Zócalo Public Square

Between 1993 and 2001, President Bill Clinton joined his friend of over 30 years Taylor Branch for a series of confidential interviews. Keeping much of his staff in the dark, Clinton recorded 78 sessions, each totaling 90 minutes and taking place at night, in the quiet of the White House Treaty Room. The White House diary project, transcribed, ran several thousand pages and became the basis for The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President. Branch’s work is filled with intimate observations from the president on the day-to-day, the nature of the job, and the major events of his tenure — the war in Bosnia, the effort to reform healthcare, Whitewater. Branch visited Zócalo to talk about the chronicling of his friend’s presidency, the Clinton legacy today, and the importance of keeping the public square alive.