Synopses & Reviews
President Bill Clinton's year of crisis, which began when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the front pages in January 1998, engendered a host of important questions of criminal and constitutional law, public and private morality, and political and cultural conflict.
In a book written while the events of the year were unfolding, Richard Posner presents a balanced and scholarly understanding of the crisis that also has the freshness and immediacy of journalism. Posner clarifies the issues and eliminates misunderstandings concerning facts and the law that were relevant to the investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and to the impeachment proceeding itself. He explains the legal definitions of obstruction of justice and perjury, which even many lawyers are unfamiliar with. He carefully assesses the conduct of Starr and his prosecutors, including their contacts with the lawyers for Paula Jones and their hardball tactics with Monica Lewinsky and her mother. He compares and contrasts the Clinton affair with Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, exploring the subtle relationship between public and private morality. And he examines the place of impeachment in the American constitutional scheme, the pros and cons of impeaching President Clinton, and the major procedural issues raised by both the impeachment in the House and the trial in the Senate. This book, reflecting the breadth of Posner's experience and expertise, will be the essential foundation for anyone who wants to understand President Clinton's impeachment ordeal.
Review
Posner's great asset is his intellectual honesty. He pierces the gaseous clouds of Clinton's defense to make compelling arguments that the president committed perjury and obstructed justice. He absolves Starr of obsessive prurience and vindicates the media's reporting of the case. He ridicules the Senate's performance, as well as the chief justice's robes. But Posner also concludes that the office of independent counsel has died a well-deserved death, that the Supreme Court blew the Paula Jones case, and that Starr got carried away by prosecutorial excess. He skewers the doomsayers of the moralistic Right for wringing their hands over what, to Posner, is still a vibrant republic. Andrew Sullivan - New York Times Book Review
Review
We fortunately have a distinguished jurist's opinion in An Affair of State which amounts to a retrial of the president with Posner on the bench. One could scarcely imagine a more fitting judge...[Posner] is possessed of one of the most synoptic and probing intellects in the country, or the world. That he does not flinch from raining scorn on the Supreme Court and even on the chief justice (to whom Posner is nominally an underling) suggests the sharpness of mind, independence of spirit and biting wit that make his book an intellectual feast. At last, something good has come of the Clinton-Lewinsky-Jones-Starr affair. Bruce Fein - Washington Times
Review
We fortunately have a distinguished jurist's opinion in An Affair of Statewhich amounts to a retrial of the president with Posner on the bench. One could scarcely imagine a morefitting judge...[Posner] is possessed of one of the most synoptic and probing intellects in the country, or the world. That he does not flinch from raining scorn on the Supreme Court and even on the chief justice (to whom Posner isnominally an underling) suggests the sharpness of mind, independence of spirit and biting wit that make his book an intellectual feast. At last, something good has come of the Clinton-Lewinsky-Jones-Starr affair.
Review
Posner presents an investigation into l'affaire Lewinskythat is both scholarly and approachable. His findings? We may have made both too much and too little of the whole sordid mess, and the majority of those involved proved themselves to often be fools, knaves, and even cowards...An invaluable and subtle judgement not only of Clinton, but of our society and those who rule us.
Review
Richard Posner has written a remarkably even-tempered and reasonable book about the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, a welcome contrastto the overheated rhetoric and raw emotions generated by the event itself. If you were to read only one book about the Lewinsky scandal--and really, who would want to read more than one?--this is probably the one to choose. It does not feature the salacious details or fiery calls to arms of the early scandal books, but it does offer a sober second look at the misconduct and cover-up that led to only the second presidential impeachment in American history.
Review
An Affair of Stateis likely to become the work to which future historians will turn first in seeking a reliable contemporaneous explanation of what the impeachment scandal was all about. Not only does Posner sort out the issues with precision, but the highly modulated distinctions and qualifications he offers along the way accomplish the difficult feat of elucidating a subject that has already unleashed a cataract of less than edifying ink. An Affair of Statealso reveals once again what a broad and bristling intelligence Posner possesses, at once subtle and direct, iconoclastic and full of high good humor.
Review
Like a refreshing balm for the mind and spirit comes Richard Posner's An Affair of State. It is not just a lucid, dignified analysis of this tangled mess from one of the country's leading legal scholars. It is a testament to the capacity of the human mind to soar above even the most emotionally charged and sordid events and discover something of beauty and clarity...What Mr. Posner has given us is a framework for rational debate.
Review
An Affair of State is an impressive compilation of the facts and the opinions of one of our nations foremost jurists...[Posner's] description, dissection and reaction to what went right, and mostly what went wrong, in the impeachment process contrasts with the emotional hyperboles that marked much of the impeachment debate. An Affair of State is worth the time for anyone who still has an interest in thinking and talking intelligently about this remarkable episode in American history. Jonathan Raugh - Washington Post
Review
[Posner's] analysis of the political crisis surrounding disclosure of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky is the most trenchant and illuminating yet. His precision about constitutional law and about definitions of perjury, subornation of it and obstruction of justice gives his narrative the tension of a thriller. And his judgments about key players--Clinton, Kenneth Starr, Congressional leaders, intellectual and academic defenders of the president, all the lawyers involved, the Supreme Court (for letting the Paula Jones lawsuit proceed with Clinton in office)--are scathing, unsparing, elegant and witty. New York Times Book Review
Review
"[Posner] has achieved in this book...what I thought was virtually impossible--an interesting book on the whole sorry, over-reported, bitterly partisan, unseemly affair."
Review
Of [the Clinton-Lewinsky] analyses, the most insightful is An Affair of State.
Review
Posner is best known for his economic analyses of law and his philosophical explorations of judicial pragmatism, but with An Affair of Statehe may be making yet another niche for himself as a quasi-political commentator. Reading him on Clinton is like drinking a perfectly chilled martini: The book is cold and clear and refreshingly biting...Posner is especially astute on the meaning (really the lack of meaning) in Clinton's sexual dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, the single flaring match that set fire to an entire political-media forest.
Review
By far the most legally sophisticated account of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal yet published, Posner's book brings scholarly rigor to a saga so far dominated by journalistic accounts...He brandishes acumen, wit and a practical and theoretical understanding of the legal and constitutional issues involved...and generally exhibits an ability to expose the arguments generated by Republicans, Democrats, the press and Starr's office as inconsistent, politically motivated or simply fallacious...[A] welcome analysis of the constitutional, moral, philosophical, and political questions the case raised.
Review
An Affair of Stateis a thoughtful, scholarly and authoritative account of the impeachment process and its associated issues. This is not surprising when the author proves to be the Chief Judge for the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, with a distinguished list of publications in legal and moral theory...This is an interesting and intellectually challenging book which should be read by everyone interested in the impeachment of President Clinton.
Review
Posner shows that, despite its lurid and shameful origins, the [Clinton-Lewinsky] episode raised questions of law and morality that are profoundly important to the direction of the country and to our sense of the American political order. His analysis transforms the impeachment into an event of abiding significance. Mr. Posner works with unusual care through each of the moral and legal questions of the impeachment process. He considers all sides and possible interpretations of each event. But he does not hesitate to hand down strong judgements. George L. Priest
Review
In so many ways, [Posner] is a perfect man for the task [of analyzing the Clinton-Lewinsky affair], and this book doesn't disappoint...His most valuable contribution is legal. In a way only good judges can do, he manages both to portray the ambiguity of constitutional law--and few areas are as ambiguous as the constitutional criteria for impeachment--and yet not shy away from judgement about what actually happened and what to make of it...Posner deftly takes us through [the] constitutional and political mazes...[and] shows that there actually is a final answer to the question of what perjury and obstruction of justice are, and at least some large common ground as to what might be the constitutional grounds for impeachment. Wall Street Journal
Review
A bravura performance by United States Circuit Court Judge Richard A. Posner. He deftly examines the endless constitutional, political and social angles of President William Jefferson Clinton's impeachment ordeal...[An Affair of State is a] first-rate dissection of Mr. Clinton's impeachment drama flush with long-headed prudential wisdom and insights. John Aloysius Farrell - Boston Globe
Synopsis
President Bill Clinton's year of crisis, which began when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the front pages in January 1998, engendered a host of important questions of criminal and constitutional law, public and private morality, and political and cultural conflict.
In a book written while the events of the year were unfolding, Richard Posner presents a balanced and scholarly understanding of the crisis that also has the freshness and immediacy of journalism. Posner clarifies the issues and eliminates misunderstandings concerning facts and the law that were relevant to the investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and to the impeachment proceeding itself. He explains the legal definitions of obstruction of justice and perjury, which even many lawyers are unfamiliar with. He carefully assesses the conduct of Starr and his prosecutors, including their contacts with the lawyers for Paula Jones and their hardball tactics with Monica Lewinsky and her mother. He compares and contrasts the Clinton affair with Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, exploring the subtle relationship between public and private morality. And he examines the place of impeachment in the American constitutional scheme, the pros and cons of impeaching President Clinton, and the major procedural issues raised by both the impeachment in the House and the trial in the Senate. This book, reflecting the breadth of Posner's experience and expertise, will be the essential foundation for anyone who wants to understand President Clinton's impeachment ordeal.
Synopsis
In a book written while the events were unfolding, Richard Posner presents a balanced and scholarly understanding of President Clinton's year of crisis which began when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the front pages in January 1998. With the freshness and immediacy of journalism, Posner clarifies the issues involved, carefully assesses the conduct of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, and examines the pros and cons of impeaching President Clinton as well as the major procedural issues raised by both the impeachment in the House and the trial in the Senate. This book, reflecting the breadth of Posner's experience and expertise, will be the essential foundation for anyone who wants to understand President Clinton's impeachment ordeal.
Synopsis
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice for Best Book of the Year, 1999
Synopsis
Finalist, 2000 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Current Interest Category
About the Author
Richard A. Posner is Circuit Judge, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.
University of Chicago Law School
Table of Contents
Dramatis Personae
Chronology
Introduction
The President's Conduct
Prosecution and Defense
The History, Scope, and Form of Impeachment
Morality, Private and Public
Should President Clinton Have Been Impeached, and If Impeached Convicted?
The Kulturkampf
Lessons for the Future
The Balance Sheet
Acknowledgements
Index