Letter From America By Alistair Cooke: The Clinton Years (1993-1996)

The US government allows the Haitian refugees held at Guantanamo Bay to enter the US and considering the chequered history of immigration into New York.

The ramifications of President Clinton's attempt to introduce 'sin taxes' on alcohol and tobacco.

A dystopian future for advertising and the people planning to put messages on animals, the wind and the edge of space.

Texas death row inmate Gary Graham, the vagaries of constitutional interpretation, state law and the legal complexities of the death penalty.

Clinton's falling approval rating, accusations of cronyism, the importance of the trivial in presidential politics and what happens when a boy from Arkansas gets a $200 haircut.

Alistair Cooke reflects on the closing of the San Francisco Presidio, a historic military base that has been a garrison for over 200 years.

The history of racial tensions in New York, the gap between policy ideals and their reality and the chaos caused by the presidential visits to the city.

The successes and failures of President Clinton's first 100 days in office and how the Roosevelt presidency set the benchmark for judging a new President's progress.

The possibility of the US sliding back into economic depression and the ramifications of Clinton's military spending cuts in California.

Examination of Rodney King's second trial for civil rights violations after being beaten by police. His first trial acquitted the officers and caused the 1992 LA race riots.

Alistair Cooke remembers reporting on the 100th Anniversary of the California gold rush and contemplates the pros and cons of prisoner rehabilitation.

Yeltsin and Clinton meet in Vancouver and Alistair Cooke considers the eventful history of US-Russia summits and what purpose they serve after the Cold War.

Expensive Britain, Bill Clinton's Presidential Honeymoon and Screen Violence are examined by Alistair Cooke.

Raymond G H Seitz becomes the first career diplomat to be appointed as United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's.

An attempt by the Ancient Order of Hibernians to ban the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organisation from New York's St. Patrick's Day parade is examined by Alistair Cooke.

An FBI raid on David Koresh's religious camp in Mount Carmel reminds Alistair Cooke of the cult leader Reverend Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, and their mass suicide in 1978.

An explosion in the basement of the World Trade Centre, the resultant shock and speculation and the remarkable calm of people temporarily trapped inside the building.

Outgoing cabinet member James Baker, President Clinton's failure to deliver on his campaign promise of a tax cut for the middle class, and the true cost of healthcare.

What the blocking of proposed Attorney General, Zoe Baird, reveals about US childcare, why Americans employ illegal immigrants and the fashion for government by phone-in.

President Clinton's proposal to cut government waste, George Bush's dislike of broccoli, and a reduction in the number of staff in the White House, as discussed by Alistair Cooke.