After five years as Vice President, there was no doubt that Al Gore was as prepared as possible to fulfill the Presidency on ‘day one’. That being said, no one is really prepared. The office does not work like history’s recollection of it, with timelines of events laid out in clear succession, issues divided into ‘foreign’ and ‘domestic’. It all happens all at once. Immediately, Gore had to grapple with Iraq, Russia, Social Security, tax reform, the looming midterms, and the most salacious political scandal since Alexander Hamilton.
The first major pushback Gore faced was over his selection of Vice President, William Cohen. Gephardt’s comment in the Oval Office betrayed what became a bigger concern – a backlash from the Democratic base. The first major action Gore was trying to take in office was a sell-out of the party. The fact that it was unexpected or unconsidered by Gore spoke to mindset of the moment. While Cohen was a Republican moderate, for example being relatively pro-choice, he was still to the right of the Democratic caucus on most issues. President Gore and Cohen came to the agreement that Cohen would not publicly defend administration policies he did not genuinely support. While Clinton-Gore had been an effective tag-team for 7 years, Gore would not have the assumed backing of his Vice President on political matters.
The Cohen Senate hearings began in the in February and would be brief, but there was a larger revolt was in the House. Minority Leader Gephardt publicly supported the President, there was little effort to convince those skeptical in the caucus by House leadership. The White House went into overtime to back the President’s choice. Even Gore was frustrated by the issue, having his choice forced by the Republican majorities. After his Senate hearings, Cohen’s appointment was buoyed by an unexpected group – the Congressional Black Caucus. William Cohen’s wife, Janet Langhart, was a black woman. Langhart, a journalist, was known in DC circles and had a visible role, being dubbed the “First Lady of the Pentagon”. Langhart had sat behind her husband during the long sessions and an image of them embracing in the hearing room was seen across the country. The CBC decided that having Langhart as Second Lady would be a powerful symbol of racial change in the country.
While the Cohen hearings were happening, Republicans on the Hill and in the media were having a bit of a victory lap. But almost immediately they started asking “What did Gore know and when did he know it?” The Independent Counsel Ken Starr’s investigation was on-going, as was the Jones harassment suit. Gore had to immediately separate himself from any supposed wrongdoing that may have been happened. Through February, polling seemed favorable and the public of the opinion that Gore was not involved in Clinton’s shenanigans. The public persona of Gore, strait-laced and stiff, likely helped him dramatically in those early weeks. The National Prayer Breakfast on February 5th served as an excellent forum for Gore to praise family values and express his faith.
That same day, Ken Starr held a press conference, saying that the investigation was “moving very quickly” and that he expected a swift conclusion. Public polling showed a swift swing against his investigation. No decisions on prosecution against the now ex-President had been made, though. In the public relation wars, Clinton saw a sympathetic surge of approval out of office, and by 2 to 1 margin Americans said the Starr investigation should end now that Clinton resigned.
Without the cover of executive privilege, Clinton staffers like Sidney Blumenthal rapidly gave close door testimonies to the grand jury. By April, Starr submitted his report to House Judiciary Committee. While Clinton had committed actions that abused his office and were potential federal crimes, he decided to refrain from prosecution given his resignation. Ken Starr had motivated reasoning – he was eager to leave the important, but frankly grimy, work behind him and was in line to be the next dean at Pepperdine University Law School, and perhaps had one foot out the door. The House soon released the full report to the public on the internet by the end of April. While juicy and sensational, with Clinton already out of office, the Gore Administration looked to move past it quickly. The legal trouble was not over for Clinton, however, as the Jones harassment case was still an open and serious matter.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world kept spinning. Gore’s first days in office were met with a noticeable drop in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite. This mimicked the October 27, 1997 mini-crash and they returned to positive territory by the State of the Union. The economy was strong but there was always room for improvement. Al Gore had arguably been the most influential modern Vice President, with strong influence and domestic and foreign policy. But now he was the Commander-in-Chief, with all the added pressures.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s visit was Gore’s first high profile opportunity for statecraft. The Good Friday Agreement, which Clinton championed, would demonstrate America’s continued soft power abroad. Gore’s strong ties with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin gave him a springboard towards strengthening ties with the former chief geopolitical rival, although the Ruble crisis brought uncertainties. The situation in the Balkans was still heated as Yugoslavia and its region Kosovo continued to clash, requiring active management with Europe and the Russians. Above all, the containment of Iraq would require close management. In the State of the Union, Gore had outlined Saddam Hussein’s continued efforts to obtain nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. But Hussein’s ambitions were controlled. Gore praised the United Nation’s efforts in containing those efforts and pledged continued US support. Despite the drama at home, the United States’ standing in the world remained strong and the federal budget was on target to run a surplus for the first time since the 1960s.
With the Starr investigation winding down, there was now enough air to stoke the flames of another. Since the 1996 election, a controversy had been nipping at the Democratic party, especially Gore. First prominently raised by a Los Angeles Times article, the possible effort of the Chinese to influence the Democratic Party gained new attention. In particular, fundraisers and donations were supposedly being funded from the People’s Republic of China directly to the Democrats in exchange for political favoritism.
It had been a sideshow of the continual “Clinton Wars” that had plagued the administration since inauguration. Being convoluted and boring compared to Clinton’s misdeeds, the scandal had not really garnered the same headlines. It was also a more complicated story, and some of the actors were associated with both Democratic and Republican officials like former Speaker Gingrich. The Republican House and Senate both had open investigations, as did the Justice Department. The House effort, led by Rep. Dan Burton, was largely seen as a farce, costing more than the Watergate investigation and producing few results. Burton would be further discredited after his own affair (resulting in a child out of wedlock) was made public.
The Senate investigation by the Committee on Governmental Affairs, on the other hand, made a bigger splash. Led by Senator Fred Thompson, former actor and from Gore’s home state of Tennessee, the Senate had maintained some more gravitas and sincerity in its efforts. Thompson immediately seized on the opportunity of additional media coverage when publishing the committee report in March. It was split down party lines, 8 to 7, with Senator John Glenn submitting a minority report for the Democrats. While, the report seemed to exonerate Gore of any explicit wrongdoing, Thompson used his new platform to lecture the country about the ‘unsavory character’ of the Democratic Party. While Clinton was gone, the rot was still there, seemed to be the message, with all eyes on the November midterm elections. Gore cancelled a trip to China that Clinton had been planning due to mounting political pressure. In June, the Justice Department would internally recommend an independent counsel to further investigate any alleged fund-raising abuses. This was refused by Attorney General Janet Reno.
William Cohen was eventually sworn-in as Vice President of the United States in early April. Only the crankiest voices on the left were still complaining about it. With Cohen in place and the Starr investigation winding down, Gore finally felt like he had some breathing room.
When it became the “Gore White House,” the entire staff had been picked by Clinton, albeit often with Gore’s input. Gore knew that he had to simultaneously maintain the status quo of an effective Executive Office and change enough to make it is his own. Messaging these changes would be just as important as the changes themselves. He had to clean house without looking like he was kicking anybody out, even if they were doing just that. Clinton’s Executive Office had been operating with two effective divisions – those managing scandal and those actually managing governance. Gore wanted to end that.
The first change was immediate as he brought on his Chief of Staff Ron Klain as a Special Advisor, with the obvious intent to move him to White House Chief of Staff when there was an opening. Franklin Raines’ resignation as Director of the Office of Management and Budget gave that opportunity. Erskine Bowles, who had proved effective at budget negotiations, slid over to OMB and Klain became Chief of Staff. Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations John Podesta, to not be sidelined, moved to White House Counsel after Charles Ruff resigned to private practice and provide legal services to private citizen Bill Clinton.
Two moves were also soon possible for his Cabinet. Secretary of Energy Federico Peña resigned in early June. Gore tapped the Deputy Elizabeth Moler to lead the department, which was welcomed internally as Peña was seen as an outsider and not fit for the role. The bigger break would come when Attorney General Janet Reno would resign in a few weeks later, supposedly on request from the President. Gore expected the move would make his administration appear more open and transparent. Reno had been a target of repeated attacks by Republicans. As a symbol of Clinton stonewalling, rightly or wrongly, her departure was supposed to be seen as a fresh start. In addition, it would give Gore the opportunity to highlight his own personal agenda by nominating Deputy AG Eric Holder as her replacement.
It was not an uncontroversial move. Democrats like James Carville said he was being a pushover. Republicans, although happy to see Reno gone, still publicly chastised the President for playing politics with the Justice Department. The Republican Senate seemed unwilling to even vote on the matter until July 24, when a gunman opened fire in the Capitol building, killing two United States Capitol Police officers. In a move of perhaps crass politicization, some Republicans realized that hamstringing the Justice Department after such a high-profile incident was not a good look and acquiesced. Holder was hammered in his hearings over his stands on affirmative action and other ‘special interest’ liberal positions but was undeniably qualified for the role and eventually was confirmed.
While the machinations of domestic life continued, America’s apparent invulnerability after the Cold War on the world stage would be challenged.
