Leading with My Heart [Mass Market Paperback]

Virgina Kelly (Author), James Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

The president's late mother describes her struggles as an underprivileged youth in Arkansas, her marriage to five men, including an alcoholic Roger Clinton, and her efforts to be a good mother to ambitious Bill and cocaine-dealing Roger. Reprint. NYT.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1946 when Virginia Kelley was six months pregnant with the future U.S. president, her husband, William ("Bill") Jefferson Blythe III, newly returned from the WW II Army, was killed in a car crash. Bill Clinton, who legally took his stepfather's name, mythologized the father he never knew, but he also loved his physically and verbally abusive, alcoholic, gambling stepfather Roger ("Dude"), whom Virginia was to divorce and then remarry because she felt sorry for him. In her highly candid, moving autobiography written with freelancer Morgan, the president's late mother, who died in January, comes across as outspoken, spunky, impulsive and tough. She discusses her hot-tempered, morphine-addicted mother whom she committed to a mental hospital for seven months, her four husbands and her anti-monopoly lawsuit as a nurse anesthetist against the Arkansas medical establishment which she accuses of forcing her out of the profession. She also reveals her "tough love" for her cocaine-abusing son Roger, her initial dislike of Hillary Rodham and her struggle with cancer. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to Good Housekeeping; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club featured alternates.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

If Bill Clinton is the "Comeback Kid," then his mother, Virginia Kelley, must have been the original inspiration. In her frank memoir, Kelley (who died soon after completing this book) tells of the many heartbreaks in her life, including the sudden death of her first husband when she was pregnant with Bill, her second husband's alcoholism, her battles with the local medical establishment, son Roger's drug conviction, and so on. Most important to her were, of course, her sons, but her work as a self-employed nurse-anesthetist and her loyal network of friends sustained her. Filled with salty good humor (she would have been great plugging this book on the talk shows), Kelley had as much to be proud of in the way she lived her own life as she did in her older son's accomplishments. Highly recommended for public libraries.
Pamela R. Daubenspeck, Warren-Trumbull Cty P.L., Warren, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671522957
• ISBN-13: 978-0671522957
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Clinton, Bill