potential administration appointees. As one subject of the vetting process later said, "I wondered why I was being interviewed by the guy who would be deputy counsel. Seemed his job was to find out how honest I was, and what level of ego I was bringing. It's a measure of how much the Clintons trusted him." But Foster found this involvement in vetting appointments to be causing him depression and anxiety. In particular, he blamed himself for the failed Zoë Baird nomination; he had thought that Baird had been justified in following her lawyer's advice regarding the payment of taxes on household employees, but he had failed to anticipate the political backlash that led to it becoming known as "Nannygate" and that blemished the early days of the administration. The equally unsuccessful Kimba Wood and Lani Guinier appointments were also under Foster's purview. He had to resign from the Country Club of Little Rock once its all-white membership became a political issue for others in the administration. As Deputy Counsel, Foster was also involved in a range of other matters, including preparation of executive orders, analyzing the legal effect of various policies, examining international treaties, discussing the ramifications of authorizations for use of military force, and authorizing expenditures within the White House. Foster worked on placing the Clintons' financial holdings into a blind trust. He handled the Clintons' Madison Guaranty and Industrial Development Corporation paperwork and also several Whitewater-related tax returns. He worked twelve-hour days, six or seven days a week, and although thin to begin with, began losing weight. On May 8, 1993, Foster gave the commencement address at the University of Arkansas Law School, his alma mater, and said: One faculty member listening to it recalled telling another that it was "the most depressing graduation speech I had ever heard, in both content and manner." A friend of Foster's has said, "Look, it's just crazy, right? You get one dent and it can never be fixed? In Washington, you get them all the time. You get twenty dents and you go to the body shop. Vince couldn't see that, apparently." Depression and death Four days after the commencement speech, the White House travel office controversy erupted. Foster was the target of several critical Wall Street Journal editorials in June and July 1993, with titles such as "Who is Vincent Foster?" He became quite upset over the travel office