Madhouse:

the long version

Given access to six senior staffers responsible for putting the president's words and policies into action, Jeffrey Birnbaum describes what it's like to have the president of the United States as a boss and to endure the constant tumult of crisis, scandal, and melodrama that has turned the White House into a madhouse. In this vibrant and penetrating book, we learn why so many bad things happen to the good people who work in the White House:. Howard Paster gave up his cushy lobbyist lifestyle to fulfill a lifelong dream of ushering a president's legislative agenda through Congress. After too many close votes, sleepless nights, and stress-related rashes, Paster quit. Paul Begala and Jeff Eller thought they would find new and persuasive ways to communicate Clinton's message. It didn't happen. They survived two years. Dee Dee Myers thought she could make a difference among the sober white males in the West Wing, but she discovered that in the White House, women still have secondary status. Gene Sperling and Bruce Reed represented the two warring sides of Bill Clinton's political soul. But it's hard to enact any policy in a madhouse, especially one that's been undermined by a Republican revolution.