High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton pledged to run "the most ethical administration in the history of the republic." In High Crimes and Misdemeanors, conservative lawyer and pundit Ann Coulter finds this promise laughably off the mark. Although she devotes a fair amount of space to the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Coulter covers the gamut of Clinton controversies, from the Whitewater deal to the death of Vincent Foster to Filegate (plus others--ever heard of "Wampumgate"?). Her tone is aggressively anti-Clinton, but she also has the virtue of engaging and straightforward prose that explains why each individual scandal matters. (The chapter on Whitewater begins: "This is the boring part. Whitewater gets interesting only when you understand why it is boring. It is boring by design, like a New York Times editorial. Don't skip to the next chapter! That's just what the Clintons want you to do.") The best section of the book is a serious examination of the impeachment process--how the Founding Fathers envisioned it, how it's been used throughout history, and why, in Coulter's opinion, it should be invoked against Clinton. --John J. Miller