Books reviews, current events, and other musings

 

There were a couple of reasons why Bill Clinton’s memoirs interested me. After reading multiple accounts of the Clinton Presidency, I wanted to hear what the man at center of everything had to say. Also, now that Bill has no more elections to worry about, except for Hillary’s, he could be more open about what he really thought and felt.

Unfortunately, Clinton’s politician persona wrote My Life, saying positive things about most people while minimizing conflict and anger. That approach was a vital part of his amazingly successful political career, but the absence of conflict sucks the life out of a narration.

Many of his colleagues have discussed how Clinton compartmentalizes different parts of his personality, letting his personal life, executive leadership, and public speech follow disconnected tracks. Clinton attributes that compartmentalization to growing up with an abusive stepfather while maintaining a positive and upbeat public image. However, excising his negative feelings leads to my vaguely unsatisfied and incomplete reaction to his speeches and writings. As one manifestation, though Clinton describes his love for his mother, his brother, Hillary, and others, only his affection towards Chelsea feels genuine.

The first part of My Life, which dealt with Clinton’s childhood, was the least interesting portion. Things pick up once he went off to college, as he revealed the education of Bill Clinton and dropped the names of acquaintances who would later become important. Clinton isn’t a sufficiently skilled writer to make Arkansas politics sound exciting, but few people are. If you’re bored at first, you can skip ahead until he becomes President without missing that much.

Despite Clinton’s reputation has a policy wonk, he avoids policy deliberations when describing his actions as governor and President. For example, as governor Clinton was one of the founders of the Democratic Leadership Council, which pushed the Democratic Party in a centrist direction. Clinton doesn’t elucidate the ways in which he agrees or disagrees with more liberal views, and doesn’t explain whether his difference were philosophical or strategic. Nor does he describe the internal conflicts among the Democrats, as the DLC challenged the traditional Democratic platform.

Clinton’s description of his Presidency covered familiar ground, but provided a broader perspective than most books about the Clinton years. He had some major successes, such as eliminating the deficit, creating 20+ million jobs, increasing the EITC, and fighting impeachment. He spends a while discussing his efforts to foster peace in Northern Ireland and in Israel, two subjects the media neglected and which I ought to read more about.

Still, the highlight of the memoirs was seeing how he dealt with failure. Unlike our current President, Clinton admits some mistakes, though he frames them in a flattering way. For example, Clinton regrets neglecting his gut reaction against storming the Branch Davidian compound. He blames the 1994 Democratic losses, in part, on taking on too much in his first term and on focusing on policy accomplishments instead of communication.

Clinton explains Whitewater World, as he calls it, in which groundless charges led to endless investigations. Kenneth Starr receives some of his most harsh criticism. Clinton again expresses regret over his inappropriate behavior with Monica Lewinsky and demolishes the Republican who tried to impeach him over it. By interweaving his actual Presidential duties with the Whitewater World craziness, Clinton emphasizes how inconsequential the scandals were.

The other memoirs I’ve read of the Clinton years – by James Carville, Robert Reich, George Stephanopoulos, and Sidney Blumenthal – were all better written and more captivating than Clinton’s. He can’t overcome his political temperament and provide the conflict, frustration, anger, tension, and other juicy emotions that can grab the reader. Still, since a fair and balanced account of Bill Clinton won’t come along for a long time, there’s definite value in hearing his perspective.