Them Hustlers is an unforgettable historical novel that reveals how the presidency of Bill Clinton was really saved. The year is 1998 and Bill Clinton is under attack from the Republicans for having an affair with a White House intern.
Four unique characters come together to defend not only the president, but a down on his luck businessman who unwittingly becomes part of the impeachment drama.
A fiesty national political reporter, an aging fortune teller from Annapolis as well as the son of the most powerful voodoo practitioner from the Maryland black community are somehow brought together in battle with Hustler publisher Larry Flynt by one Phil Greene, a local businessman engaged to marry a high-powered "fixer" for the Louisiana congressional delegation.
Phil has slowly come to realize just how corrupt is the effort to bring down not only Bill Clinton, but also congressional speaker of the house Newt Gingrich, all in a desperate plot to have one of the Louisiana politicians, Bill Livingston, take over first the speakership and then the presidency of the United States.
No politician looked good. Not the president, nor Newt Gingrich or the 'moral' Republican leaders waiting in the wings, whether Bob Livingstone or Bob Barr. All of them have skeletons in their closet; all of them are motivated by a lust for power.
And yet, the presidency seemed lost for Bill Clinton. Who could possibly defend a man who had an affair with his intern? Taking charge was Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler Magazine, whose Washington Post ad offering a reward for cheating Republicans turned the tide for Bill Clinton as it revealed a town filled with lying politicians.
As seen through the eyes of Greene, who is struggling to regain his life after his business has failed, the hypocrisy of our elected officials is both hilarious and simply scary. Are there really elected politicians who use voodoo to cling to power? Can a fortune teller from Annapolis really come to the aid of Greene as he struggles to escape from the plotting of the impeachment supporters? In the end, Phil Greene's rejection of the Washington power struggle saves his own life. And yet, as we know all too well, little has changed in Washington, DC .
Them Hustler weaves together forgotten historical facts with fiction to produce a powerful portrait of the behind-the-scenes drama during the Clinton impeachment, one that still casts a long shadow on the Washington of today.
It is truly an unforgettable story.
