BITS AND PIECES: ME AND BILL CLINTON AGAINST THE WORLD
By Reese Schonfeld

On the Morning of February 6, as I was sitting in the studios of Fox Morning News, the anchor asked, what would I do if I were still running CNN. I said, “ I’d be talking to Bill Clinton about taking over ‘The Larry King Show.’”

Within hours of my return to the office, the Fox Morning News producer called our PR firm and said that Fox executives had heard the show and they were talking about making overtures to Clinton. Over the next few weeks, every time I was on television or the radio or signing books, I’d say CNN should get Bill Clinton. I talked to an agent. He thought it was a terrific idea and asked me not to mention it to anyone else.

But the idea was so good, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I talked to Clinton’s lawyer and ran it past him. He said, we’re not going to do anything for ninety days. Get in touch with me later. Last week, Max Robbins of TV Guide, one of the better TV reporters, called me. He’d heard talk about Clinton getting his own show. He was calling around. He talked to a spokesman for Fox CEO Roger Ailes. Ailes said, according to his spokesman, “I’d hire Bill Clinton in a second…if I could afford him.”

Jeff Greenfield of CNN told Robbins, “If any president could pull it off, it’s Clinton.” Andrew Hayward, President of CBS News says, “We don’t have a role for him here, but I could see him on a cable news channel, where there’s more room for opinion and comment.” Bill Clinton shouldn’t be doing opinion and comment. I’d ask him to do the 10:00 PM program that CNN originally did, the program that Arthur Ungar described, in 1980. (See pages 191-192 in Me and Ted) I’d ask Clinton to become a newsman. We’d decide the most important story of the day, select the most important person in the story and ask him to appear live on the Bill Clinton show.

Who’s going to turn down Bill Clinton? We’d take three or four calls a night from viewers. Who doesn’t want to talk to the ex-President of the United States? And we’d let Bill Clinton, one of the smartest men ever to be President, discuss with world leaders the most important issues of the day, every day. Sound like a daydream? Maybe not. CNN gives Bill Clinton the chance to remain an extremely powerful man. It’s his “bully pulpit.” He’s the man who gives the most powerful men in the world the chance to voice their views worldwide. They’ve got to match their intelligence, their wit, against his.

Moreover, no one’s going to have to teach him the ins and outs of television performance and he looks pretty good on camera. I also think Bill Clinton’s presence on CNN wouldn’t do the country any harm. Max Robbins talked to CNN executives about Bill Clinton. They said, “Anybody [Clinton] approaches is going to at least give him serious consideration.” If CNN is waiting for Bill Clinton to approach it, CNN is probably taking the wrong approach. The CNN executive was defeatist, “If we’re not the place, maybe it’s Fox News…If Fox News hires Clinton, any of the flack they take over an alleged conservative bias goes right out the door.” The CNN guy must have a death wish. If CNN lets Bill Clinton go to Fox, somebody should start ordering shrouds. Back to the beginning. What’s all this about a “Reese effect”? I started talking about Clinton and CNN five weeks ago. The talk started getting around and people were asking me about it every time I went on the air.

Is that how the talk wound up in Max Robbins column?

Who knows?

But, if there was a “Reese effect”, it goes to show that, these days, you can do with just a website what CNN says it does after twenty years on television.

Reese Schonfeld is the author of Me And Ted Against The World. He founded the Cable News Network with Ted Turner in 1979, and served as its first President and CEO. At CNN, he originated the 24 hour news concept. After leaving CNN, he developed News Twelve on Long Island, Newschannel 8, and the TV Food Network. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Schonfeld received M.A. and law degrees from Columbia University. He can be reached through his website, MeAndTed.com, where Bits and Pieces originally appears. Reprinted by permission.