ON THE ROAD TO SCANDAL

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As time passed and vague promises of meetings never led to anything, I realized that the Clintons were most likely not going to cooperate. Soon I was relegated to dealing with the Clintons' lawyer, David Kendall, and the White House spokesman for Whitewater, Mark Fabiani. I don't know why the Clintons did not cooperate with me. During much of the time I was working on this book, Whitewater had receded from public controversy, and perhaps the Clintons felt no urgent need for candor. By the time Whitewater erupted into the headlines again in January with the discovery of memos and billing records in the White House, it was too late. Whatever their reasons, in the final analysis the Clintons themselves proved no different from their recent predecessors in the White House, deeply enmeshed in a Washington culture so accustomed to partisan distortion and "spin" that truth is the most frightening prospect of all.

Stewart, a Pulitizer-prizewinning journalist, has written three books, including the best seller Den of Thieves.