Thomas DeFrank

Write It When I’m GonePrologue One. April 1974 Two. Air Force Two Three. White House Years Four. New Life/Jerry Ford Inc. Five. 1991—The First Interview/Nixon Six. The Reagans Seven. The Clintons Eight. Carter, 41, and 43 Nine. Staying in the Game Ten. Personalities Eleven. Lifestyles Twelve. March 2004 Thirteen. Growing Old Fourteen. Lunch with a Legend—May 11, 2006 Fifteen. November 2006 Epilogue Acknowledgments Index

While Al Gore and George W. Bush clashed repeatedly in their debates, their most tense exchange yet came in private when the vice president called the Texas governor early yesterday to withdraw his concession. "Circumstances have changed," Gore told Bush, referring to the increasingly tight race in Florida. Aides said Bush was incredulous: "Let me make sure I understand. You're taking back your concession? " "Well, you don't have to be snippety with me," Gore reportedly said.

I started as a summer intern in Newsweek’s Washington bureau in June of 1968. I was to work there briefly before reporting for Army duty at the Pentagon in the fall. Like many a visitor to the nation's capital expecting only a brief tenure, I stayed. Fifty years later, the drama and turmoil of that memorable year remain etched into my memory. By any measure, 1968 was an epic year in the American experience, defined by twin traumas of war and racial unrest.