Ken Gormley's just published The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr is perhaps the definitive chronicle of the impeachment imbroglio that nearly brought down President Clinton over a decade ago.
There were several good books written about the impeachment saga a few years after Clinton was impeached but not removed from office (such as Jeffrey Toobin's A Vast Conspiracy), but Gormley, aided by the perspective that the ensuing years have brought and (more importantly) new information about the saga that divided America, brings forward what was going on in the minds of the major players involved, none more so than from Bill Clinton, Ken Starr and Monica Lewinsky.
Gormley is successful in eliciting candid comments from those actors, none more so than Kenneth Starr, who almost comes across as a tragic figure, as he is keenly aware of how he was the loser in the battle for public opinion between him and the president.
In perhaps the biggest revelation in the book, Gormley speaks with former Justice Department attorney Jo Ann Harris – the person charged with investigating the Office of Independent Counsel's (OIC) handling of Monica Lewinsky the day she was interrogated and held against her will in early January of 1998.
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2010.