Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House

TAKING HEAT: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House

BY ARI FLEISCHER WILLIAM MORROW, HARPER COLLINS 2005, 370 PAGES, $26.95

In the middle of the afternoon on Election Day 2000, George W. Bush confidently asked Ari Fleischer to be his press secretary "after the win." On July 12, 2003, some 2 1/2 years and 300 on-camera briefings later, Fleischer resigned from a position he dearly loved, a president he respected, and a love/hate relationship with the White House press corps. Although Fleischer never had conducted a TV briefing prior to joining the Bush Administration, he quickly built a reputation as one of the best-informed and highly respected press secretaries of modern times.

Fleischer reflects on the president's policies, decisions, and character; discusses his own background, preparation, and what he saw behind the scenes; and analyzes the White House press corps, "one of the toughest, sharpest, most skeptical groups anyone will ever encounter." Fleischer wrote his book to explain why he did his job the way he did, to point out the weaknesses of the press corps in covering a Republican Administration, and to give advice and challenges to the corps.

Fleischer believes a White House press secretary absolutely must believe in the president and his policies. Although Fleischer was reared by Democratic parents and, in 1978, proudly called himself a liberal when he entered Mid dlebury College, he did not endorse Pres. Jimmy Carter's foreign policies. Rather, he supported Ronald Reagan's idea of peace through strength. Six months after his 1982 graduation from Middlebury, Fleischer became a Republican and went to work for New York Assemblyman Jon Fossel. Although Fossel lost his election, Fleischer learned to love politics and found that Republicans were not as evil as he had been led to believe. Fleischer, who over 18 years served as press secretary to three congressmen and a senator, attributed being reared a Democrat an asset in preparation for his briefings with the press; in fact, many arguments the media used against him were the same his parents had employed.

Fleischer uses several chapters to explain and defend the President's policies and decisions. He describes a President who sticks to his proposals, leads with determination, and implements his decisions, both domestic and international. A "fast-paced" man, Bush is well informed and careful in his review process to allow time for deliberation, debate, and considerations; Bush has a CEO's ability to see the big picture while keeping his experts focused on how to achieve it (a description not often made in the media).

The book describes Fleischer's work with the White House press corps. He usually had twice-a-day briefings. Each morning he led a conference call in his office for 30 to 40 reporters--a White House tradition known as the "gaggle," and on-the-record, off-camera, official question-and-answer session. More formal on-camera briefings usually occurred around noon. Fleischer terms cameras in the briefing room a distinct problem that turns reporters into "performers" who are quick to interrupt and contradict and who try to ask the same question in increasingly tougher ways in order to look tough and aggressive for watching editors. He found that the press tried to set traps to stump or trip him up on an issue and bait him into a conflict with other staff members.

Fleischer analyzes the degree to which the press reports news accurately. He documents reports and polls showing the extent of bias by reporters. Newsrooms are dominated heavily by Democratic voters who "lean to the left." He also points out the primarily liberal background of journalism students and the professors who teach them: Democratic bias in academia is "profound." The search for conflict is a "vital mission" of journalism and the conflict-driven negativism of the press pervades all areas of the news, especially the front page. To Fleischer, the press corps' focus on conflict attached to the president, constitutes the major problem within the corps. Even words reporters use are weighted in favor of conflict.

Fleischer also doubts that the public is getting complete and accurate news: The pressure to break the news first sometimes compromises accuracy and thoroughness for exclusivity and speed. A 2004 survey found that 45% of journalists themselves expect news reports to be "full" of factual errors. However, Fleischer found the White House press corps to be an earnest group of people who believe in their mission and generally report the truth--as they see it.

Even though the press plays an aggressive role and the press secretary a defensive one, Fleischer enjoyed his years in the White House. He liked most, if not all, of the reporters on an individual basis and frequently socialized with them. He highly respected Ron Fournier of AP (one of the best), Tim Russert of NBC (tough and smart but not overly adversarial), and Helen Thomas, "his sparring partner"--an icon who started with UPI in 1961 and with whom he got along very well on a personal level. Fleischer devotes entire chapters to humorous exchanges with Thomas and Lester Kinsolving, one of the few identifiable conservatives who added his own ring to the three-ring circus with questions often requiring a parental warning label.