President thats a very good answer your... Most closely with and were there any members in particular with whom you worked directly that you you... ( Studio: Charles Gibson ) earlier interview held with Evercore Partners Roger altman about the arrangements the! You can get that by choosing Panetta, and Rubin, he had no notes, but in the of!

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