My Life: The Presidential Years: Volume II: The Presidential Years

by Bill Clinton

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400096731
• ISBN13: 9781400096732
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 704 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Highly Recommend This Book

As a long time follower of Bill Clinton, I have enjoyed his books. Clinton's time as President was overshadowed by his sexual encounters, which is disappointing. In my opinion, Clinton was an excellent President. Clinton gives insight in to his adminstration and the condition of the political world during his time in office. It's an unknown fact that we have only had two Presidents who did not have mistresses or affairs at some point in their lives. As Nixon had to face the music for Watergate, Clinton faced the music for his sexual indiscretions. Both became poster children for actions that neither were the first to participate in, nor the last, leaving their legacy's forever tarnished. Politics is a dirty business and for those who manage to endure the mud slinging and back stabbing, I take my hat off to them. Bill Clinton is a survivor who has managed to shake off past negativity, to reemerge as a strong and trust worthy leader. I highly recommend this book for any Clinton follower looking for insight in to the Clinton administration, as it is a very detailed, honest accounting of his life.

Compare the reception among reviewers.

Most interesting of all is reader reception. For some reason, hundreds of readers commented upon the first volume of My Life. Yet, on the second volume, I am the fourth to make any remarks. So, why do people pay such great attention to the "developmental" volume and so little attention to the "consequences" volume? That is the question of prime importance, in grasping how Americans, in particular, have been overly receptive to issues of character and less attentive to more critical issues of policy formation, in the crucible of current circumstantial events. People would rather cling to some indefensible opinion of the man than explore the interleaved nuances of public necessity and private interest that we call politics. [Perhaps, volume III will draw our attention better to the stories we ought to read, of American public values processes!]

Review by Nan Kilar and Bob Miller

A homecoming of sorts, as much for Clinton as his readers---it's a weaving together of philosophy, religion, sex, and a deep love of country. Book was not what I expected, but in a word it was, compelling. Mr. Clinton explains the stress in those years in a manner that leaves the Clinton gang, I'm sure, wanting less compassion for those who tried their best to destroy him and his family. That's the difference between a politician, any politician, and a human being. I too felt stress in those years. It was impossible to find employees--everyone who wanted a job had one. Even more stressful was what to do with the huge surplus of money in our national treasury. Then there was that fulltime worry about Bill's sex life. That wouldn't have been an issue for me had I had a sex life. Then there was all that training and money we were spending on our armed forces who were not out there earning their keep invading oil rich countries so the likes of Exxon-Mobil and Halliburton could exploit their natural resources. Life has been worry free for me during the Bush years. It's the minorities and middle income whites who are doing the worrying now--about things like where to bury their war dead, employment and paying the bills. I confess, I'm not sure how these people are going to handle the national debt with me getting a tax cut and them without a job. But Mr. Bush said not to worry. What a relief! I'm Bob Miller, a registered Republican.

I would have liked to see him actually comment on the issues instead of list them

As someone who has written a lot about Bill Clinton over the years I was disappointed by his book. This was a chance for him to set the record straight on both the good and bad in his administration and he did neither. He talks about a lot of the issues but not how he approached them. He talks about what his administration looked at but not what he did and did not solve. He allows Yassir Arafat to get off completely free for his rejection of the Clinton plan the book is very well written and is still worth reading if nothing else to understand Clinton's perspective on what happened but overall it could have been far more enlightening.

A great book from a great president

As a Clinton Democrat, I grew up with issues like Social Security and welfare in my mind. I found out more about Clinton from this book then watching him for the last 14 years on TV. Clinton uses easy to understand words yet at some points he uses more complicated rhetoric. A fun book to read and will test what you know about Clinton's term in office.