Granted, you've had enough of all this Monica-and-Bill hubbub, but even if you're not facing the wrath of Kenneth Starr, the PR lessons remain. Based on that, I have distilled from the Bill Clinton presidency 10 lessons which can guide us all in the event that it becomes necessary.
Note: I frame this advice under the hypothetical that, as director of communications for the White House, I am providing advice on how this situation could best be handled...
Lesson One: Level with your staff immediately. As communications director, my ability to help you is directly in proportion to how much facts I have in my possession. If only you and your outside lawyers know the full story, then we will be forced to invent strategy, completely reactively, on the fly. Although I realize that this leaves me and my staff vulnerable to subpoena, the alternative to knowing the facts is a communications nightmare as the Clinton White House learned only too well.
Lesson Two: Get all the bad news out at once. Occasionally, my job will be to say to you, in effect: "Have a bad day."
By getting all of the terrible news out at once, you avoid the slow and steady drip of daily innuendo, rumor and denials that exhausted your predecessor and undermined his effectiveness. As President Nixon once said about Henry Kissinger "Henry always tells the truth....eventually." We do not want this to be said about you, sir.
Lesson Three: Don't surprise your wife and family. Tell them first before you tell anyone else. You will need their emotional support throughout your presidency.
Lesson Four: Apologize fully and completely for any misdeeds. Although it can be difficult to say, no other words can replace "I'm sorry." Remember, you can't blame anybody in the same speech at the same time as you are apologizing. Anger never looks or sounds apologetic.
President Clinton would have done well to remember the words of the late Dr. Lawrence J. Peter who said, "Speak when you're angry and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret." Words to live by.
Lesson Five: Expect every aspect of your personal life - past and present - to be fodder for the media and for special prosecutors. I never said it was fair, but it has become an unfortunate reality.
Although I know you didn't spend your life in a monastery, be prepared for salacious articles on your marriage, your lack of military experience, what you did during your university days, and why you chose to inhale.
Lesson Six: Maintain cordial relationships with the news media, but the real opportunities to shape the public dialogue lie (oops!) in those nightly cable talk shows during a crisis. Mandy, James, Dee Dee, Lanny, and dozens more have become ubiquitous during scandals. We need to get our people on stand-by spin.
By the way do you want a piece of the White House lottery on "Who will be our Stephonopolous?"
Lesson Seven: Keep your sense of humor. If the situation gets really bad it will help you maintain your perspective. I recall a line from President Reagan: "The economy must be improving. The media have stopped referring to it as Reaganomics."
Lesson Eight: When things go wrong, get beyond the Beltway. We've all heard of John F. Kennedy's description of Washington D.C. as " a city of southern efficiency and northern charm" - of course, that was before Marion Barry.
The Clinton White House learned Washington was on another planet when it became "all Monica all the time." A look back at the videotape of President Clinton's trip to Russia and Ireland at the height of the Lewinsky scandal under-scores the need to change the subject if you can't change the facts.
Lesson Nine: If a global conflict arises expect the cry "wag the dog."
When your predecessor ordered air strikes on camps in Sudan and Afghanistan, the immediate reaction was "wag the dog." As you said on
the campaign trail, "you know it's bad when life imitates Hollywood!"
Lesson Ten: Even though the First Lady has been dubbed the "co-president", she should not co-write televised apologies. Her contribution to your Inaugural Address was brilliant. However, if things go horribly wrong, and you're forced to do a public "mea culpa," it would be virtually impossible for the First Lady to remain objective in her script.
Finally, as your director of communications I am confident that none of these lessons will need to be invoked. Incidentally, I have already met with White House press secretary Geraldo Rivera, who has already called for a crack-down on leaks.
That's probably not a bad lesson either!
Barry J. McLoughlin is president of the media consulting and training firm, Barry McLoughlin Associates Inc. with offices in Washington, D.C., Princeton, N.J., and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Author of the "Communicate with Power" series of strategic communications tools, he can be reached through their web site at http://www.mclomedia.com or by e-mail at [email protected].