Purchase
Vintage
June 2005
On Sale: May 31, 2005
1056 pages ISBN: 140003003X EAN: 9781400030033 Paperback
Add to Wish List
Non-Fiction
President Bill Clinton’s My Life is the strikingly candid
portrait of a global leader who decided early in life to
devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his
extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public. It shows us the progress of a remarkable American, who,
through his own enormous energies and efforts, made the
unlikely journey from Hope, Arkansas, to the White House—a
journey fueled by an impassioned interest in the political
process which manifested itself at every stage of his life:
in college, working as an intern for Senator William
Fulbright; at Oxford, becoming part of the Vietnam War
protest movement; at Yale Law School, campaigning on the
grassroots level for Democratic candidates; back in
Arkansas, running for Congress, attorney general, and governor. We see his career shaped by his resolute determination to
improve the life of his fellow citizens, an unfaltering
commitment to civil rights, and an exceptional understanding
of the practicalities of political life. We come to understand the emotional pressures of his
youth—born after his father’s death; caught in the
dysfunctional relationship between his feisty, nurturing
mother and his abusive stepfather, whom he never ceased to
love and whose name he took; drawn to the brilliant,
compelling Hillary Rodham, whom he was determined to marry;
passionately devoted, from her infancy, to their daughter,
Chelsea, and to the entire experience of fatherhood; slowly
and painfully beginning to comprehend how his early denial
of pain led him at times into damaging patterns of behavior. President Clinton’s book is also the fullest, most
concretely detailed, most nuanced account of a presidency
ever written—encompassing not only the high points and
crises but the way the presidency actually works: the
day-to-day bombardment of problems, personalities,
conflicts, setbacks, achievements. It is a testament to the positive impact on America and on
the world of his work and his ideals. It is the gripping account of a president under concerted
and unrelenting assault orchestrated by his enemies on the
Far Right, and how he survived and prevailed. It is a treasury of moments caught alive, among them: • The ten-year-old boy watching the national political
conventions on his family’s new (and first) television set. • The young candidate looking for votes in the Arkansas
hills and the local seer who tells him, “Anybody who would
campaign at a beer joint in Joiner at midnight on Saturday
night deserves to carry one box. . . . You’ll win here. But
it’ll be the only damn place you win in this county.” (He
was right on both counts.) • The roller-coaster ride of the 1992 campaign. • The extraordinarily frank exchanges with Newt Gingrich and
Bob Dole. • The delicate manipulation needed to convince Rabin and
Arafat to shake hands for the camera while keeping Arafat
from kissing Rabin. • The cost, both public and private, of the scandal that
threatened the presidency. Here is the life of a great national and international
figure, revealed with all his talents and contradictions,
told openly, directly, in his own completely recognizable
voice. A unique book by a unique American.
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
|