Bill Clinton reveals key White House details in murderous new political thriller
WHITE PLAINS, NY – Most former presidents write memoirs after they leave the White House. Former President Bill Clinton has been there, done that. First on his literary agenda now? Writing political thrillers.
Clinton is a thriller reader himself, but more than that he just really wanted a chance to work with bestselling author James Patterson. Their third novel, "The First Gentleman" is out now from Little, Brown and Company.
Sitting down for an interview with USA TODAY, the prolific pair catch up like a couple of old friends – Clinton shares a story of tourists he spotted reading his wife's book while in Korea and gives Patterson the name of a new author to check out.
"He reads everything," Patterson tells me. Both love S.A. Cosby, Michael Connelly and Lee Child.
In their latest novel, the fictional Madame President Wright's husband is on trial for murder, a potential crime uncovered by journalist couple Brea and Garrett. Not only is it harmful to the White House image for the first gentleman and former Patriots player to be accused of murder, but it threatens to upend the carefully crafted economic "Grand Bargain" the president is nearly ready to announce. It's a twisty thriller with plenty of inside jobs, political sabotage and many, many deaths.
Clinton and Patterson take us inside their writing process, revealing how they weave details pulled from real life with fictional characters to create the next big nail-biter.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Question: How has your collaboration changed over three books?
Patterson: I don't think it's changed. Other than, I will say, I think this turned out really, really well. If somebody's looking to read a book with really good characters and great story or if they want to find out sort of how Washington really works, I think this is really cool for either one of those kinds of people. But initially we had, it was a little bit of a problem in terms of getting the characters real. They weren't working and we just kept going at it.
Clinton: We had this just gut-wrenching conversation because in the beginning, we were excited – what would it be like to write a book that was from the point of view of the first gentleman, the first woman president's husband? It had all kinds of fascinating ramifications. But then something happened while we were doing it and I realized we hadn't created anybody you could like.
Patterson: We have these two (reporters) and they weren't working, either, in the beginning. When people think of my writing, they go "short chapters," but the whole thing is character. Alex Cross is, in my opinion, a great character. Lindsay Boxer is a really good character. The characters in "First Gentleman," there are four of them, are really good characters, and that's the key. Obviously (Clinton) was key in terms of making those characters work, especially in the White House.
Clinton: People (in the White House) struggle to maintain some measure of normalcy, however they define it. Even though you have to be ambitious to be elected president and disciplined to execute the job, you're still a person. We all react differently to different things that happen. So we try to capture that.
Patterson: The humanity. I wish we could get back to the understanding that whatever party you're with, (we are) human beings. I'll give you one quick example: Last year, the president called the house and my wife and he said, put it on (FaceTime). And there he was with his grandkids, and he was in a tiger suit with only his face showing. Human being!
Right, and in this book, all the first gentleman wants to do is go on a run with no one bothering him.
Patterson: President Clinton used to go on runs.
Clinton: I went running every morning for years. I still have the M&M's box that I was given by the head of my security detail on my 100th run when I was president. I loved it.
Patterson: Once M&M's get 20 years old you don't eat them anymore.
Are there any other signature Clinton White House details that made it into the book?
Patterson: You have a relationship with a man and a woman, and obviously, it would've been possible at one point for President Clinton to be the first gentleman.
Clinton: It's the only job I ever wanted that I didn't get.
Is that why you chose to make a female president in this book?
Clinton: I had thought a lot about, long after I left the White House and Hillary was running, and I thought about it. This character, he and his president wife, they're closer to the age Hillary and I were when we actually served. So I was thinking about, even though he was a pro football player and macho guy, he was really proud of his wife. He wanted her to succeed. He wasn't threatened by her being president, but he could be threatened by people making certain assumptions about him, like he was a dumb jock, which he's not.
Patterson: But is he a murderer?
Clinton: We keep that hanging a long time.
In the book, President Wright is trying to pass legislation to address Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. How did you come up with the "Grand Bargain"?
Clinton: I knew what the drivers of the debt are and what the politics pushing against real change are, and so I tried to think of the things we could do to get it under control that would be the most bearable, both for people and politically.
Patterson: It's a fascinating thing. How do you solve the problem with Social Security and Medicaid? And there is, you know, there's in the book, there is a solution. It's complicated, which is kind of cool. You don't hear anything (today), about, well, how do we solve these problems? I'd like to hear that right now. Yes, there is a problem.
Clinton: Medicaid pays for about 40% of all childbirth and pays for an enormous percentage of senior citizens' health care and a lot of other stuff. It's really important. So this bill that's just been presented cuts Medicaid in order to help pay for a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. In all respect, (Patterson) and I don't need a tax cut. We'd rather have people with health care. So these are choices, and unless people understand that these choices are being made, they can't know clearly whether they're against or for whatever's being proposed.
Patterson: This lays out that there is an alternative to that which makes sense and we don't have to cut things off for people who really need help.
What was it like crafting fictional presidential addresses?
Clinton: I imagined what I would say if confronted with the challenges she was confronted with. If you really want to change something, people like to hear about it in speeches and imagine it, but it almost always requires a mind numbing, detail-written piece of legislation – not always, but mostly. So, I tried to figure out how to sell it in the speech and describe how complicated the legislation would be without putting people to sleep. I found it difficult, but I think it's important, because one thing I learned the hard way is if you can't explain it, you can't sell it, and if you can't sell it and it's hard, you're going to get creamed.
The problem we describe is something like what really exists today. Except today, it's in many ways more severe. It's just that our economy has been, for the last 20 years, or now 30 years, stronger than any other one in the world.
Patterson, were there any details about the presidency or White House that Clinton added that surprised you?
Patterson: A lot of little things. I might set a scene and he'd go: "It can't happen in that room. That room is so small, there's not room for three people in that room." And anytime it pops up: "The Secret Service wouldn't act like that. They would act like this." A lot of the thriller writers that we all like, they just make stuff up. When you're working with a president, you just can't make it up, because he'll go: "No, it wouldn't work that way. Here's how it could work." One of the beauties of this book, and the three that we've done, is that it's a really good story with really good characters, but it's also authentic.
Did you have a favorite character to write?
Patterson: Favorite character for me is Brea – she just develops, she gets stronger and stronger for a lot of reasons, and there is one big twist in there, and that really propels her as a character.
Clinton: I agree with that, and one of the reasons I liked her is that she's smart and brave and good and honest, but in the beginning of the book, she thinks something that's very wrong about a big issue, and when she knows she's wrong, she turns on a dime and does the right thing. You don't see that much in Washington.
Patterson: Or in general.
Clinton: There are people that think that you never admit error. You accuse other people of doing what you're doing, and you roll along. The worst thing you can do is admit that she made a mistake. I like her because she's playing in the big leagues − her whole life is on the line, and she still does the right thing.
Patterson: We've sold this in Hollywood and ... the production companies go, "Well, maybe we should cast (First Gentleman) Cole." I'm going like, no, you better cast Brea, because Cole, he's a good character, but Brea, she's real, and Garrett, her partner, they are really key characters. And the president herself, but Cole, eh, I don't know. Not as big a character.
Who would be your dream actor to play her? (Brea, the protagonist, is Black.)
Patterson: There's so many. I mean, that's the beauty right now − one of the nice things that's happened in Hollywood, especially with Black actors, so many have been discovered. There are so many choices.
What are you excited for readers to see in this story, especially fans of your last two thrillers?
Clinton: I'm excited for them to see, first of all, that there's still room for citizen activism that can make all the difference in the world, from people who just want to do the right thing, like Brea and Garrett. Secondly, I want them to see that a president and her husband are people. No matter what's going on, she's still got to go to work every day. If she thinks (Cole) machine-gunned half a dozen people, she's still got to go to work. Nobody else can make these decisions. I want them to see how staff behaves, senior staff, and when they're honorable and when they're not, and what a difference it can make, because you can't be president unless you can trust them. You have to have some people you trust.
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's books reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bill Clinton, James Patterson new book is a murderous, twisty thriller
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