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Book Jacket FIRST OFF THE TEE
Presidential Hackers, Duffers, and Cheaters from Taft to Bush
DON VAN NATTA, JR.
SUMMARY  |  EXCERPT   |  AUTHOR'S NOTE   |  QUOTES
A NOTE FROM DON VAN NATTA JR.

"Apparently being President means never having to say double-bogey."

I wrote those words about Bill Clinton, summing up his habit of taking mulligans, or do-over shots, on the golf course, in an article published in The New York Times in August 1999. A week later, I heard from one of Clinton's closest friends, Terry McAuliffe. "The President is furious with you," McAuliffe told me. "Your piece was horrible. He is so mad at you. He will never forgive you."

I reminded McAuliffe that my golf piece paled in comparison to other unflattering things I had written about Clinton, including his leasing out of the Lincoln Bedroom to political donors and his excesses with Monica Lewinsky. "Those things bothered him, too, but this is different!" McAuliffe shot back. "You called him a cheater! The President takes his golf game.... very seriously."

Why was Bill Clinton angrier about getting caught cheating at golf than about getting caught cheating on his wife? What is it about this crazy game of golf that causes so many people, even the President of the United States, to care more about it than almost everything else?

I set out to find out. First Off the Tee is the result.
HARDCOVER
ISBN 978-1-58648-008-0
Pub date: 03/27/03
Price: $26.00/40.00 Canada
6-1/8X9-1/4
368 pages
Carton Quantity: 12
History, Sports
Selling Territory: WORLD
Rights:

PAPERBACK
ISBN 978-1-58648-265-7
Pub date: 10/12/04
Price: $16.00/22.50 Canada
5 1/2 x 8 1/4
368 pages
Carton Quantity: 32
History, Sports
Selling Territory: W
Pub history:

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