Call the Briefing!; Bush and Reagan, Sam and Helen. A Decade with Presidents and the Press
New York: Times Books, 1995. First Edition. First Printing. Hardcover. 24 cm. xi, [1], 399, [3] pages. Illustrations. Index. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page. Max Marlin Fitzwater (born November 24, 1942) was the White House Press Secretary for six years under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, making him one of the longest-serving press secretaries in history. He is one of three press secretaries (along with Stephen Early and Pierre Salinger) to serve in the position under two different presidents. In Washington, Fitzwater served at various federal agencies, including the Appalachian Regional Commission (1965–67), the U.S. Department of Transportation (1970–72) and the Environmental Protection Agency (1972–81). He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public affairs at the Department of the Treasury from 1981 to 1982. Fitzwater headed to the White House in 1983, serving as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary for Domestic Affairs. He served as Vice President Bush's Press Secretary from 1985 to 1987. Derived from a Kirkus review: Recollections of a hectic decade by a spokesman for the Reagan and Bush administrations. In 1987, Fitzwater, a government press officer, was hired away from the Treasury Department to replace him and stayed on by invitation during the Bush era. Eschewing chronology in favor of a format that allows him to probe major topics at some length, the author provides anecdotal takes on the White House press corps, the mechanics of daily briefings wherever in the world the president may be, a series of summit conferences, and how chiefs of staff are sacked. Covered well are media relations during periods when a chief executive's health commands international attention, and how the fourth estate and the White house spin stories. Fitzwater settles some old scores with individual reporters and newsgathering organizations. Among others, he taxes Mike Wallace and William Safire and faults Dan Rather's minions, whose ongoing enmity presumably reflected the grudge held by their boss in the wake of a 1988 confrontation with Bush on prime-time TV. In brief, then, an experienced, professional communicator's illuminating, behind-the-scenes insights on how American chief executives make and shape the news. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Marlin Fitzwater, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Bush, George Bush, Iran-Contra, Sam Donaldson, James Baker, Gorbachev, Howard Baker, Ann Devroy, Iran-Contra, Roman Popadiuk, White House Press Corps, Donald Regan, Brent Scowcroft, Samuel Skinner, John Sununu
ISBN: 0812922964
[Book #49391]
Price: $50.00