Richard A. Posner retired as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2017. He was previously a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.
[Posner’s] analysis of the political crisis surrounding disclosure
of President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky is the most
trenchant and illuminating yet. His precision about constitutional
law and about definitions of perjury, subornation of it and
obstruction of justice gives his narrative the tension of a
thriller. And his judgments about key players—Clinton, Kenneth
Starr, Congressional leaders, intellectual and academic defenders
of the president, all the lawyers involved, the Supreme Court (for
letting the Paula Jones lawsuit proceed with Clinton in office)—are
scathing, unsparing, elegant and witty.
*New York Times Book Review*
Posner shows that, despite its lurid and shameful origins, the
[Clinton–Lewinsky] episode raised questions of law and morality
that are profoundly important to the direction of the country and
to our sense of the American political order. His analysis
transforms the impeachment into an event of abiding significance.
Mr. Posner works with unusual care through each of the moral and
legal questions of the impeachment process. He considers all sides
and possible interpretations of each event. But he does not
hesitate to hand down strong judgments.
*Wall Street Journal*
We fortunately have a distinguished jurist’s opinion in An Affair
of State which amounts to a retrial of the president with Posner on
the bench. One could scarcely imagine a more fitting judge…
[Posner] is possessed of one of the most synoptic and probing
intellects in the country, or the world. That he does not flinch
from raining scorn on the Supreme Court and even on the chief
justice (to whom Posner is nominally an underling) suggests the
sharpness of mind, independence of spirit and biting wit that make
his book an intellectual feast. At last, something good has come of
the Clinton–Lewinsky–Jones–Starr affair.
*Washington Post*
A bravura performance by United States Circuit Court Judge Richard
A. Posner. He deftly examines the endless constitutional, political
and social angles of President William Jefferson Clinton’s
impeachment ordeal… [An Affair of State is a] first-rate dissection
of Mr. Clinton’s impeachment drama flush with long-headed
prudential wisdom and insights.
*Washington Times*
In so many ways, [Posner] is a perfect man for the task [of
analyzing the Clinton–Lewinsky affair], and this book doesn’t
disappoint… His most valuable contribution is legal. In a way only
good judges can do, he manages both to portray the ambiguity of
constitutional law—and few areas are as ambiguous as the
constitutional criteria for impeachment—and yet not shy away from
judgement about what actually happened and what to make of it…
Posner deftly takes us through [the] constitutional and political
mazes…[and] shows that there actually is a final answer to the
question of what perjury and obstruction of justice are, and at
least some large common ground as to what might be the
constitutional grounds for impeachment.
*New York Times Book Review*
Of [the Clinton–Lewinsky] analyses, the most insightful is An
Affair of State.
*Baltimore Sun*
Posner’s great asset is his intellectual honesty. He pierces the
gaseous clouds of Clinton’s defense to make compelling arguments
that the president committed perjury and obstructed justice. He
absolves Starr of obsessive prurience and vindicates the media’s
reporting of the case. He ridicules the Senate’s performance, as
well as the chief justice’s robes. But Posner also concludes that
the office of independent counsel has died a well-deserved death,
that the Supreme Court blew the Paula Jones case, and that Starr
got carried away by prosecutorial excess. He skewers the doomsayers
of the moralistic Right for wringing their hands over what, to
Posner, is still a vibrant republic.
*Boston Globe*
An Affair of State is an impressive compilation of the facts and
the opinions of one of our nations foremost jurists… [Posner’s]
description, dissection and reaction to what went right, and mostly
what went wrong, in the impeachment process contrasts with the
emotional hyperboles that marked much of the impeachment debate. An
Affair of State is worth the time for anyone who still has an
interest in thinking and talking intelligently about this
remarkable episode in American history.
*Chicago Tribune*
An Affair of State is likely to become the work to which future
historians will turn first in seeking a reliable contemporaneous
explanation of what the impeachment scandal was all about. Not only
does Posner sort out the issues with precision, but the highly
modulated distinctions and qualifications he offers along the way
accomplish the difficult feat of elucidating a subject that has
already unleashed a cataract of less than edifying ink. An Affair
of State also reveals once again what a broad and bristling
intelligence Posner possesses, at once subtle and direct,
iconoclastic and full of high good humor.
*Commentary*
Unlike the unholy mess it dissects and untangles, An Affair of
State is a cool little gemstone of logic and reason, a rational
antidote to partisan excess, and a short, elegant guide for the
perplexed. Among the first of what will be many books to look back
at the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, it should be the touchstone
against which all others are measured, having no evident bias
except toward clarity. Richard Posner does not seem to like most of
the people described in this book, much less to share their
agendas. One cannot deduce here which party he backs, whom he voted
for in recent elections, or whose positions he tends to endorse.
This is the strength of his book, and its claim to authority.
*National Review*
Like a refreshing balm for the mind and spirit comes Richard
Posner’s An Affair of State. It is not just a lucid, dignified
analysis of this tangled mess from one of the country’s leading
legal scholars. It is a testament to the capacity of the human mind
to soar above even the most emotionally charged and sordid events
and discover something of beauty and clarity… What Mr. Posner has
given us is a framework for rational debate.
*New York Observer*
A scholarly examination of the process of impeachment and what that
process means… [Posner] is usually right on target as he skewers
the assortment of academics who came to Clinton’s defense… [He] is
no less sparing of the Republicans who engineered the impeachment,
and of Kenneth Starr, whose evidence serves as the traction grit
for the process. Indeed, he attacks with elegant savagery the
independent counsel statute and argues that it be allowed to
lapse.
*The Times*
Posner is best known for his economic analyses of law and his
philosophical explorations of judicial pragmatism, but with An
Affair of State he may be making yet another niche for himself as a
quasi-political commentator. Reading him on Clinton is like
drinking a perfectly chilled martini: The book is cold and clear
and refreshingly biting… Posner is especially astute on the meaning
(really the lack of meaning) in Clinton’s sexual dalliance with
Monica Lewinsky, the single flaring match that set fire to an
entire political-media forest.
*ABA Journal*
A triumph of impartial analysis and cool intelligence… [Posner]
lays out in plain language exactly what legal issues were at stake
and why the assorted motives of those involved ensured that they
did not get an honest discussion.
*Boston Phoenix*
An Affair of State is a thoughtful, scholarly and authoritative
account of the impeachment process and its associated issues. This
is not surprising when the author proves to be the Chief Judge for
the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, with a
distinguished list of publications in legal and moral theory… This
is an interesting and intellectually challenging book which should
be read by everyone interested in the impeachment of President
Clinton.
*Contemporary Review*
[Posner] has achieved in this book…what I thought was virtually
impossible—an interesting book on the whole sorry, over-reported,
bitterly partisan, unseemly affair.
*Greenwich Time*
Posner has written a scholarly tome that argues, convincingly, that
Clinton indeed could have been convicted of perjury and obstruction
of justice.
*Lancaster Sunday News*
Posner does not take sides of gratuitous potshots; he identifies
all of the actors’ weaknesses and strengths. As one expects from a
senior jurist, his approach is studied, judicious, yet captivating.
With scholarly detachment, he preserves the case, lest the passage
of time or revisionism taint it. Posner’s account is a welcome
departure from the treatment mainstream and fringe media have given
the impeachment. He offers a sound tutorial in what actually
occurred, buttressed be even-handed insights about key facts’ legal
and political significance.
*Military Review*
Posner has written the most thoughtful and evenhanded analysis to
date of the legal and political crisis… With a candor and a biting
wit that may jar those who like their federal judges dull and
decorous, Judge Posner cuts through the sometimes priggish
moralizing of conservative Republicans as well as the partisan cant
of liberal Democrats to expose ‘the failure of the judiciary, the
political establishment, the Congress, the legal profession, and
the academic community to cope with a novel challenge’… His
analysis of the major points in controversy will be edifying to
anyone with an open mind.
*New York Law Journal*
Richard Posner has written a remarkably even-tempered and
reasonable book about the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, a
welcome contrast to the overheated rhetoric and raw emotions
generated by the event itself… [An Affair of State] offers a sober
second look at the misconduct and cover-up that led to only the
second presidential impeachment in American history… The most
important contribution of the book is its careful assessment of
Clinton’s legal culpability as a result of his efforts to cover up
his affair, and in particular to hide it from Paula Jones’
attorneys and Kenneth Starr’s grand jury. Posner patiently wades
through what is incontestably known and what can be reasonably
inferred about Clinton’s actions… [He] is precise and persuasive in
puncturing Clinton’s lies and his defenders’ obfuscations, and his
demonstration that perjuries such as the president’s are both
readily proven and regularly punished in the criminal courts is an
important corrective to the legal confusions fostered by the
impeachment debates.
*Reason*
An Affair of State offers writing that approaches the sublime… [It]
is a serious, well-reasoned, scholarly account of the events of the
past two years… But this is not dry, textbook stuff. Posner is
tough on all the players and does not mince words. In clear,
elegant prose he walks us through complicated matters to the
conclusion that the impeachment proceeding failed to meet minimum
standards of legal justice.
*The Star-Ledger*
Richard Posner’s An Affair of State will hardly be welcomed by
President Clinton’s enemies; his friends will like it even less.
Obviously, then, this book demands our attention… Precision,
critical analysis, and devastating wit are the hallmarks of
[Posner’s] writings.
*Times Higher Education Supplement*
Based on public sources (including supplemental material submitted
to Congress with the Starr Report), Posner offers analysis of a
wide range of legal, moral, political, and institutional issues… He
sheds useful light: for example, on legal definitions of ‘perjury’
and ‘obstruction of justice’ and the difficulty in defining just
what offenses are ‘impeachable.’
*Booklist*
A timely, weighty, and erudite analysis of the political, legal,
constitutional, and cultural significance of the events culminating
in the Clinton impeachment. Learned and practical, this book will
provoke reflection in any that care about the character of American
government at the 20th-century’s end… Above all for Posner, at a
time of peace, prosperity, and strength, the Clinton affair
presents an ‘edifying political drama.’ Highly recommended.
*Choice*
Posner presents an investigation into l’affaire Lewinsky that is
both scholarly and approachable. His findings? We may have made
both too much and too little of the whole sordid mess, and the
majority of those involved proved themselves to often be fools,
knaves, and even cowards… An invaluable and subtle judgement not
only of Clinton, but of our society and those who rule us.
*Kirkus Reviews*
Another look at the 42nd President’s extramarital dalliances,
Posner’s work is fortunately written from the vantage point of a
senior jurist on the federal bench who also teaches law… An
excellent addition to history and political science
collections.
*Library Journal*
By far the most legally sophisticated account of the
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal yet published, Posner’s book brings
scholarly rigor to a saga so far dominated by journalistic
accounts… He brandishes acumen, wit and a practical and theoretical
understanding of the legal and constitutional issues involved…and
generally exhibits an ability to expose the arguments generated by
Republicans, Democrats, the press and Starr’s office as
inconsistent, politically motivated or simply fallacious… [A]
welcome analysis of the constitutional, moral, philosophical, and
political questions the case raised.
*Publishers Weekly*
[Posner's] analysis of the political crisis surrounding disclosure
of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky is the most
trenchant and illuminating yet. His precision about constitutional
law and about definitions of perjury, subornation of it and
obstruction of justice gives his narrative the tension of a
thriller. And his judgments about key players-Clinton, Kenneth
Starr, Congressional leaders, intellectual and academic defenders
of the president, all the lawyers involved, the Supreme Court (for
letting the Paula Jones lawsuit proceed with Clinton in office)-are
scathing, unsparing, elegant and witty. * New York Times Book
Review *
Posner shows that, despite its lurid and shameful origins, the
[Clinton-Lewinsky] episode raised questions of law and morality
that are profoundly important to the direction of the country and
to our sense of the American political order. His analysis
transforms the impeachment into an event of abiding significance.
Mr. Posner works with unusual care through each of the moral and
legal questions of the impeachment process. He considers all sides
and possible interpretations of each event. But he does not
hesitate to hand down strong judgments. -- George L. Priest * Wall
Street Journal *
We fortunately have a distinguished jurist's opinion in An
Affair of State which amounts to a retrial of the president
with Posner on the bench. One could scarcely imagine a more fitting
judge... [Posner] is possessed of one of the most synoptic and
probing intellects in the country, or the world. That he does not
flinch from raining scorn on the Supreme Court and even on the
chief justice (to whom Posner is nominally an underling) suggests
the sharpness of mind, independence of spirit and biting wit that
make his book an intellectual feast. At last, something good has
come of the Clinton-Lewinsky-Jones-Starr affair. -- Jonathan Raugh
* Washington Post *
A bravura performance by United States Circuit Court Judge Richard
A. Posner. He deftly examines the endless constitutional, political
and social angles of President William Jefferson Clinton's
impeachment ordeal... [An Affair of State is a] first-rate
dissection of Mr. Clinton's impeachment drama flush with
long-headed prudential wisdom and insights. -- Bruce Fein *
Washington Times *
In so many ways, [Posner] is a perfect man for the task [of
analyzing the Clinton-Lewinsky affair], and this book doesn't
disappoint... His most valuable contribution is legal. In a way
only good judges can do, he manages both to portray the ambiguity
of constitutional law-and few areas are as ambiguous as the
constitutional criteria for impeachment-and yet not shy away from
judgement about what actually happened and what to make of it...
Posner deftly takes us through [the] constitutional and political
mazes...[and] shows that there actually is a final answer to the
question of what perjury and obstruction of justice are, and at
least some large common ground as to what might be the
constitutional grounds for impeachment. -- Andrew Sullivan * New
York Times Book Review *
Of [the Clinton-Lewinsky] analyses, the most insightful is An
Affair of State. -- David Kusnet * Baltimore Sun *
Posner's great asset is his intellectual honesty. He pierces the
gaseous clouds of Clinton's defense to make compelling arguments
that the president committed perjury and obstructed justice. He
absolves Starr of obsessive prurience and vindicates the media's
reporting of the case. He ridicules the Senate's performance, as
well as the chief justice's robes. But Posner also concludes that
the office of independent counsel has died a well-deserved death,
that the Supreme Court blew the Paula Jones case, and that Starr
got carried away by prosecutorial excess. He skewers the doomsayers
of the moralistic Right for wringing their hands over what, to
Posner, is still a vibrant republic. -- John Aloysius Farrell *
Boston Globe *
An Affair of State is an impressive compilation of the facts
and the opinions of one of our nations foremost jurists...
[Posner's] description, dissection and reaction to what went right,
and mostly what went wrong, in the impeachment process contrasts
with the emotional hyperboles that marked much of the impeachment
debate. An Affair of State is worth the time for anyone who
still has an interest in thinking and talking intelligently about
this remarkable episode in American history. -- Michael R. Lufrano
* Chicago Tribune *
An Affair of State is likely to become the work to which
future historians will turn first in seeking a reliable
contemporaneous explanation of what the impeachment scandal was all
about. Not only does Posner sort out the issues with precision, but
the highly modulated distinctions and qualifications he offers
along the way accomplish the difficult feat of elucidating a
subject that has already unleashed a cataract of less than edifying
ink. An Affair of State also reveals once again what a broad
and bristling intelligence Posner possesses, at once subtle and
direct, iconoclastic and full of high good humor. -- Gabriel
Schoenfeld * Commentary *
Unlike the unholy mess it dissects and untangles, An Affair of
State is a cool little gemstone of logic and reason, a rational
antidote to partisan excess, and a short, elegant guide for the
perplexed. Among the first of what will be many books to look back
at the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, it should be the touchstone
against which all others are measured, having no evident bias
except toward clarity. Richard Posner does not seem to like most of
the people described in this book, much less to share their
agendas. One cannot deduce here which party he backs, whom he voted
for in recent elections, or whose positions he tends to endorse.
This is the strength of his book, and its claim to authority. --
Noemie Emery * National Review *
Like a refreshing balm for the mind and spirit comes Richard
Posner's An Affair of State. It is not just a lucid,
dignified analysis of this tangled mess from one of the country's
leading legal scholars. It is a testament to the capacity of the
human mind to soar above even the most emotionally charged and
sordid events and discover something of beauty and clarity... What
Mr. Posner has given us is a framework for rational debate. --
James B. Stewart * New York Observer *
A scholarly examination of the process of impeachment and what that
process means... [Posner] is usually right on target as he skewers
the assortment of academics who came to Clinton's defense... [He]
is no less sparing of the Republicans who engineered the
impeachment, and of Kenneth Starr, whose evidence serves as the
traction grit for the process. Indeed, he attacks with elegant
savagery the independent counsel statute and argues that it be
allowed to lapse. -- R. K. Baker * The Times *
Posner is best known for his economic analyses of law and his
philosophical explorations of judicial pragmatism, but with An
Affair of State he may be making yet another niche for himself
as a quasi-political commentator. Reading him on Clinton is like
drinking a perfectly chilled martini: The book is cold and clear
and refreshingly biting... Posner is especially astute on the
meaning (really the lack of meaning) in Clinton's sexual dalliance
with Monica Lewinsky, the single flaring match that set fire to an
entire political-media forest. -- Paul Reidinger * ABA Journal
*
A triumph of impartial analysis and cool intelligence... [Posner]
lays out in plain language exactly what legal issues were at stake
and why the assorted motives of those involved ensured that they
did not get an honest discussion. -- Adam Kirsch * Boston Phoenix
*
An Affair of State is a thoughtful, scholarly and
authoritative account of the impeachment process and its associated
issues. This is not surprising when the author proves to be the
Chief Judge for the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals,
with a distinguished list of publications in legal and moral
theory... This is an interesting and intellectually challenging
book which should be read by everyone interested in the impeachment
of President Clinton. -- Robert Williams * Contemporary Review
*
[Posner] has achieved in this book...what I thought was virtually
impossible-an interesting book on the whole sorry, over-reported,
bitterly partisan, unseemly affair. -- John Linsenmeyer * Greenwich
Time *
Posner has written a scholarly tome that argues, convincingly, that
Clinton indeed could have been convicted of perjury and obstruction
of justice. -- Helen Colwell Adams * Lancaster Sunday News *
Posner does not take sides of gratuitous potshots; he identifies
all of the actors' weaknesses and strengths. As one expects from a
senior jurist, his approach is studied, judicious, yet captivating.
With scholarly detachment, he preserves the case, lest the passage
of time or revisionism taint it. Posner's account is a welcome
departure from the treatment mainstream and fringe media have given
the impeachment. He offers a sound tutorial in what actually
occurred, buttressed be even-handed insights about key facts' legal
and political significance. -- Maj. Joseph R. Perlak * Military
Review *
Posner has written the most thoughtful and evenhanded analysis to
date of the legal and political crisis... With a candor and a
biting wit that may jar those who like their federal judges dull
and decorous, Judge Posner cuts through the sometimes priggish
moralizing of conservative Republicans as well as the partisan cant
of liberal Democrats to expose 'the failure of the judiciary, the
political establishment, the Congress, the legal profession, and
the academic community to cope with a novel challenge'... His
analysis of the major points in controversy will be edifying to
anyone with an open mind. -- Stuart Taylor, Jr. * New York Law
Journal *
Richard Posner has written a remarkably even-tempered and
reasonable book about the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, a
welcome contrast to the overheated rhetoric and raw emotions
generated by the event itself... [An Affair of State] offers
a sober second look at the misconduct and cover-up that led to only
the second presidential impeachment in American history... The most
important contribution of the book is its careful assessment of
Clinton's legal culpability as a result of his efforts to cover up
his affair, and in particular to hide it from Paula Jones'
attorneys and Kenneth Starr's grand jury. Posner patiently wades
through what is incontestably known and what can be reasonably
inferred about Clinton's actions... [He] is precise and persuasive
in puncturing Clinton's lies and his defenders' obfuscations, and
his demonstration that perjuries such as the president's are both
readily proven and regularly punished in the criminal courts is an
important corrective to the legal confusions fostered by the
impeachment debates. -- Keith E. Whittington * Reason *
An Affair of State offers writing that approaches the
sublime... [It] is a serious, well-reasoned, scholarly account of
the events of the past two years... But this is not dry, textbook
stuff. Posner is tough on all the players and does not mince words.
In clear, elegant prose he walks us through complicated matters to
the conclusion that the impeachment proceeding failed to meet
minimum standards of legal justice. -- Kathleen Daley * The
Star-Ledger *
Richard Posner's An Affair of State will hardly be welcomed
by President Clinton's enemies; his friends will like it even less.
Obviously, then, this book demands our attention... Precision,
critical analysis, and devastating wit are the hallmarks of
[Posner's] writings. -- Stanley Kutler * Times Higher Education
Supplement *
Based on public sources (including supplemental material submitted
to Congress with the Starr Report), Posner offers analysis of a
wide range of legal, moral, political, and institutional issues...
He sheds useful light: for example, on legal definitions of
'perjury' and 'obstruction of justice' and the difficulty in
defining just what offenses are 'impeachable.' -- Mary Carroll *
Booklist *
A timely, weighty, and erudite analysis of the political, legal,
constitutional, and cultural significance of the events culminating
in the Clinton impeachment. Learned and practical, this book will
provoke reflection in any that care about the character of American
government at the 20th-century's end... Above all for Posner, at a
time of peace, prosperity, and strength, the Clinton affair
presents an 'edifying political drama.' Highly recommended. -- T.
Fackler * Choice *
Posner presents an investigation into l'affaire Lewinsky
that is both scholarly and approachable. His findings? We may have
made both too much and too little of the whole sordid mess, and the
majority of those involved proved themselves to often be fools,
knaves, and even cowards... An invaluable and subtle judgement not
only of Clinton, but of our society and those who rule us. * Kirkus
Reviews *
Another look at the 42nd President's extramarital dalliances,
Posner's work is fortunately written from the vantage point of a
senior jurist on the federal bench who also teaches law... An
excellent addition to history and political science collections. --
Philip Young Blue * Library Journal *
By far the most legally sophisticated account of the
Clinton-Lewinsky scandal yet published, Posner's book brings
scholarly rigor to a saga so far dominated by journalistic
accounts... He brandishes acumen, wit and a practical and
theoretical understanding of the legal and constitutional issues
involved...and generally exhibits an ability to expose the
arguments generated by Republicans, Democrats, the press and
Starr's office as inconsistent, politically motivated or simply
fallacious... [A] welcome analysis of the constitutional, moral,
philosophical, and political questions the case raised. *
Publishers Weekly *
Another look at the 42nd President's extramarital dalliances, Posner's work is fortunately written from the vantage point of a senior jurist on the federal bench who also teaches law. The impeachment of Bill Clinton lowered what had been a fixed and considerably higher threshold for such action. When Andrew Johnson was acquitted in 1867, the precedent set is generally thought to have established a high threshold for impeachment. The unofficial guilty verdict in the de facto Nixon impeachment of 1974 maintained the threshold at what the author feels was an appropriately high level, owing to the nature of the crimes. However, the Clinton case arose from purely personal misconduct; even with an ostensibly reduced threshold, the author concludes that the damage to Presidential power is minimal since the opposition party controlled both houses of Congress and was still unable to muster even a simple majority for conviction. Posner argues that it is almost inconceivable that future Presidents will be impeached for anything less than overtly and flagrantly criminal acts. An excellent addition to history and political science collections.ÄPhilip Young Blue, New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Lib., New York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
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