If People Believe You're On Their Side,

When I Joined Bill Clinton's Start-up Presidential Campaign In 1991, I Was Confident That Women Would Play An Ever More Important Role, But I Never Gave A Minute's Thought To What Would Happen If We Won. When We Did - And I Became The First Woman To Serve As White House Press Secretary - It Changed My Life. But It Didn't Change The World.

My Job Is To Be A Spokesman - The Spokesman, I Suppose - For The President, For The White House, To Do The Daily Briefings, To Manage The Press Corps In Terms Of Travel, Day-to-day Needs, Access, Interviews, All Those Issues.

It Isn't Fate But Fecklessness That Has Shoved Sarah Palin To The Sidelines Of National Politics. The Real Tragedy Is That She's Taken A Lot Of Other Serious Republican Women With Her.

Every Press Secretary Faces An Enormous Amount Of Information. Events Move Really Fast. You're Responsible For A Tremendous Amount Of Information, And Again, A Tremendous Amount On Competing Agendas. Not Everybody Grease In The White House.

The Exposed Nature Of Life In The Public Square Affects Leaders' Attitudes Toward Risk - And Failure.