HOW IT HAPPENED

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Why didn't Clinton try to go it alone two weeks ago?TIME Washington correspondent Suneel Ratansays the president had been reluctant to make the move without bipartisan backing. Though Clinton secured support from Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole over the weekend, Ratan reports, GOP leaders were reluctant to mobilize their troops unless Clinton could get congressional Democrats on board. And, with the peso spiralling further downward Monday and critics including Ross Perot scheduled to weigh in against him before Congress today, he says, Clinton decided to act unilaterally. While Congress is unlikely to question the president's authority, Ratan says, he faces serious political risk if Mexico doesn't recover, and fast: "If there's another round of crisis in Mexico after this debacle," asks Ratan, "what is the U.S. going to do to help them out of it?"