Lt. Col. Patterson, who saw her antics up-close and personal as a White House military aide, attests otherwise.
A must-read book!
Posted on 06/05/2003 3:06:02 PM PDT by martin_fierro
AMONG THE MILITARY WHO SERVED in the White House and the professional white House staff, the Clinton administration was renowned for its lack of professionalism and courtesy, though few ever spoke publicly about it.
This aspect of the Clinton administration became apparent to me from my earliest golf outings with the president It was telling to me how often he played golf with certain types of people - people like Terry McAuliffe, his campaign and fundraising guru, and the Rodham brothers, Hugh and Tony. They, like many of Clinton's cronies, were remarkably pompous and inconsiderate individuals. The Rodham brothers are characters right out of The Sopranos, and they took full advantage of the fact that they were the first lady's brothers. They were loud, obnoxious, demanding, and rude, and treated the military aide and the support staff as glorified caddies. They assumed that since we were there to assist the president, we were also there to serve them. They would think nothing of asking and expecting an Air Force or Army colonel to carry their golf bags for them. It was a perk of being a friend of Bill, a brother of Hillary. This might seem an inconsequential point, but it set a consistent tome to the administration on, and in my mind it was impossible, over time, not to fit it into a larger picture. These people -- McAulife and the Rodhams and so many other Clinton cronies -- were people who regarded the Clintons' electoral success as all about them and what they could get out of it. One significant exception to the sort of behavior we learned to expect from "friends of Bill" was White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles. He was a gentleman, and kindly admonished me when I tried to carry his clubs: "I'm ex-Coast Guard enlisted; no military officer is going to carry my clubs."
...
But when it came to rudeness and such, it was Hillary Clinton who was the most feared woman in tile administration.
When I first met Mrs. Clinton, it was on Marine One headed for Camp David, and I confess I was nervous. The other military aides had warned me, "whatever you do, don't piss off the first lady." The first couple had notorious tempers, but hers was the worst. She was the one who could rip your heart out.
She was guardedly gracious and warm as she held out her hand and said, "Major Patterson, Hillary Clinton. It's nice to meet you."
"Hello, ma'am, Buzz Patterson. It's a pleasure to meet you."
In turn, she introduced me to Chelsea seated across from her on the couch in the helicopter's distinguished rear compartment Designed for the first family, Marine One had large leather chairs for the president and first lady, and couch seats lining each side of the rear compartment. Chelsea, hair pulled back, in blouse and blue jeans, was polite and quiet
The protocol on Camp David trips was that the military aide accompanied the first family as part of a small retinue. In addilion to our normal responsibilities, we assumed the duties typically held by the personal aide, secretary, and valet. As such, I helped load the family luggage onto and off the helicopter. I helped them get situated into "Aspen," their Camp David cabin, and I stood by for anything that they might need to complete their daily schedules.
One of my fellow aides, a Camp David veteran, advised me, "Make sure you put Mrs. Clinton's luggage in their bedroom specifically where she wants it" And I quiddy knew how right he was after I shook tile first lady's hand and she introduced me to Chelsea on Marine One. I noticed that she was visibly concerned about her many hatboxes and bags. Judging from Hillary's laser-like attention, the most important piece of luggage was a plastic box of files. My compatriot had instructed me, "Only you [the military aide] should handle the files and only in the presence of Mrs. Clinton. Place them beside her on Marine One. when you get to Camp David, place the files in a conspicuous location in her bedroom. Make sure that she sees you when you're moving them and she sees exactly where you leave them."
Pretty significant box of files, I thought. I never knew exactly what these files contained, but as events unfolded over the next several months, I developed strong suspicions. Earlier in the year, some long-subpoenaed Rose Law Firm whitewater billing records had surfaced in the residence after two years of absence. Now Senate investigators were asking Mrs. Clinton for more information concerning her handling of Vincent Foster, Castle Grande, and Rose Law Firm records. Concunently, there were House hearings into the improper collection of FBI background files and an ongoing legal baffle over documents related to the Travel Office firings. whatever files these were, they were important luggage.
And she was hawklike about it. That opaque plastic file box never left her sight. whenever she left the white House, those flies-the handling of which, in her opinion, was the chief responsibility of the military aide-went with hen One of my colleagues warned me early on, "Don't screw up those files. Those files need to get to where she wants them, now, ASAP -- they are very important."
Lt. Col. Patterson, who saw her antics up-close and personal as a White House military aide, attests otherwise.
A must-read book!
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I hope and pray that Col. Patterson does not meet with the same fate of dozens of others who crossed those tyrants!
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