Gergen, who shaped words and images for three Republican presidents, is back on spin patrol. Last Friday there were four background briefings for White House reporters, a single-day record for the Clinton administration. Clintonites may still regard the press corps as loathsome and anachronistic, but Gergen sees it as a presidential asset to be used. His objective-as it was when he served as Ronald Reagan’s communications director-is to create opportunities that showcase the president’s strengths and gloss over problems. He brings a quality that was in short supply at the White House: an intuitive sense of Beltway conventional wisdom. It’s an internal compass that can predict where a troublesome story will be in a day or a week, thus helping the administration get ahead of it.
Last week Gergen’s handiwork was everywhere. On Tuesday he stage-managed a handshake between Clinton and chief Republican antagonist Bob Dole, followed up by a Thursday dinner (with spouses Hillary and Liddy). To show that the president continues to be concerned about domestic matters even when engaged in foreign affairs, Gergen laid on a Sunday stop in flood-stricken Iowa en route to the Tokyo summit. He’s also pushed cabinet members out front on tough issues (Les Aspin on gays in the military) to deflect heat from the president. In a month, the 51-year-old former Nixon speechwriter has joined George Stephanopoulos and chief of staff Mack McLarty to form the triumvirate that runs the White House. “He’s a big part of our comeback,” says one aide.
For Gergen, the presidency is more than politics and policy. It’s a moral narrative, a national drama with themes driven by metaphor and symbol, When Reagan was recovering from the 1981 assassination attempt, it was Gergen who suggested he make his first public appearance at a joint session of Congress. If Gergen has an ideology, it is cautious centrism. His Beltway punditry for PBS’s “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” and U.S. News & World Report was always tempered with a sympathy, even reverence, for those in power. While he reportedly secured a promise from Clinton that he would adhere to a moderate political course, politics is not what drives him. “I’ve never seen him in a meeting make an ideological suggestion,” says media adviser Mandy Grunwald. “I’ve seen him make lots of tactical suggestions.”
At first Gergen’s Republican pedigree aroused deep resentment among young Clintonites. But he’s won over many detractors with his professionalism and low-key lack of pretension. He operates from a basement office next to the men’s room, in what used to be the White House barbershop. His days are spent networking, moving from meeting to meeting and offering advice. Despite a Clintonesque reputation for lateness and disorganization, aides admire his ability to move a session along and bring issues to closure. One aide says Gergen has effectively assumed the role James Carville played in 1992: bringing consistency and leadership to a young staff.
Still, he stands to get more credit than he deserves. Gergen arrived just as Clinton bottomed out in the polls. While he forced the decisions, the olive branch to the press had been discussed for weeks. Same with the peace offering to Dole. Gergen is also likely to find presidency by vignette harder to manage than in the Reagan years. The press has become more sensitive to manipulation. He was stunned, for example, when two of the three networks refused to cover Clinton’s first prime-time press conference live. In the long run, this presidential storyteller may discover that it’s difficult to get the inspirational narrative he wants from the Clinton presidency.
