Curious George Stephanopoulos: He's known for his boy-ish good looks, for having dated actress Jennifer Grey, for being the inspiration behind ABC's Michael J. Fox vehicle "Spin City," for popping up as a talking head on various early-morning and late-night gab-fests. In light of all this media love, you might have forgotten the fact that he first drifted into public consciousness as President Clinton's campaign manager-cum-senior adviser.
Add author to his resumé with the publication of his new book about his former boss, "All Too Human: A Political Education." Since its publication, Stephanopoulos has received - uh-oh! - scathing critical attention from the media. Salon says he sounds like a "spurned lover." The New Yorker calls him "gossipy" and "ambitious." The New York Times accuses him of being "disloyal." But the book has risen to the top of the best-seller charts, leaving "Monica's Story" in the dust.
Here's why: the book is good. Sometimes it reads like a diary and sometimes like a Hollywood movie script, and it never fails to be both entertaining and insightful. Stephanopoulos takes the reader behind closed doors to the afternoon Clinton sat down with Pentagon officials, over coffee and Pepperidge Farm cookies, to discuss the gays in the military issue. Who actually came up with the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy and what did Clinton really think about it, off the record? How did President Clinton handle a giant TelePrompter mishap during his televised health-care address to Congress? What was Clinton's private reaction to the O.J. Simpson trial verdict as he sat doing a crossword puzzle in Betty Currie's office? "All Too Human" is overflowing with anecdotes that answer these questions and offer a tempting peek underneath the dome of the White House - a world vibrating with an energy that can only be described as brilliant chaos.
Stephanopoulos stands accused of betraying Bill Clinton; the President's staff are reportedly under strict orders not to mention the author's name in his presence. In fact, the book is not a smear campaign. Instead, it portrays Bill Clinton as a man with a large, if fragile, ego, who exhibits vicious mood swings. But it also showcases his sharp, intellectual mind, his constant struggle to "do the right thing" and his unending quest to discover just what this is, in terms of everything from nominating a Supreme Court justice to balancing the budget.
With his uncensored access to the president, Stephanopolous undoubtedly has more serious and disturbing information than what actually appears in the book. But he gives the reader just enough information to leave you wondering - as the author writes in his final sentence - "What might have been - if only this good president had been a better man."
(Tony Peregrin)
"All Too Human: A Political Education"
George Stephanopoulos
Little Brown and Company, $27.95,
448 pages
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.