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Chapter One

The Tortoise amd The Hare

Thursday, November 19, 1998, was the day Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr was scheduled to testify before the House Committee on the judiciary. It would be the first time most Americans got a hard look at the man who had been investigating William Jefferson Clinton for four long years, and the first time anyone heard him publicly make his case that the president had obstructed justice and lied under oath in attempting to foil Paula Jones's sexual harassment suitand hide his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. But Starr knew full well that much of the public had come to view him as a moralisticzealot, consumed by partisan disdain for his quarry and determined to bring him down no matter how problematic the evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. Starr's motives and methods had been widely reviled, his work and character — and those of his aides — savagely attacked. Although he realized that his House testimony was an opportunity to put a human face on his office's work, Starr was a reluctant witness. He had hoped that his 453-page impeachment referral, the so-called Starr Report, would speak for itself and that he might avoid the political spectacle of testifying. He knew his appearance was risky: Everything — the fate of his entire case, his own reputation-depended on it. He hoped against hope that he would do no harm.

The pressure had been building for weeks, although, typically, he revealed little of the growing strain. Then, in early November, Starr was at a Washington dinner party with a group of old friends who began poking fun at his public image as a BibletotingPuritan. Starr exploded with anger, his eyes growing cold in a rare display of a temper the source of childhood tantrums-usually under firm control. Theodore Olson, one of Starr's friends from Ronald Reagan's justice Department, went home worried about Starr's frame of mind for the upcoming testimony. The next morning, he dialed 911 for public relations: a Dallas image—maker named Merrie Spaeth who had coached Starr during the Reagan years. "It's absolutely mandatory that Ken sit down and work with you, and the rest of us are going to conduct an intervention if he won't do it," said Olson.

The emphasis of style over substance was anathema to Starr. His idea of a good performance was scoring legal points with nine justices on the Supreme Court, as he had as George Bush's solicitor general, not seducing a television audience of millions into liking him. He tended toward pedantry in a world of sound bites, toward poorly timed smiles in a medium that rewarded control and grace. But this time — with a public relations insight that had eluded him far too often in recent months—Starr knew he needed all the help he could get. He agreed to meet Spaeth on November 16, three days before his date with the House.

Spaeth showed up at the Office of the Independent Counsel at 8 A.M. with a mission, she said, to teach Starr to present a "limited, modified version of substance," echoing the "limited, modified hangout" of Watergate fame. She sat him before a video camera as her assistant, Judy Nardella, subjected him to the sort of badgering he was likely to encounter at the hands of House Democrats: "Isn't it true that this is a personal vendetta against the president of the United States and this is about your own personal beliefs of how people should lead their lives like you're the sex police?" She would ask several questions, one after another, cutting Starr off before he had a chance to answer.

Spaeth put the tape on a monitor and asked Starr to watch it. He saw himself getting angrier and angrier. "Ken, I want you to tell me whether you like this person," said Spaeth. He understood, and began to listen carefully. Remember, she told him, the viewers will hear your replies as if they are directed at them, not at the prickly inquisitors a few feet away. If you look irritated in a close-up, they will take it personally.

She worked with him on how to maintain a pleasant facial expression. She advised him to speak in headlines incorporating a fact or two, something easily digested, then to back up a point with an anecdote or a quote. She stressed the power of repetition. "Keep reminding people that what you were doing was thorough, proper, fair, and appropriate," she said. After fourteen hours, Spaeth left, believing she had made progress.

But Starr still sought more coaching. He wanted to be ready for anything. His staff compiled four three-ring binders containing every conceivable question, on subjects ranging from the investigation of the president's relationship with Monica Lewinsky to alleged conflicts of interest involving Starr's private law practice. They played the roles of key Democrats to give practice sessions a real-life flavor. And they harshly criticized Starr's performance. "You're too programmed," complained Brett Kavanaugh, author of Starr's prepared remarks, at a final rehearsal the night before his testimony.

On November 19, Starr rose early. He put on a red tie chosen by his wife, Alice, and tucked three talismans — good luck notes from each of his children — into his breast pocket. At the office, he practiced his testimony one last time. Deputy W Hickman Ewing Jr. came in just before Starr left for Capitol Hill. He placed his right arm over the independent counsel's shoulder and prayed for him in the sunstreaked corner office overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue. "Lord, help me to guard my tongue, be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath", intoned Ewing, an evangelical lay minister. Then Starr left for his debut before the American people.

Ken Starr had come a long way since he first laid eyes on Bill Clinton. It was 1979, and Starr had checked into the Hyatt Regency Hotel on...