Dee Dee Myers
Dee Dee Myers
Dee Dee Myers, a political analyst, was the White House Press Secretary during the first two years of the Clinton administration, from January 1993 to December 1994. She was the first woman and the second-youngest person to hold that position...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPublic Servant
Date of Birth1 September 1961
CountryUnited States of America
pain believe sacrifice
While eschewing emotion - and its companion, vulnerability - Obama should be careful not to sacrifice empathy, the 'I feel your pain' connection that sustained Clinton. This connection is the shorthand people use to measure their leaders' intentions. If people believe you're on their side, they will trust your decisions.
views painful-experiences white
You as the press secretary have to protect the president's interests and the White House's interests more broadly. And a lot of people inside the White House, as you learned, sometimes with painful experience, have competing agendas, have differing points of view, have priorities they're trying to protect.
fields months saws
And Clinton was like that - he saw the whole playing field. He didn't just see the event that he was at or the circumstances of that week or that month. He saw the whole playing field all the time.
attitude squares leader
The exposed nature of life in the public square affects leaders' attitudes toward risk - and failure.
ideas speech towns
Obama has become too dependent on formal speeches and set town halls. His idea of mixing it up is taking off his jacket.
eye campaigns looks
I worked for a lot of candidates, in tough campaigns that lost. Most of my candidates lost until Bill Clinton. There was always a point where you look in their eyes and they knew it was over. And there was never that point with Clinton. He never quit. He never gave up.
taken worst-case-scenario long
Obama seemed poised to realign American politics after his stunning 2008 victory. But the economy remains worse than even the administration's worst-case scenarios, and the long legislative battles over health care reform, financial services reform and the national debt and deficit have taken their toll. Obama no longer looks invincible.
hurt sense-of-humor sanity
Having a sense of humor has served me more than it has hurt me - just in the sense that it has allowed me to keep my sanity.
dirty men naughty
The dirty little secret is that the pool man, who's making $30,000 a year, is subsidizing the million-dollar mortgage for the family whose pool he cleans. No wonder people want to get rid of tax breaks for corporate jets.
jobs school kids
There are people in the public sector with a range of experiences that have no equivalent in business, but are essential to governing, like keeping a kid in school or helping someone get and hold a job. The value of those skills can't easily be measured against a bottom line.
zero clinton honeymoon
Clinton had absolutely zero honeymoon, none whatsoever.
argentina chile ireland
I am encouraged to see women are being elected in Chile, Argentina, Liberia, Ireland. More is more.
airplane flying twins
No reporter is flying around in borrowed twin-engine airplanes.
powerful years filters
During my years as a press secretary, I developed a powerful internal filter, which worked to strip all things 'off message' from my thoughts before they came out of my mouth. It didn't always work, of course, and I said more than a few things I regretted.