Introduction
Prologue: July 4, 1976
Memories of the Ford administration
Détente and its discontents
Jimmy Carter and the agonies of anti-politics
Human rights and democratic collapse
New morning
Confronting the Evil Empire
"Call it mysticism if you will"
"We have an undercover thing" : the Iran-Contra Affair
"Another time, another era"
Reaganism and realism
The politics of Clintonism
Clinton's comeback
Animosities and interest : the impeachment of Clinton
Irreparable harm : the election of 2000
Epilogue: October 13, 2001.