My Life by Bill Clinton

Clinton, Bill. My Life. New York: Knopf, 2004

Speeches of contemporary politicians -- particularly presidents who must at least strive to please all of the American public, all of the time -- tend to be formulaic and laden with cliches. However, the medium of the retrospective (as opposed to election year) presidential memoir holds for the reader the tantalizing possibility that the unfolding narrative may reveal the secret details and private speculations of an otherwise public individual, who has been a witness to history. Bill Clinton was legendary for his charismatic relationship with the American public, as well as his verbosity. On sheer heft alone, his 957-page tome My Life promises that the former president can command a platform in print even more lengthy than his legendary 1988 Democratic Platform speech that was so long the only line that drew applause was "In Conclusion." However, does Clinton's famous Rhode Scholar intellect play out equally well in prose as it often, but not always, did in person?

The answer is, surprisingly yes. For a lengthy presidential memoir, My Life is fairly short on self-praise and puffery, and unlike the aforementioned 1988 speech (treated with great humor by the author) the text moves surprisingly quickly, despite its long length. The most interesting sections of the book are perhaps the early chapters, which deal Clinton's inspiring struggles as a young man determined to succeed, despite the poverty of his circumstances and an abusive, alcoholic stepfather. They provide revealing insight into Clinton's policies, such as his popularity with African-Americans, as well as the difficulties of the administration, such as the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Clinton's anxiousness to please and to be self-critical did not always stand him in good stead while in office -- he admits his administration made many mistakes, such as his foreign policy waffling in Serbia and Rwanda -- but what made his administration less than perfect, such as the Clinton 'woman problem' and the 'waffling problem' only enhances this president's value as an entertaining and candid author and a perceptive and surprisingly objective analyst of his own life and politics.