Imagine routinely reporting to work in the West Wing of the White House, right above the Oval Office and conferring nearly every day with the most influential man in the world.

Such was the case for Coeur d’Alene High School graduate Bruce Reed, who served two terms as chief domestic policy adviser for former President Bill Clinton. A young, adolescent-looking Reed worked with Clinton on such weighty topics as welfare reform, crime reduction and balancing the budget.

It was a time, he said, that still seems like a dream.

“Walking through the gates of the White House is the greatest privilege in the world,” he said.

Yet Reed, a 56-year-old father of two, is anxious to leave the power and perils of the Beltway and return to his western roots.

Reed was born in Boise while his father, Scott, served a brief stint as an assistant U.S. attorney. He then moved as a toddler with his sister, Tara, and his cause-oriented, political-activist parents to Coeur d’Alene/

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