ABSTRACT

Communications strategies are a hallmark of a presidency. Because the president’s attitudes and use of news organizations reflect his notions of how a president leads, his relations with news organizations are important to an understanding of his term in office. As was true of his predecessors, the mix of these three elements— personal style, party control of the White House, and the goals of the administration— shaped the relationship that President Bill Clinton developed with news organizations in his first year in office. To Clinton, a president is at the mercy of the press. In response to a question posed by William Greider for Rolling Stone magazine, President Clinton fingered the press as the institution and its reporters as the individuals who have prevented him from getting his presidency to his supporters in terms that reflected the accomplishments of his administration. Not surprisingly, the president showed litde relish for the press conference as an open question-and-answer session with reporters.