Authorial idiosyncrasies aside, the book has its merits. Hamilton ably illustrates Clinton's strengths and weaknesses as a leader, how he thrived whenever the occasion called for him to inspire or commiserate, and how time and again his failures could be traced to what Hamilton calls his "inability to function as a manager of men and women in a structured environment"…And a few of Hamilton's insights do feel fresh. He is especially smart on the internal dynamics of Hillary's famed right-wing conspiracy, advancing the case that it was Clinton's own failures during his first year in office that emboldened those Arkansas troopers to come forward in 1993, which led to David Brock, Paula Jones and the long national stumble down sleazy street.
—The Washington Post
Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency
Narrated by James Adams
Nigel HamiltonUnabridged — 23 hours, 23 minutes
Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency
Narrated by James Adams
Nigel HamiltonUnabridged — 23 hours, 23 minutes
Overview
A decade and a half after William Jefferson Clinton first took the oath of office, biographer Nigel Hamilton tells the riveting story of what was possibly the greatest self-reinvention of a president in office in modern times. The Clinton presidency began disastrously and deteriorated in a series of fiascoes. How Bill Clinton faced up to his failures and refashioned himself in the White House thereafter is the focus of this hitherto unwritten story. With his landslide win in the 1996 presidential election, Clinton began his second term as the undisputed, tremendously popular leader of the Western world.
In vivid prose, this riveting narrative charts Clinton's dramatic reversal of fortune and his ultimate triumph over himself and his foes, a powerful reminder of what a great president can accomplish.
Editorial Reviews
Scintillating biography, Hamilton's specialty, with a few nods to psychoanalysis, lies not just in telling us what happened but why and how it happened. As he follows William Jefferson Clinton from straitened beginnings to glorious success, he tries to burrow inside the man, to think as he thought, to see through his eyes the decisions that had to be made.
A straightforward, effective recounting of the ups and downs of a presidency shaped as much by personality as by policy.
This second volume of the author's biography casts Clinton's first term as a Miltonian epic of fall and redemption. The years 1993-1994, culminating in the Democrats' loss of Congress in midterm elections, are "Paradise Lost": a disastrous failure caused by a weak White House chief of staff (Mack McLarty), Clinton's own promiscuous openness to ideas and indecisiveness and, most of all, "co-president" Hillary's baleful influence. 1995-1996 are "Paradise Regained": a new chief of staff (Leon Panetta) restores order, Hillary learns her place and Clinton grows a spine, comforts the nation after the Oklahoma City bombing, humiliates Newt Gingrich and wins reelection. (Alas, enter Monica Lewinsky, "a luscious fruit in the Garden of Eden, eager to be plucked.") Hamilton styles this arc, with many military metaphors, as a study of Clinton's maturing capacity for "command" as he grows from "arch-baby boomer" to "undisputed leader of his country." Unfortunately, this focus on character often overshadows the substance of policy (the treatment of Hillary's byzantine health-care plan is especially sketchy) and is not entirely convincing, since the early, feckless Clinton seems to have accomplished more than the "determinedly presidential" later Clinton, with his third way politics of triangulation. At the celebratory end of Hamilton's account, Clinton's comeback is a merely personal triumph, devoid of political significance. (July)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationBiographer Nigel Hamilton takes an unbiased look at the controversial and highly talked about presidency of William Jefferson Clinton--the ups and downs, highs and lows, and, yes, the sex scandal that nearly ended it all. Hamilton writes with an eye to the utmost detail yet never ceases to compel and entertain his readers. James Adams delivers the work in a tone that projects its importance, and his ear-pleasing Arkansas accent brings an air of realism. Hamilton offers his own take on the events in question but never stands on a soapbox to preach his own ideals and opinions on the matters in question. The result is a truly intriguing account of what it’s like to be president of the United States. L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169804843 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 01/01/2006 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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