A hard (but not harsh) look at Bill Clinton

Ever since Bill Clinton appeared on the national stage people, whether they liked him or not found him fascinating. It is my perception that many Democrats bemoaning the loss of the past two presidential elections look back on the Clinton presidency wistfully while the former president's detractors, while still keeping a third eye out for the possibility of another Clinton in the White House, can't stop themselves from keeping up with Bill as if they were rubber necking a bad car accident. Love him or hate him (I don't know many that felt luke warm about him) people were and continue to be mesmerized by him. It is my prediction that generations will continue this peculiar love affair.

Books have come out about him that are distinctly for and against - obviously mindful of the power he still wields and the possibility that the man may someday be "first gentleman".

This book however is slightly different in that respect. Although I do not think the book is completely objective the author strives to be objective and it shows. Given the obvious power of the personality of Bill Clinton as well as the various controversies that swirled about him we are a little too close in time for anyone to be completely objective.Never the less seems to be the closest thing we have yet to a picture of what the
Clinton White House was really like.

I will reiterate that I do believe the author does his best to be objective. I think the best way to describe the author's ultimate view of Clinton is that he strongly ambivalent about the man. The way the political situation is currently in this country this book leaves enough open as far as the perception of the character of William Jefferson Clinton that it will be very much like a type of ink blot test of the reader. For although Clinton is not always shown in the best light here and some of the revelations in this book will be decried by Clinton supporters I believe both supporters and detractors will feel as they will have come away from this book with more ammunition.

Harris shows a man more aware of the threat of terrorism than the public knew as well as someone who was a true believer in the policies he tried to enact.
But the author also portrays a president continually under siege and due to this finds himself unable to act as effectively as he could or would like. Depending on what party you belong to some would call his actions prudent and understandable and that he was undermined by his enemies whereas others will see him as a man that did not have the backbone to act on what he saw was the right course of action. In short Harris finds Clinton not so much of a schemer as someone hampered by his insecurities and whose seeming indesciveness, and what some have characterized as slipperiness, was based on insecurity. And although the author shows the Clinton White House to be purposely evasive he presents the tactic as perhaps being well warranted. Clinton is shown as well as some who although possessing a flexible mind was not always flexible in his management style and this quality proved to be a double edged sword. Harris also gives a picture of a man that is bright but undisciplined perhasaps to the point of being self-sabotaging. But the author also shows Clinton as someone who showed personal growth during his eight years in the White House and who became more confident is his decision making.

In The Survivor we see the highs and lows of the Clinton presidency and it gives us some insights in to the mechanics of the Clinton White House that frankly Clinton's autobiography lacked.

A no nonsense clear-headed and aptly titled biography.


Recommended

Jim Connell "Hallstatt Prince"

The Politics Of The 1990's

The reader could fill a bookcase with all the literature written about Bill and Hillary Clinton. Starting with their respective autobiographies -- "My Life" (2004) and "Living History" (2003) -- and adding "The Clinton Wars" by Sidney Blumenthal (2003), "The Hunting Of The President" by Conason & Lyons (2000) and "Clinton: The President They Deserve" (1996) among others, the reader is faced with books that tend to be either praising or condemning the Clintons.

John Harris has written one of the few even-handed approaches toward Bill Clinton. Covering the politics of the 1990's for the Washington Post, he portrays Bill Clinton as a brilliant, undisciplined President who could could have been so much more. He describes his successes (Kosovo and welfare reform) and his failures (health care reform and the impeachment process). His greatest success may have have been outlasting his numerous enemies (hence the title of this book).

Mr. Harris has uncovered little original research about Clinton's Presidency but he synthesises all that has been published into a readable, coherent and balanced look at the man and his personal/political choices while in office. Mr. Clinton comes off as a tragic figure whose ambitious policy agenda came unravelled through his own hubris and the determined oppositon of Congressional Republicans. If there is one book that the reader wants to consult about the domestic and foreign policies of the prior decade, this is that book.

An Objective Analysis Written with Style

Bill Clinton is a lightning rod figure. In the America of 2005 in which ideology is too often put above rationality, reading an objective study of an emotional icon is refreshing. Clinton's warts are exposed clearly and at some length. But I think any open-minded reader will leave this book with greater respect for the man -- human though he is -- as an increasingly thoughtful and deeply caring human being.
I will come back to this review page in a few days and I know I will see vile hatred spewed out by those who have not read the book. A brief note to them: if your dismissal of the book is based on your dislike of its subject and you have not read the book, then reflect for a moment on how weak your position is and spend the money and effort to find out the whole story.