Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. the Obamas

Introduction

"Politicians resemble nation-states: they don't have friends so much as they have permanent interests. "Edward Klein's book operates on this ruthless premise, claiming that the Clinton-Obama relationship is pure strategic calculation wrapped in public performance. The alleged 2012 golf course deal epitomizes this: Clinton supports Obama's reelection in exchange for Obama's backing of Hillary in 2016, plus party infrastructure control.

Klein's narrative is built on anonymous insider sources describing private meetings, personal animosities, and calculated betrayals.

Valerie Jarrett emerges as the shadow presidency figure controlling Obama's decisions. Bill Clinton supposedly sabotages Obama's messaging while publicly supporting him.

Obama allegedly forces Hillary into the Benghazi cover-up, then positions her to take the fall. Post-election, Obama reneges on the deal.

The fundamental problem with this book is verification. Klein's sources are unnamed. His interpretations of events are filtered through a lens that assumes maximum cynicism.

Some claims are plausible given political incentives, others read like conspiracy speculation. His previous books have been criticized for factual errors and sensationalism.

What's genuinely interesting isn't whether every claim is true, but how the book illustrates the permanent tension in politics between coalition-building and competition for power.

Even if Klein exaggerates the personal hatred, the structural conflict between ambitious political families sharing a party is real. The value here is understanding power dynamics, not treating this as definitive history.

Obama's Crisis and the Clinton Dilemma

Spring 2012. Obama's polling numbers hit 41%. His inner circle faced a decision that required swallowing every ounce of pride they possessed: recruiting the man they despised most.

The meeting room was uncomfortably hot. Obama kept the temperature tropical, so much so that David Axelrod once joked you could grow orchids in there. But the real heat came from the argument between David Plouffe and Valerie Jarrett.

Plouffe wanted Bill Clinton as the campaign's chief surrogate. Jarrett's eyes blazed when he said it. She didn't just dislike Clinton politically. She and Michelle Obama had never forgiven him for the 2008 primary comments.

The Jesse Jackson comparison after South Carolina. The fairy tale remark about Iraq. That comment about Obama getting them coffee. These weren't just political attacks to them. They were personal.

But Plouffe had numbers. Clinton polled at 69%. He could reach white working-class voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania who had abandoned Obama during the recession. These Clinton Democrats remembered the prosperity of the nineties. They saw Obama as elite, out of touch.

Without them, the path to 270 electoral votes got much harder. Then Plouffe dropped his real weapon.

He had intelligence that Bill Clinton was commissioning secret polls comparing Hillary's popularity to Obama's among Democratic primary voters.

Hillary was testing better. Much better. And if Clinton leaked those numbers, if he encouraged Hillary to challenge a sitting president, Obama would be finished.

Primary fights destroy incumbents even when they win. You could see it hit Obama. His lips pursed, chin receding.

That sullen pout he got under stress. He was less popular than Hillary among his own party members.

Jarrett realized she was losing. So she pivoted to what she called the Chicago Way. Fine, promise Clinton the moon. But Obama wouldn't have to honor any of it after winning reelection. Make whatever deal was necessary now, renege later.

This is how leverage works in practice. When you need someone and they know it, the negotiation starts before you even speak.

Clinton understood he had maximum extraction power at this exact moment. Obama's team understood it too. They just hated admitting it.

Review

Here's the real lesson: political promises have expiration dates written in invisible ink. Clinton assumed handshakes still mattered in Obama's Washington. Obama proved leverage only works while you're needed.

The question isn't whether your allies will betray you—it's whether you're building power that survives their inevitable pivot.

Next time someone offers you the moon, ask yourself: what happens when they no longer need the stars you're standing on? Until then, watch the handshakes, but count the cards.