Awesome book by an awesome man
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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.
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OK but a bit self-serving
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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.
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bill clinton my life
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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.
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Charisma Doesn't Come Thru
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Clinton was a good President and leader because of his incredible charisma. It doesn't come thru in this book at all. He's also not much of a writer or at least the ghostwriter he used (if he used one), isn't. (Maybe Clinton went cheap on who he used because he was saving his money for possible legal issues.) I like Clinton alot, just not this book. I agree that he should talk more about his mistakes. In fact, that's part of what makes him charismatic when he speaks; he talks about making mistakes, he seems real, not someone trying to present himself as all-knowing, like Bush. Maybe Bush wrote this book. It seems like he could have.
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An insightful read
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Here you have an in depth history of Clinton's rise in politics and the tribulations of his presidency. Any autobiography is bound to be biased, especially if it is of a political nature, but if you take this into account this book is immensely enjoyable. It is clear to read, full of interesting stories about the workings of government and an insight into the man behind the newspaper articles and PR.
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