. . . And Then Came Carrot Cake

Forty-eight hours after he gave one of the worst speeches of his life, one that precipitated the biggest one-day drop in the stock market in 16 months, President Clinton delivered one of his best. Unlike the quickly put together 10-minute effort from the Oval Office, the address to Congress would be worked on in marathon sessions for two solid days.

Two weeks earlier, the President had called Paul Begala, the aide who greeted him as he emerged from the shower every morning from New Hampshire on, and asked him to duplicate the campaign war room at the White House, this time...