My Life
by Bill Clinton
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Book Reviews of My Life
Book Review: Nobody died when Clinton lied
Summary: 5 Stars
I just bought the book on my lunch hour, and have been thumbing it. Clinton haters may make a big deal of the fact that Clinton told a jury his affair with Lewinsky started in '96 (after her internship) but in the book (page 773, you can find it by looking for 'Lewinsky' in the index) he says "In late 1995, ... I'd had an inappropriate encounter with Monica Lewinsky and would do so again ..." Big deal, big liar Bill Clinton. If you're looking for confessions, check out page 153, where he admits to breaking and entering and larceny (in a kitchen in Oxford University.) But the point remains: Clinton's crimes were small potatoes, and nobody died when Clinton lied. Compare that with Bush's lies which have killed 837 American soldiers (and counting) and wounded thousands of others. Honestly, aren't you sickened by the double standard?The book is written mostly chronologically, with flash-forwards and flashbacks to connect continuing themes. It makes for a slightly confusing tale, but it's hard to see how else the book could have been structured. My advice is to use the index heavily. Perhaps it's better to view the book as three tales interwoven:
The first tale is the personal autobiography, in which he recites personal accomplishments and acknowledges the many folks that helped him on his way, starting with the single mom and grand parents who raised him. Clinton spreads his praise warmly and generously, but this part of the book isn't particularly interesting to me, though there are some surprises; look up Bush, H.W., B.C's meeting and Chelsea's encounters; Clinton has alot of warm praise for Bush 41.
The second tale is the policy document. The best way to follow a policy issue is look it up in the (excellent) index and read all the referenced sections. For example, look up 'Contract with America' and read Clinton's approach to it. Look up 'Northern Ireland' and read the debate about whether and when to allow Gerry Adams a visa. You'll find a very concise capsule of the positions pro and con for a visa. If that's an accurate instance of how good the policy document is, then it's very good indeed.
The third tale is the political tale. Again, the index your friend. Look up all the familiar names: Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones (I saw little new info about them). The biggest part of this tale is about Ken Starr and the impeachment. I haven't looked at this part yet, so I can't comment on the substance. I have mixed feelings about the topic as a whole. In one sense, I'd like to leave it in the past. I feel the impeachment was harmful to our nation in numerous ways, and I'm glad it's over. However, in a larger sense, the impeachment was just an instance of the politics of personal destruction, and the politics of personal destruction are alive and thriving in America today, and both parties are getting more and more skillful at using selective truths to deceive the public. If Clinton's book stimulates a debate on deceit and destruction in American politics, then that would be a very good outcome.
In summary: use the index; it's your friend. What I've seen of the book is very interesting, and I'm looking forward to reading more.
Book Review: The Difference Between Two Presidents
Summary: 1 Stars
I spent much of yesterday afternoon in an airport bookshop reading through Mr. Clinton's massive, choppy, not-too-well written self-serving memoir. Almost everything was a paean to what Bill "accomplished" and even in the substantive areas, the former President had a nasty habit of jumping back and forth on events and personalities without clarification. For example, he cites Colin Powell's retirement from the Army halfway through the book, but several pages later recites an episode concerning Bosnia where then General Powell was a participant.
Mr. Clinton also disparages or ignores those who opposed him. While one might dismiss a Paula Jones or a Kathleen Wiley, the fact remains that his behavior towards them helped paved the road to impeachment just as much as the affair with Monica Lewinsky did. Dick Morris is also convienently ignored, even though Mr. Morris helped craft and shape Clinton's image of being a "moderate" or centrist democrat.
Oh yes, Bill seems to imply that prejudice towards non-whites was the key factor in the rejection of Bill Lann Lee as Assistant Attorney General. Not the fact that Bill Lann Lee defended radical thugs who had murdered innocent people.
And get those buckets out. Bill practically sobs over Arafat's rejection of peace in favor of murder and mayhem. The 9 White House visits and feasts bestowed on this terrorist couldn't even push him to make peace. Nor Clinton and Carville's mechanics in undermining Bibi Netanyahu in favor of the more pliant and naive Ehud Barak who was willing to give up the Israeli store to make peace - a peace Arafat had no intention of making nor keeping.
Nowhere is mentioning, except in passing, the day-to-day goings-on and policymaking that past Presidential Memoirs have discussed. For all of the anti-intellectual commentary made about the memoirs of President Reagan or President Nixon, both books were far better written, and even controversal issues were dealt with far more honestly than the Clinton book. The memoirs of both Presidents Reagan and Nixon were readable, whereas Mr. Clinton's left much to be desired.
Reagan's book was warm, engaging, and honest, even when he discussed Iran-Contra. Clinton's - hmmm. He doesn't even discuss the secret deals he approved smuggling arms from Iran into Croatia to use against the Bosnian Serbs, or the hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives that subsequently entered Bosnia thanks to this policy, along with a score of retired U.S. military officers, who, with the Clinton administration's covert blessing went to advise the Croats and their Holocaust denier President Tudjman in his campaign to ethnically cleanse Knin Province of Serbs.
For a former President to write haughtingly and arrogantly about his impeachment (don't forget he did lie, folks, and character is all-important when you finger is near that proverbial button) and calling it a "badge of honor"...enough said. This book is barely worth the one star given.
The memoirs by Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, or U.S Grant's are far more honest, far more readable, and a much better gift to give someone than this "legend in my own mind" ode to self-indulgence.
Book Review: Bill Clinton's Life
Summary: 5 Stars
Bill Clinton's Life
Thus far, I have read 564 pages of Bill Clinton's My Life, beginning at page 1, unlike many instant reviewers and TV interviewers who went immediately to the index to look up sections on Monica Lewinsky. I did note that the index lists 27 pages as having some reference to Lewinsky. From the questions posed to Clinton by interviewers and from comments of pundits, one might have expected that 930 pages contained reference to Lewinsky and only 27 to other matters.
Dan Rather compared Clinton's book to the classic presidential memoir of U.S. Grant, but the emerging consensus is that like Clinton himself the book is flawed: brilliant and insightful at times, but often long-winded, ill-disciplined, self-indulgent, evasive, and dishonest. As a historian, one welcomes the extended comments of a former president who served two terms in challenging times, and 957 pages are to be treasured rather than ridiculed as excessive. Some have accused Clinton of avoiding responsibility and displacing blame to others.
Because he had his The Buck Stops Here sign on his desk, and because he was blunt, Harry Truman often gets credit for setting the standard in accepting responsibility. From Truman's Memoirs, however, one might get the impression that the man from Missouri always made the right decision and never regretted a decision once made. It could in fact be useful to fellow citizens and future generations to have a former president reflect on major decisions rather than offer a cryptic, no, as HST did to the question of whether he had ever had regrets about his decision to drop the bomb on Japan.
Clinton devoted 5 pages the Black Hawk Down episode in Somalia. Some, choosing to be critical, might see an effort to deflect blame to then Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Colin Powell for recommending the effort to capture warlord Mohammed Aidid or to Ranger commander Major General William Garrison who ordered the Black Hawk helicopters to fly into Mogadishu in broad daylight.
Clinton himself draws the analogy to John Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs fiasco. JFK has generally been credited with accepting responsibility even though we somehow all know that he received terrible misinformation and bad advice from military and intelligence sources. In the end Clinton does accept responsibility writing, There was no way I could, or should, be taken off the blame line. He concluded that the raid was a mistake changing the nature of the American mission from peacekeeping to war against Aidid. The larger implications of it should have been determined higher up, he wrote. He also acknowledged and accepted the wrath of the father of one American casualty who told him he was not fit to be commander in chief. It is impossible to imagine such an incident's finding its way into the memoirs of HST, LBJ, or Nixon.
Of course, speaking of self-indulgence, reviewers are not going to advertise themselves nor gain repute for wit and perspicacity by praising Bill Clinton. It just is not done.
Daniel C. Hudson
Ridgefield, CT
Book Review: Great feast for his haters as well as his supporters
Summary: 5 Stars
The intelligence, eloquence, charm, and generosity of Bill Clinton all come alive in a 957-page documentary of an intriguing and rich life. The adoption of the "Clinton" name after his abusive and alcoholic first stepfather and his acceptance and forgiveness of his second stepfather, despite his bad reputation, signal the magnanimity of the young Bill. His mother's life-long struggle to provide him stable family environment, education, and love all made him a special person who understood the suffering of the poor, the black, the sick, and the old. His rural Arkansas upbringing fostered his curiosity in early life to explore the greater world of politics that took him to Washington, New York, Oxford, and Moscow, in only two decades of his early life. Clinton reveals the crucial role of school in training and preparing young people for future participation in democratic governments.
No wonder why the rich, white, and religious hated his guts since he embodied the struggle and charisma of the poor and well-educated class that would shake the foundation of the old tradition of politics that only serves the rich and powerful minority. He won all wars waged against him solely by the way of reasoning he had inherited from his poor yet closely attached family members, in addition to his extensive reading of books that made his mind deals with complex conflicts without losing focus of the fundamental issues. His encyclopedic mind was also his drive for adoring sex and appreciating its great pleasure in soothing life, which also infuriated his haters. That also made him the most peaceful and economically successful president that loved sex and hated violence.
Clinton's supporters will be thrilled with this book that demonstrates how a man goes through eight years of presidency yet still retains his ability to remember details, associate with simple people, and question all traditional values in the context of their benefit to the progress of democratic governing. The generosity of Bill Clinton in sharing his life experience with his readers is evidence that he might exceed Jimmy Carter in his global reach for peace, democracy, and equality. This also explains the timing of publishing the book in the election year with a president who stumbles speaking simple sentences and who has ruined America's reputation around the world with his arrogance and narrow scope of understanding.
Ironically, Clinton starts his book by dignifying his critics' claim that he was a bad man and by expressing his love to Hilary, whom he has betrayed. Thus, he shows that even a man as expansive as Clinton could possibly be shaken in his strongest assets despite the fact that most of his adversaries have committed worse mistakes than his (e.g., Newt Gingrich). While Bush senior spends his retirement relaxing and parachute jumping from airplanes in his eighties, both the democratic ex-presidents, Carter and Clinton, are roaming the globe working on solving greater international problems to educate and heal greater masses of people around the globe.
Book Review: And Who Among Us Has Never Told A Lie
Summary: 5 Stars
Since some Clinton bashers, seem to be forming an opinion about a book they NEVER read, I feel obligated to form an opinion on a book I will eventually read as one of the billions of Clinton Supporters. No one outside of Washington D.C. & the Media core CARED about the President's affair with Monica. The economy was at stellar growth, the U.S. had good relations with almost all decent nations on the planet Earth and there was no reason for the U.S. to play World Police. It's the Economy Stupid. When 9/11 happened all those trash talking hotheads, you know the ones who hate the POPULAR Clinton, blamed the previous Administration for the lax attitude of the current one. Their stupid rants were similar to those of an incarcerated felon blaming the entire world for his problems and never facing the reality, that change begins within. I was going to vote Republican then I found about jerks like Newt Gingrich and the ultra-ugly Ken Starr. I registered Independent but voted for the charismatic Clinton. Clinton was so popular that many Americans given the chance to vote him into a 3rd term would gladly do so.
I have come to believe it is the far right wing of the Republican Party that is growing perilously close to dictatorship. The current Administration limits your freedom of speech; you may not criticize the government, you have no right to privacy, i.e. Patriot Act, is above the law (no one is claiming responsiblity for the prison scandal), refuses to share information with the American public for the reason(s) of going to war and Ashcroft looks really silly when his public terror alerts amount to nothing. After 12 years of Republican rule, they seem bent on OWNING the White House and will do anything to get back what they NEVER won in 2000. The surplus that Clinton Administration created has all but vanished in just the first year, GWB has been in office fighting a seemingly unneccessary war for a country whose citizens have probably borne a growing hatred for the U.S. (Why not get rid of Castro in Cuba, cause they have no OIL to give in return, hey, Cheney?) And if I excercise my fist amendment right to voice loudly my opinion of being against the war, I am unpatriotic?. Doesn't the Bill of Rights, give me the freedom of non-hateful / harmful speech? Or did the U.S. change its name to Iran?
When it goes down in the history books, Clinton's impeachment for lying (I'd rather have a president lie about an affair then have a president lie about war and have many people die violently), will read as laughable and tarnish the far right wing of the Republican party. As a colleague once told me during the Impeachment of Clinton, It is a SAD DAY in history when a President is Impeached for a stained dress. Mr. Clinton was exonarated and he will be remembered as an intelligent communicator, witty, charming, great with people and with faults that are nobody's business but his own. That GOAT Ken NO Starr will be forgotten as a dumbass which never accomplished its goal.