Excerpts from
Herding Cats: A Life in Politics, by Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., published by Regan Books. It comes out August 23rd.
Lott discusses his "partnership" with Clinton, with Dick Morris as the go between. Lott details the "personal betrayal" of Bush, Frist and other GOP senators.
Lott on Clinton
Lott said political consultant Dick Morris quickly became a critical go-between with the president.
Eventually, there were "scores of direct conversations between President Clinton and me. I took to calling Morris `Mr. Prime Minister; he dubbed me `HMO _ His majesty's opposition,'" Lott wrote.
The "backstairs arrangement" produced major health and welfare legislation, "but I was treading on dangerous territory," Lott wrote.
snip
Sometimes, he recalled, Clinton would call late at night. "I seemed to offer some sort of rare zen role for Clinton _ the careful listener on the other end of the line who politely acknowledged the high-level ramblings of the commander in chief, and just as promptly forgot them."
more..
Lott on Bush
Tennessean.com August 16, 2005
"He[Bush] said he felt bad about rumors that the administration was undermining me, and was proud of how I had handled my decision to surrender my office," Lott writes. "I will always remember my response clearly: 'Thank you, Mr. President, but the rumors did hurt me and you didn't help when you could have.' "
Wapo 8/18/05
President Bush also played a role in his downfall, Lott wrote, not so much with what he said, but by saying it in a tone that was"devastating ... booming and nasty."
Lott on Frist and his resignation as majority leader
Tennessean.com August 16, 2005
"I consider Frist's power grab a personal betrayal," the book says. "When he entered the Senate in 1995, I had taken him under my wing. ... He was my protege and I helped him get plum assignments and committee positions."
At eight o'clock on the morning of Thursday, December 19, an elegantly dressed Senator John Warner told a crowd of quickly summoned journalists that Tennessee's William Frist, a medical doctor and surgeon whose specialty was cardiology, would challenge me for the position of Senate majority leader.
Frist himself remained silent until ten that morning, when he told a Newsday reporter that he only decided to run "because a clear majority of the Republican caucus believes that a change in leadership would benefit the United States of America. Therefore I will step forward for that role."
In his own press conference, Virginia's George Allen added, "This may be very unfair to Trent. It may be tortuous for him, but we have to move forward in the best interests of Congress and the nation." Later, Allen called and told me bluntly that I should resign and put an end to the problem. "It's going to reflect on the party if you don't," he said.
"I'm not going to do it," I yelled back at him. "I'm not going to do it, and I'm very disappointed by your call."
Warner eventually phoned me, stating cheerily that he was on the Frist team; after asking how I was doing, he cut off the call as fast as politely possible.
Frist response
Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Frist, R-Tenn., said the senator "hasn't read the book, so he can't comment directly, but he always appreciates Senator Lott's advice."