“The next thing I knew I get a call to go up to Camp David and meet with the president. So I got in a helicopter and flew up with Al Gore and Tipper. And they take me to the president’s cabin there. And I’m in a room—it’s Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and Tipper Gore, and me. And I knew at once this was not going to be a fair fight!” Panetta lets out a loud laugh. “I said, ‘I’m really valuable to you as OMB director. We’ve got your economic plan in place.’ And the president told me something that I’ll never forget. He said, ‘Leon, you can be the greatest OMB director in the history of
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