Product Description

President Bill Clinton's "My Life" is the strikingly candid portrait of a global leader who decided in early life to devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public. It is the fullest, most concretely detailed, most nuanced account of a presidency ever written, and a testament to the positive impact on America and on the world of his work and his ideals. Here is the life of a great national and international figure, revealed with all his talents and contradictions. Filled with fascinating moments and insights, it is told openly, directly, in President Clinton's completely recognizable voice. 'Bill Clinton has given an unprecedented story of a White House life and the roads that led to it' - Peter Stothard, "The Times". 'You can't help but feel you're in the company, one on one, of the man himself, the narrative is engaging, the accounts of high-wire diplomacy - are all riveting' - Jonathan Freedland, "Guardian". 'His book tells, in an extraordinary way, a truly heartening story of American democracy' - Peter Jay, "Evening Standard".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68040 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 1024 pages

Synopsis
President Bill Clinton's "My Life" is the strikingly candid portrait of a global leader who decided in early life to devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public. It is the fullest, most concretely detailed, most nuanced account of a presidency ever written, and a testament to the positive impact on America and on the world of his work and his ideals. Here is the life of a great national and international figure, revealed with all his talents and contradictions. Filled with fascinating moments and insights, it is told openly, directly, in President Clinton's completely recognizable voice. 'Bill Clinton has given an unprecedented story of a White House life and the roads that led to it' - Peter Stothard, "The Times". 'You can't help but feel you're in the company, one on one, of the man himself, the narrative is engaging, the accounts of high-wire diplomacy - are all riveting' - Jonathan Freedland, "Guardian". 'His book tells, in an extraordinary way, a truly heartening story of American democracy' - Peter Jay, "Evening Standard".

Customer Reviews

Awesome book by an awesome man
Wow, what a man. Bill Clinton was my favourite President of the last 20 or so years, despite the scandal of the last days in office.

This book is big, and is taking me some time to get through it. However, it is awesome. Full of detail of his early life as well as his time in office, I feel like I'm having a conversation with Bill as I read this, and he's telling me his past. Easy to read, and full of photos, this book is a must for anyone who has an interest in politics, or great leaders of the 20th century.

OK but a bit self-serving
There are two parts to this book:the opening half describes Bill's rise from lower middle-class student to Rhodes Scholar, attorney and ascendency to governor of Arkansas. This is some of the best political writing I have read, it's basically an instruction manual on how to suceed in local politics in the US: firstly, appreciate the concerns of the electorate; secondly, discover what makes the swing-voters tick and finally, capture the middle ground from your opponents. Bill lived through interesting times: church burnings, George Wallace and opposition to the Vietnam War certainly played an important part in framing his politics. The problems with this book start in the sencond half when he finally gets to the White House. Everything is documented in scrupulous detail, one minute he is meeting with Yasir Arafat, the next opening a school in Gary, Indiana and this means that the book adopts a linear structure rather than reviewing the key achievements of Bill's presidency in seperate chapters. Maybe this is to disguise the underachievements of Bill's presidency given that his reforms of healthcare, gun control and environmental care were mainly scrapped or blocked by the GOP Congress or the GW Bush administration. There is also a slightly grating "down-homeness" about the writing where Bill describes how a month catching soft-shell crabs made him realise how important it was to ratify the START Treaty (or something). There is a severe case of sour-grapes aimed at Dole, Gingrich et al for blocking his legistlative program; (wait a minute Bill, weren't they also elected), and he misses a chance to give his side of the story re: the Lewinsky affair.
This book is OK but Bill could have taken a leaf out of his contemporary John Major's book and firstly improved the narrative structure, and secondly made it 200 pages shorter.

bill clinton my life
This is a excellent book about a ordinary man that start from nothing and made his way to the very top.Bill clinton is a man who was an ordinary guy and still remains that way even today.The book gives inspiration to anybody and proves that anybody can make it if they put in the hard work.
I recommend this book to anyone that that is interested in finding out how to become somebody from the bottom to the top with hard work determination and a never say die attitude.