Highwire: From the Backwoods to the Beltway - The Education of Bill Clinton [Hardcover]

John Brummett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994

A columnist for The Arkansas Democrat Gazette and longtime observer of President Clinton offers a critical analysis of his personality and political style, as seen in his handling--or mishandling--of the issues of his first term. 10,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Brummett, who has covered Clinton for 20 years, is the second journalist from the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette to present a fascinating, controversial study of Bill Clinton. He views Clinton's career much more sympathetically than Meredith Oakley (On the Make, LJ 7/94) and, unlike Oakley, relates Clinton's presidency to his performance as a progressive Arkansas governor. Brummett portrays Clinton as precariously balanced on a highwire between public expectations and the limited amount of trust granted to a president who received only 43 percent of the vote. Writing in an informative, entertaining, and insightful style that surpasses Bob Woodward's The Agenda (S.& S., 1994), he describes the president's failures (the economic stimulus bill, gays in the military) and successes (the bipartisan 1993 budget adoption and NAFTA). Clinton's performance has been marred by some ineffective officials, his desire to please everyone, and the omnipresent character issue. However, Bill Clinton may yet reinvent himself into a successful two-term president. The best book to date on Clinton's presidency; highly recommended for public libraries.
--Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The author is an Arkansas Democrat Gazette political columnist who met Clinton 18 years ago and has covered him for a decade and a half. Brummett views Clinton's first year in Washington as "an action-adventure story" and Clinton as "a public work-in-progress." Four burning questions, the author argues, will define the fate of this presidency: whether Clinton can demonstrate his personal credibility, achieve success in ending gridlock, prove that he is a "new Democrat," and achieve and maintain peace and prosperity. With dozens of examples from both Little Rock and Washington, Brummett displays many Clintons, some admirable ("talented, well-meaning, and accomplished public servant; traditional liberal and civil libertarian; pragmatic centrist; compassionate private person"); others disturbing ("an insecure, overgrown boy; a man utterly devoid of personal discipline; a self-absorbed, hot-tempered, calculating, manipulative politician"). The historical perspective Brummett supplies on this very powerful "man of awesome talent and troubling personal weakness" is the book's strength. Expect requests. Mary Carroll

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Books; 1st edition (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786860464
• ISBN-13: 978-0786860463
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,293,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A look at the first year of Bill Clintons presidency, December 28, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Leeper "kem2070" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Highwire: From the Backwoods to the Beltway - The Education of Bill Clinton (Hardcover)

John Brummett is (was?) a journalist for one of the Arkansas papers. He covered Clinton as a governor and wrote this book to give others some perspective on the figure of Bill Clinton. This particular book was written while Clinton was serving his first year in office as president.

Does the book offer anything new? In 1993 or 1994, it did. The author discusses the different issues that arose for the Clinton presidency and gives some explanation on what happened. He then puts Clinton's handling of the issue into perspective based on what he knows of Clinton in Arkansas. By reading the book, you see that Brummett does not seem to be surprised by anything he saw that first year.

He does not cover Clinton's childhood; this book is not really a biography in that sense. It is merely an explanation of the first year in the White House. Would I recommend reading the book? Only if you were doing a research project on Clinton. This could give you some insights. Otherwise, After watching Clinton for eight years, you probably already have an idea of how Clinton handles political issues.