Customer Reviews

The Clinton Charisma: A Legacy of Leadership

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For too long, too many on both the right, and the ultra far left have accused Bill Clinton of political cowardess, that he was a panderer, that he did tihngs for political expediency. This book finally ends the myth. Most of the things Clinton did as President were NOT politically convenient. They were risky costly items, as the book mentions. Examples include the bill which ended the deficit in 1993, which passed with 51-50 thanks to Al Gore. It was many Democrats who cowered into a corner on that. His decision to fight Bin Laden was brave as well, considered Republicans accused him of "wagging the dog". Notice how Bin Laden didn't get us in the US until Clinton was gone. Bill Clinton was a leader, to win the popular vote twice, unlike George W Bush and his father.

I thought this book made some fantastic points about Clinton's leadership that was often overshadowed by scandal. He did in fact have a proven record of accomplishment while in office, and did show strong leadership in many key areas. However, there were quite a few factual errors throughout the book that cause me to give it only 4 stars. For example,the end the book notes that Hilary Clinton took the Senate seat once held by Al D'amato; that is not the case, she held the seat once held by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The book also cites a speech that Clinton gave in 1994 celebrating the passage of NAFTA; NAFTA was actually passed in 1993. A few research corrections and this book would've been a 5 star.