The Politics of Money and the Road to Self-Destruction

Of the thousands of statements the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee heard through the course of its investigation of the 1996 Federal elections, one of the most telling was a brief comment by former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes. Challenged about his handling of a questionable transaction during the final week of the 1996 Presidential campaign, Mr. Ickes defended his conduct in part by pointing to the chaotic atmosphere of the time. "We were like the mad hatters," he said.