American presidents find unique help from those who have been there and done that

Two bozos are on the Democratic ticket.

That was how former US president George Herbert Walker Bush described rivals Bill Clinton and Al Gore at the peak of campaign fever in October, 1992.

Clinton won nevertheless, and by December, Bush was coaching his ex-rival on foreign policy, so the new president could hit the ground running. Relations blossomed during the Clinton presidency, with the Democrat president frequently seeking out his Republican predecessor for advice and help. By the time Clinton left the White House in 2001, he had become a virtual family member of the Bush homestead, referred to by the Bush siblings as the ?brother from another mother?. How times change!

As senator, Democrat Barack Obama rubbished Clinton?s liberal credentials and attacked him for being weak on convictions. The rivalry grew in 2008 when Obama fought Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. But once he won the presidency, Obama turned around and offered the highest post in the administration to Mrs Clinton. Bill Clinton travelled to North Korea and successfully mediated the rescue of American journalists on the president?s behalf. Later, Clinton roped in George Bush Jr to organise relief work in Haiti on behalf of the US. Clinton and Obama grew closer. As we go to press, the formal rivals are campaigning together, under the label of ?two presidents for the price of one?.

The Presidents Club: Inside the world?s most exclusive fraternity is a fascinating tale of American presidents in the last century, and their relationships with presidents who preceded and succeeded them. Written by Time journalists Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, Club is a well-researched, if a little long-winded, work on how American presidents who often hit below the belt on campaign trails have been all too eager to bury the hatchet once they took charge. For students and connoisseurs of contemporary American politics, Club promises to be a delightful read.

A caveat first: Though the authors repeatedly and annoying call it a ?club?, there is no such thing as a Presidents Club with membership reserved for Oval Office occupants. Do not expect gossip about presidents lounging beside warm fireplaces with oak furniture, discussing Watergate and White House interns over whiskey. Many of them couldn?t stand each other. Some actively sabotaged others? work. So, ?Inter-presidential relations in America since 1930? would have been a more suitable title for this voluminous book?but, yes, that wouldn?t sell as much as ?Presidents Club?.

That minor irritant aside, Club faithfully traces American presidential politics since the days of Herbert Hoover. Hoover was blamed, often unfairly, for the Great Depression that unfolded under his watch. Franklin D Roosevelt, who succeeded him had won on shrill anti-Hoover rhetoric and proceeded to systematically banish all traces of his predecessor?s existence. For the vindictive FDR administration, the only thing that deserved to carry Hoover?s name were Hoovervilles, a pejorative term coined by FDR Democrats to disparage tenements built for the homeless during the Depression.

Hoover would have been hated forever as the president who ran his country into the ditch, had it not been for the sudden death of FDR in 1945 during his fourth term and the elevation of vice-president Harry Truman to the presidency. Hoover was keen to redeem his presidency and eager to help a war-weary America find its feet. The exiled Republican made contact with Truman?s Democratic White House, which embraced him with open arms. Lacking the pedigree, popularity and political skills of his predecessor, Truman found help in a courageous and committed president who had left in ignominy 15 years earlier. This, the authors say, marked the inauguration of the ?club?.

Hand in hand, Truman and Hoover set about rebuilding the war-torn Europe, a challenge no other president had faced before or since. On Truman?s request, Hoover toured America and the world, seeking grain for starving Europeans. The Hoover Commission set up by Truman helped reorganise and professionalise the US executive office. Truman rehabilitated a president who deserved redemption, and they became best friends for life.

Club is a treasure trove of the tales of inter-presidential relations and deserve praises for its extensive research. We see the warmth of presidential relations crossing barriers of age and ideology. Democrat Bill Clinton considered Republican presidents Richard Nixon and George HW Bush as father-figures. Bush Sr, for whom Clinton was a ?bozo? in 1992, now cherishes him like his beloved son.

Among the dozen or so presidents who enter and exit Club, relations between Hoover and Truman, Bush the father and Bush the son, and the Bushes & Clinton stand out for their warmth.

Every president takes charge with great hopes and dreams, powered by the momentum of his election campaign. But despite the best coaching and intelligence briefings, none of them are conscious of the scale of challenges awaiting them. Should we bomb Hiroshima and end the War? Escalate in Vietnam or retreat? Take out the missile batteries next door and risk a flare-up or hope and pray nothing happens? Support Mikhail Gorbachev or Boris Yeltsin? Pardon Nixon or stand by him?

Once the dust settles on the campaign, new Oval Office occupants realise that their predecessors had worked under severe constraints invisible to outsiders, a realisation that then set them on a learning curve. They sympathise with those who came before and soldiered on in the face of criticism, learn to respect the difficult choices they made and frequently reach out to them for help. And once they leave office, they realise the scale of challenge a new president must face as the new leader of the free world and are happy to lend a helping hand.

The Truman-Hoover partnership successfully saved a war-torn continent from destitution and anarchy. Jimmy Carter led peace missions to the Koreas, Panama and Nicaragua on behalf of various presidents. Dwight D Eisenhower advised John F Kennedy?whom he had campaigned against?on the Vietnam war and stood by him during the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban missile crisis. George W Bush and Clinton joined hands to coordinate relief work in quake-torn Haiti for president Obama. Nixon was an astute, if reckless, foreign policy resource for Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton. When Anwar Sadat died, Reagan bundled three presidents?Carter, Ford and Nixon ?into a Boeing and sent them to attend his funeral in Egypt.

The ?club culture? helps most of the time, but not always. Truman admired Eisenhower and sought out his advice, but the favour was not returned when Eisenhower took charge. On the other hand, the war hero comes across as a petty president, who exiled Truman the same way FDR had exiled Hoover. Candidate Nixon, who successfully sabotaged rival Lyndon B Johnson?s re-election by spoiling a peaceful resolution to the Vietnam war, was constantly worried in the White House that his exploits would be uncovered one day?a fear that made him order the Watergate burglary that triggered his downfall. Carter avidly worked on peace missions, but his tendency to ?freelance? and rush to the media was a common headache for all presidents. The wily Nixon always had a foot in the White House even after his ignominious exit, which helped less gifted politicians like George HW Bush and Bill Clinton. But when he wasn?t taken seriously, Nixon didn?t hesitate to publicly whip the administration in the media.

Despite its wealth of information, Club lags when it goes into goes the minutiae of bureaucratic parleys and communications. The book could easily have been edited to about two-thirds its size. The way it is organised into chapters (?Nixon and Ford?, ?Ford and Reagan?, ?Nixon, Ford and Carter?, ?Reagan and Nixon?, etc) switches back and forth between events, confusing the reader. Club would have made for easier reading with chapters organised under events like, say, the Hoover Commission, the Marshall Plan, Watergate, the Cuban missile crisis, the Gulf War, etc. Still, Club is great reading for the sheer quantum of research into the actions and communications of US presidents dating back to 1930.