President Bill Clinton retained Clarke and in 1998 promoted him to be the National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism, the chief counter-terrorism adviser on the National Security Council.

Bush appointed him to chair the Counter-terrorism Security Group and to a seat on the United States National Security Council. He worked for the State Department during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. government employee for 30 years, 1973–2003.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. Coming from a man known as one of the hard-liners against terrorists, Against All Enemies is both a powerful history of our two-decades-long confrontation with terrorism and a searing indictment of the current administration. After ignoring existing plans to attack al Qaeda when he first took office, George Bush made disastrous decisions when he finally did pay attention. He encountered key officials who gave the impression that they had never heard of al Qaeda who focused incessantly on Iraq who even advocated long-discredited conspiracy theories about Saddam's involvement in previous attacks on the United States.Ĭlarke was the nation's crisis manager on 9/11, running the Situation Room - a scene described here for the first time - and then watched in dismay at what followed. For months, he was denied the opportunity even to make his case to Bush. From the moment the Bush team took office and decided to retain Clarke in his post as the counterterrorism czar, Clarke tried to persuade them to take al Qaeda as seriously as had Bill Clinton. Most disturbing of all are Clarke's revelations about the Bush administration's lack of interest in al Qaeda prior to September 11. He knows whether or not Iraq presented a terrorist threat to the United States and whether there were hidden costs to the invasion of that country. He knows, better than anyone, how President Bush reacted to the attack and what happened behind the scenes in the days that followed. He knows, better than anyone, why we failed to prevent 9/11. He knows, better than anyone, the hidden successes and failures of the Clinton years. Richard Clarke served seven presidents and worked inside the White House for George H.W.

The one person who knows more about Usama bin Laden and al Qaeda than anyone else in this country, he has devoted two decades of his professional life to combating terrorism. No one has more authority to make that claim than Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism czar for both Bill Clinton and George W. It is in many ways a tougher opponent than the original threat we faced before September 11, and we are not doing what is necessary to make America safe from that threat.' 'The administration has squandered the opportunity to eliminate al Qaeda.A new al Qaeda has emerged and is growing stronger, in part because of our own actions and inactions.

Against all enemies by richard a clarke