Customer Reviews

Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

I was a big Clinton supporter for many years. I even voted for him in both elections. After I saw how recklessly he behaved with that young intern and how quickly he was prepared to ruin her life with a major smear campaign (until of course the blue dress was found), I decided to look more closely at this man who had fooled so many people. I've read many books -- both from the Left and from the Right, but this book paints the most accurate picture of a President who many years from today the High Schools will be teaching how one selfish, con-man put his own self-interests before his country and how he placed this great land in the high-risk state it finds itself at the moment.

Lowry dissects the feel-good Clintons and exposes the rot at the core of their administration - the after effects of which we are still feeling in this country today (9/11, thank you Janet Reno!). Lowry does a thorough job of examining and revealing the dark underbelly of Teflon Bill and Hillary's creepy reign. A refreshing alternative to the usual portrayal of Clinton as martyr and greatest president we ever had (right). Hard to argue with the facts here, scary as they may be. Liberal repetition of phony spin won't work for you anymore after you read this compelling analysis. A PAGE TURNER! Lowry writes with intelligence, insight and humor.

Why is it that the people who like this book write about it's factual basis, research, thoroughness and compellingness, and the people who supposedly don't like it write about... the people who liked it. They don't respond to any of the substance of the book, or to any of the conclusions in it. They only write generalities and sarcastic comments. And that is telling in itself.

This book is solid. Anyone who really reads it, be they conservative, moderate or liberal, will come to the calm conclusion that Clinton was not a leader. He was a man with many problems that leaked all over his job and our country.

I thought Lowry's tone was objective, well-reasoned and intelligent. While he certainly doesn't think highly of Clinton and his presidency (and he lays out those reasons in detail), he doesn't resort to generalities and name-calling. If you are at all interested in understanding recent American history and the impact that Clinton had on our country, you have to read this.

With "Legacy", author Rich Lowry takes a long, hard look at the Clinton years and comes away with an honest assessment of Clinton's Presidency, free of the grating hyperbole that scars books by Clinton's admirers and detractors. In fact, "Legacy" is probably the fairest critique of Clinton I've ever read. I say fair because Lowry never allows his personal feelings to get in the way of the way Clinton handled(or didn't handle) the issues during his tenure, a problem with many Conservative looks at Clinton. It may be the first serious look at his Presidency, as books such as "The Natural" by Joe Klien and "The Clinton Wars" by Sid Bluementhal, widely considered the "best" of the Clinton defenders, fall apart trying to prove a conclusion that they have reached but facts don't hold out, namely, that Clinton is a near-great President. This is obviously not true. Lowry avoids calling him the worst, and comes to his conclusions on Clinton's Presidency after all of his research is done.

As editor of National Review, Lowry may be seen as a Clinton-hater by some partisans, but when reading the book that simply doen't come across. What Lowry shows, in a fast-paced and informative way, is that Clinton was a low-tier President who seemed so obsessed with his own Legacy that he failed to make any important decisions and who was simply lucky to hold office during one of the best periods of growth in American history. Lowry puts the lie to the claim that Clinton ecomonic packages, most famously his 1993 "stimulus", were the cause of the growth of the 1990's. He gives Clinton credit for standing out of the way of the economy. He also quite convincingly proves that Clinton's longest lasting impact will be his failurs to act decisively against the growing threat of Al-Qaida. It's facinating to read Clinton's own advisors talk about how they dropped the ball.

"Legacy" does not seek to indict Bill Clinton as a traitor or a criminal or anything other than what it concludes he was: a caretaker president who's inaction has already caused us greater harm than anything positive his apologists claim he did. For an informative read, pick up "Legacy".

There's no better book on the Clinton presidency than this one by National Review editor Rich Lowry, an outstanding writer and smart political analyst. Conservatives have written a lot about Clinton, but Legacy may in fact provide the last word. And don't you love that red-letter "A" on the front cover?

Read this book and youll have a much better understanding of the Clinton years. Clintons critics now have one volume that compiles his many deficiencies. Those on the fence will find this book convincing. Legacy will cause second thoughts for Clintons supporters.

Rich Lowry divides his book into three parts: domestic policy, scandals, and foreign policy. Clintons biggest claim to fame is that he presided over record prosperity. The claim is that Clintons tax increases reduced the deficit, resulting in a reduction in interest rates and an economic expansion. Lowry points out that the expansion was well underway before Clinton took office. Annual $200 billion deficits were predicted well after the tax increase. Interest rates actually increased after the tax increase. What helped Clinton most was the business cycle. Besides good timing (the downturn was starting just as he left office) Clinton deserves credit for supporting free trade and cooperating with a Republican Congress (which he unintentionally put in power) in his second term.

Clintons main scandals were Whitewater, his perjury about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and his fundraising scandal. Lowry leaves little doubt about Clintons guilt. Clintons own lawyer admitted that reasonable people could consider Clinton guilty of serious charges. Lowry makes several interesting points about what saved Clinton: (1) he was very experienced in running a cover-up; and (2) by the mid-1990s there was a substantial constituency that supported offences related to sex. Indeed, the one area where Clinton was bold was the pursuit of adultery.

The worst part of Clintons legacy was foreign policy. He did very little about Saddam Hussein or al Qaeda. When dealing with terrorists or dangerous regimes his military policy seemed to be Thou shall not kill. Unfortunately, terrorists did not reciprocate. They were emboldened by Clintons unwillingness to take serious action. Now his successor has to deal with unpleasant realities that Clinton put off to avoid taking risks.

Some minor criticisms are in order: In his Troopergate story David Brock made it plain that he was quoting a state trooper; if his quote was wrong it was the trooper who was at fault. Lowry should have realized this when he later mentions that Jones sued the trooper for defamation. In covering the scandals Lowry should have mentioned that Clintons Justice Department harassed The American Spectator on the basis of unreliable evidence. Lowry may be wrong in thinking that Clintons removal from office would have helped the Democrats in 2000. While this would have given Al Gore a head start, it also would have caused a great deal of recriminations among Democrats.

These complaints are quibbles. Overall, this is a fine book. Readers shouldnt overlook the Notes section. Its about 100 pages and has lots of interesting material.

I've written a 5 star review before, so I won't comment on the book anymore. But I feel somewhat compelled to express my utter disgust with those one star reviewers who do not criticize the book on a fact-basis, but rather lash out in cold, unqualified hatred against anyone who dares to look at the situation objectively. The comparisons they make are scary, insulting, and have absolutely nothing to do with what is written in the book. There is a complete lack of basic respect for those of us who like this book. What's more is that the tone of these reviews suggests that most one star folks haven't even made a serious attempt to read it and understand it.

One-star folks, you scare me: the country was run by a bunch of you, and was heading for disaster until the current administration saved it. You don't even have to read this book to see this - just open your eyes and start watching/reading something other than ABC News and/or The New York Times.

For the record: I am not in any way affiliated with the author, nor with any of the "official" supporters that were named. I am not even American, even though I live here. I love America, and I think Americans are generally wonderful, generous people. What the country needs now is to take a serious, mature, and careful look at the disaster that has unfolded in the 1990s, and make sure that nothing similar is ever permitted to happen again. This administration clearly represents American values, as contrasted with the one subjected to such thoughtful analysis in Mr. Lowry's excellent book.

Dissent isn't treason, it is healthy and required these days. The blind consent demanded by those on the radical Left, on the other hand, is what supported Hitler in Nazi Germany. Blind consent is what you are giving, one-star folks. Stop it!

Lowry has obviously read a ton of books about Clinton - he knows the inside story on pretty much any Clinton issue or scandal.
Think Clinton was responsible for the booming economy of the 1990s? Nope - the recover was underway before he even was elected. Think he erased the deficit? Wrong - gushing tax revenues did that, and a Republican Congress that imposed a slim veneer of fiscal discipline. Think he was serious about "reforming welfare as we know it?" Think again - he signed that bill only because he thought it was necessary for his reelection, and then he vowed to supporters that he'd fix it, though he never did. Think he was an innocent victim of a vast right-wing conspiracy? Hah - he brought all his troubles on himself and has no one else to blame. Think he was tough on crime? Hardly - he nominated a clueless Janet Reno attorney general, the Queen of the Bunny Planet. Think he helped bring peace to the Middle East? Not even close - he strengthened Arafat, whose refusal to accept generous concessions from Israel led to the current bloodshed. Think he cared about the people of Africa? Not so fast - he not only did nothing to stop the genocide in Rwanda, his administration actively opposed any UN effort to send more troops there.
What's most effective about Lowry's indictments are his temperament and sources. No rabid Clinton-hater (not, of course, that there's anything wrong with that), his tone is more of a sober, serious, and grown-up accounting of all that was wrong with Clinton and his presidency. It's not an hysterical, rabid, slobbering at the mouth rant. And his best digs come from Clinton sympathizers and former employees, which lends even more legitimacy to the book.
After reading this, it's fairly obvious that for a man who worked long hours into the night, Clinton was a lazy president - he preferred talking about tough issues to actually doing something about them. He avoided any action, no matter how justified, necessary, or right, that he thought might cost him a dip in the polls, while taking action only on issues that he thought would help him politically, or were just easier, like school uniforms and the V-chip.
Because of that, one could almost conclude Clinton was an inconsequential president, except for one major issue: terrorism. By treating it as a law enforcement issue, he essentially washed his hands of it and left it to the Justice Department to track down terrorists, a task for which the department was not prepared. As a result, Osama and his cohorts had free rein to kill Americans all over the world, until finally the country woke up to the war we were in on September 11, 2001. Clinton knew Osama was a threat, yet other than bombing empty buildings and deserted training camps, he did nothing. That would be difficult, you see, a distraction from his important work of pardoning rich fugitives and getting Hillary elected to the Senate.
It was often said that Clinton lacked core convictions, but Lowry shows he did indeed have those. What he lacked was the courage to act on them unless they were politically expedient.
As for the writing, it's excellent. Fluid, interesting, easy to understand, and leavened with light touches of humor. For a political book, it's enjoyable reading.
Lowry understands Clinton. If you are willing and able to do the same, then read this book. You'll be the better for it.

This book is the most lucid of works thus far on Bill Clinton: his record, his policies, his failings, and the psychology that brought them to fruition. Hard core Clinton supporters will not be able to dismiss this sober analysis as the merely the work of a "Clinton Hater", which Lowry unequivocably (and accurately) asserts that he is not. This book will escort different minded readers to different kinds of conclusions. It will convince readers who are open-minded and undecided at this juncture about Clinton that his legacy consisted specifically of frilly pronouncements, very little substance, and no principle; it will force those who continue to lionize Clinton as "one of our greatest presidents" to cling to arguments that are either irrational or discredited; and for those with right of center politics, it will further substantiate what you already know about Clinton and prepare you for the forthcoming typhoon of spin that will undoubtedly accompany Hillary Clinton's run for the Presidency. A must read indeed.

This book is unquestionably one of THE best books to chronicle the Clinton years. Place it under the nose of every liberal you know. They will not be able to refute the cold, hard, objective facts that continue page after page.

Bravo, Mr. Lowry! I absolutely loved this book. The writing is nothing short of brilliant.

Be assured, the one-star "reviewers" couldn't possibly have read it.