The Rationing
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THIS BOOK IS COMPILED PRIMARILY FROM MY RECOLLECTIONS. I took notes in most of the important meetings. I kept a journal on those rare evenings when I had enough energy after leaving the White House to pen a few lines before collapsing into bed. To be honest, though, most of the salient events are so firmly implanted in my memory that they were not terribly hard to recall in vivid detail. As a scientist, I recognize that the mind can play tricks. Whenever possible I have verified my recollection of events with the principals who were in the room. My notes were helpful in reminding me of the exact sequencing of events. During our long, contentious, often meandering meetings, I made a habit of writing down who said what, sometimes quoting them directly.
I took detailed notes because it was obvious that we were all spectators to history. Taking notes also passed the time and helped ease my frustration. (I noticed that the Secretary of Defense was a chronic doodler; somewhere in the archives there must be hundreds of drawings of buff soldiers operating impressive armaments.) The point is that I was able to reconstruct the dialogue for this book, not always word-for-word, but close enough to evoke the spirit of the conversations.