01877nam a22002297i 450000500170000000800410001702000180005802000150007603500320009104000310012308200190015410000200017324500990019324600140029226400330030630000140033933600260035333700280037933800270040752011850043465000280161920261016202616.0261016s1994    xx ||||| |||||||| 0|eng d  a9780786860463  a0786860464  a(KOHALIB)isbn-9780786860463  aKOHALIBbengerdacKOHALIB04a973.9290922231 aBrummett, John.10aHighwire :bfrom the backroads to the beltway--the education of Bill Clinton /cJohn Brummett.3 aHigh Wire 1aNew York :bHyperion,c1994.  a294 pages  atextbtxt2rdacontent  aunmediatedbn2rdamedia  avolumebnc2rdacarrier  aHighwire takes readers on a journey from a small Southern state to the pinnacle of national power, and introduces a cast of characters that is the most dramatic to hit the White House since Nancy Reagan consulted her astrologer. Center stage in this psychodrama is Bill Clinton, playing the role of a man Americans have elected to their country's highest post without quite knowing or trusting him. Again and again in his first year in office - whether having his back shoved against the proverbial wall on the issue of gays in the military, or in pulling off a legislative triumph, such as NAFTA, by the skinniest of margins - Clinton reenacted scenarios first played out on the road, where his best performances feature "a frenetic rally of salesmanship and sermonizing, blending the used-car dealer and the Baptist preacher.". In analysis that is plainspoken and down to earth but wise to the ways of the political animal, John Brummett charts the course of Bill Clinton's precarious highwire act in a narrative that combines insights into the man himself with an astute look at two political cultures: "In Arkansas, they call it incest. In Washington, they call it contacts.". 4aPolitics and Government