Now their paths are bound together in new ways. For all his protestations about it being “long enough in office for me but more especially for the country,” Blair privately believes he’s being bounced out of office prematurely, just as Clinton blamed the Monica Lewinsky scandal for souring the final years of his second term. On the brighter side, Blair sees in the Clinton of today—the iconic statesman, the sought-after counselor, the moneymaker—a model for his own future after he moves out of 10 Downing Street.
Clinton’s final days have been on Blair’s mind since last autumn, when he announced a loose timetable for his departure. One morning in February, a radio interviewer asked the prime minister about a campaign-finance scandal that was closing in on him and his innermost circle: the so-called cash-for-peerages affair in which donors allegedly gave big loans to the Labour Party in exchange for seats in the House of Lords. Blair had been questioned twice in the investigation headed by Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner John Yates; he is the first serving prime minister to be interrogated by Scotland Yard. On the radio, Blair refused to be drawn into a detailed discussion. “Maybe this is how I have changed over the years,” he said. “I am not going to beg for my character in front of anyone.”
Later that day Blair was on a small Royal Air Force jet heading back to London from a visit to the north of England. The character issue, it seemed, was still in his thoughts. In his cabin, he could be heard discussing Clinton, Kenneth Starr (the independent counsel who became the president’s nemesis) and a remarkable February 1998 joint press conference in Washington that sealed the Clinton-Blair friendship. The press conference at the White House took place just three weeks after the Lewinsky story broke in the press. Asked if it was not “politically risky” to stand by the president, Blair didn’t shy away from the issue. Of Clinton, he said, “I have found him throughout someone I could trust, someone I could rely upon, someone I am proud to call not just a colleague, but a friend … And my belief is that the right thing to say is what you feel.”
Moved by Blair’s comments, Clinton added his own thoughts. He spoke of Blair’s “character”: “There’s been a lot of people bandy[ing] about the word ‘character’ and sometimes in [a] loose and uncertain context. I think people who stand up and say things that they believe when it would be just as easy to walk away show a certain kind of character that I think is essential in a public leader, and I’m very gratified that Tony Blair has done that. Not only for personal reasons but because I think it will strengthen his authority as a world leader.”
The cash-for-peerages affair has never taken off politically quite like the Lewinsky scandal did—if only because the opposition Conservative Party also used a similar loan scheme to raise campaign funds. But it has been one of the dark clouds hanging over Blair’s last months in office, frustrating his efforts to polish his legacy. As a result of Ken Starr’s probe, Clinton was impeached—and acquitted. Yates of the Yard—the Starr villain in cash-for-peerages drama, in the eyes of many Downing Street Blair loyalists—turned his file over to the Crown Prosecution Service in April. Hardly anyone expects Blair himself to be prosecuted. Now that he has announced his resignation—his last day in office will be June 27—he will escape major political fallout regardless of who, if anyone, the CPS decides to prosecute.
All of which sets the stage for a Clintonesque second coming, Blair hopes, as an ex-prime minister. The money-spinning memoirs and speeches are a sure thing. Whether he will fulfill his dreams of waging the good fights against climate change and for interfaith dialogue will depend on the vagaries of world opinion. The men and women around the 54-year-old Blair are counting on the fact that he can put Iraq behind him and travel the world as a respected not-so-elder statesman. If it’s safe to say anything, it is that Blair, following Clinton’s way, will have a shot at redeeming himself that will not be open to President Bush, who leaves office in 20 months amid almost certain ignominy at home and abroad.
