Lieutenant Colonel Robert “Buzz” Patterson (born October 5, 1955) is a retired United States Air Force pilot, political author, and conservative commentator. Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Virginia Tech and a master’s in business administration from Webster University. Patterson served 20 years in the Air Force, with combat experience in Grenada, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and Bosnia, including 15 combat support missions into Sarajevo in 1994, for which he received the Air Medal. He also earned the Defense Superior Service Medal for his White House service.
From 1996 to 1998, Patterson was seconded to President Bill Clinton as the Senior Military Aide, responsible for carrying the “nuclear football”—the briefcase containing nuclear launch codes. During this time, he was the operational commander for all military units assigned to the White House, including Air Force One, Marine One, Camp David, the White House Transportation Agency, and the White House Mess. After retiring in 2001, Patterson became a commercial airline pilot and authored several books, including two New York Times bestsellers: Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America’s National Security and Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security. He is known for his critical accounts of the Clinton administration, as highlighted in his X post about Clinton prioritizing golf over a critical national security decision in 1996.
BILL CLINTON & GOLF
“Eagle departing , South Lawn,” crackled the radio in my van. The motorcade wound its way out of the South Gate, into the streets of Washington, DC, and onto the George Washington Parkway. On this rainy afternoon, we were on our way to watch the President’s Cup golf tournament in Lake Manassas, Virginia. It was September 13, 1996. I’d been working for President Clinton for about 3 months and I was well aware of his passion for golf and the chinks in his national security armor were starting to show.
Shortly before 3 in the afternoon, we arrived at the course. Clinton was escorted to the VIP tent by the PGA dude on a deck overlooking the 18th green. During events like these, I kept close enough to the president, with the “football,” to always be within sight and on call, but far enough away to be unobtrusive.
I was summoned to “Roadrunner,” the black communications van manned by members of the White House
Communications Agency, sterling military professionals. On the phone was Sandy Berger, the White House national security advisor. Berger wanted me to talk with the president. He needed a decision quickly. “Major, we’re poised to launch air strikes on Iraq and I need the president’s nod.” Saddam Hussein was moving against the Kurds in northern Iraq in an attempt to exterminate them. We had pilots in cockpits (my peers) ready to take lives and possibly have theirs taken.
I approached President Clinton 3 times in a 30 minute span. Our guys overseas only had a limited time under the cover of darkness to launch and return safely. Three times, Clinton rebuffed me (and Berger and innocent Kurds). In fact, he got angry with me. And Berger was beside himself angry at me. Bill simply wanted to watch Tiger Woods putt. In the end, we motorcaded back to the White House, Bill never talked with Berger, and thousands of Kurds were slaughtered.
It was one of my first, but certainly not last, realization that the emperor had no clothes. As a nation, we deserved better.
BILL CLINTON & GOLF
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) May 22, 2025
“Eagle departing , South Lawn,” crackled the radio in my van. The motorcade wound its way out of the South Gate, into the streets of Washington, DC, and onto the George Washington Parkway. On this rainy afternoon, we were on our way to watch the President’s…