Customer Reviews

For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Many of the details of For Love of Politics are well known - Whitewater, Paula Jones, Vince Foster, health care - but the author's intention is, I think, an attempt to understand and explain the complex relationship between Bill and Hillary Clinton. The stories and anecdotes reveal a study in contrasts - Bill's smoothness to Hillary's steel, Bill's talking to Hillary's planning, Bill's meandering to Hillary's focus.

I do not view this book as yet another in an endless litany of either hit piece or campaign propoganda. Despite the length, anyone familiar with the Clintons can read this book very quickly. The stories are familiar, but the perspective is unique.

This book will not get Hillary elected, but it won't keep her out of the White House either. Love her or hate her, Hillary Clinton may very well be the next president of the United States, and it would do well for everyone to understand her better. This book is an attempt to do that, and for that it has my recommendation.

While there may not be much that's new here, the author has cut through the clutter and managed to show a juxtaposition of the couple. She shows how together they make the whole in a political partnership. You'll see how Hillary and Bill are each very different. But when placed together, they are a powerful unit that's almost unstoppable.

We learn that he almost always turned to her for advice in all matters while in the White House and wouldn't, or couldn't, make a move without her. So, in reality, she has made those decisions and had that experience.

The book is fascinating in that it looks inside the marriage as a powerful partnership that, despite its famous flaws, works beyond the wildest dreams of most people. They've made it work for their common goal. (This is not a political statement and as a reviewer, I'm not commenting on my own political beliefs. This review is only my evaluation of this particular book.)

A fascinating read.

This book traces the history of the Clintons from the time they first ran for president through their second term in office. The book was well researched and presented the history very well.

While reading this book, I had to keep nudging myself and asking, is this the same woman who is now running for president of the United States? Has everyone forgotten her past and what happened when she was in the White House the first time. Doesn't this matter? Why is none of this history ever mentioned in the press? I have heard it said that everyone knows Hillary's past and dismisses it, but what about those who were in grade school at the time of the Clinton's previous presidency? Were they aware at the time of what was happening?

Every person who wonders whether they should vote for Hllary should read this book, get informed and then cast their vote.

What a surprise For Love of Politics was. I bought it as an alternative to the recent works Her Way and the one penned by Carl Bernstein. I hoped that it would be more objective than those two publications and I was not disappointed. This is an excellent history and happens to be one of the few books in my life that I could not put down.

As for the author, before purchasing my copy I knew nothing about her. Indeed, I had never heard of Mrs. Bedell Smith before. All her bio online tells us is that she is a biographer who works at Vanity Fair. The endorsements listed on the back cover come from mainstream media sources like the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, and The Washington Post so, upon receiving it in the mail, I was a little worried that the analysis would be slanted. I am pleased to report that my fears were unwarranted as For Love of Politics gives off no odor of bias whatsoever. Indeed, these chapters are bathed in neutrality. Clinton supporters might not like this but if justice offends then one must examine oneself.

As a conservative who has read five or six rightist accounts of the Clintons, I can quickly grasp from what side of the political spectrum commentary comes; although, here I had no idea. Even after devouring all 450 of these pages, I am as befuddled in regards to what Mrs. Bedell Smith thinks as I was when I first opened it. I can think of no higher compliment to bestow upon a historian than saying that they are above political manipulation which Mrs. Bedell Smith definitely seems to be. Her evaluation of these primary source materials (original sources) was compulsively fair which is also true of the narrative on aggregate.

The real art here is that she allows the Clintons to tell their own story...but what a story! The tale remains timely as Hillary may well be our next president. For Love of Politics was entertaining but incredibly educational as well. Old time students of the Clintons will learn new things and neophytes will have a chance to get beyond the soundbytes that saturated the two terms of our 42nd President. In my humble opinion, this is a must read.

The author has done a very good job of getting you into life within "Clinton Inc" during their heyday, at least as she has been able to explain it after an exhaustive amount of research.
It was an extremely interesting read. And though several negative aspects were covered, the book wasn't a political hit piece that you'd expect from a partisan shock jock.
Yes, the Clintons are smart, talented and have a real gift for politics, but... and it's a big but... their weaknesses (especially Bill's) are equally impacting. A lot of it stems from the fact that they are just people with human failings like the rest of us. As the book delves into various happenings I found myself reflecting on how I might have reacted or felt the same way that Bill did in certain political circumstances. But the most damaging mistakes and hang-ups all seem to relate to their very narcissistic personalities.
People friendly with and close to the Clintons admitted in this book that "It was always about them". It (and many NY Times and Washington Post stories from the time) are full of examples of that. It strongly reminded me of the "Clinton fatigue" of the late 90's. I couldn't see the Clintons on the news in those years (and I didn't follow politics at the time) without thinking that every word and gesture was the result of carefully considered techniques for masking a much less appealing reality, or putting the false front of an orphanage or children's hospital on a house of ill repute. I was very tired of that. A lot of people were.
The biggest place where the human failings come to mind is during the Lewinski situation. Sure, adultery is nothing new, and a lot of the guys in Congress that pointed their fingers were just as guilty of it. But, Bill's adamant refusal to admit to it for so long is astounding to read about. It's damage control to the point of self destruction. And it crippled their ability to get all of the things done that they'd intended.
That was just the scandalous end of the story. The first part of the book explained a lot about Bill and Hillary's vanishing healthcare initiative. Their insistence on uncompromisingly forcing that entire plan (exactly as they had written it) down the nation's throat was its downfall.
A couple of interesting points the author made that come to my mind are- if Bill had been able to control his appetite for extramarital affairs, or simply admitted to it when charged, Al Gore would very likely be President right now. Also, Bill's unhelpful comments to the press and others about Gore during the 2000 campaign (while he was promoting his wife's Senate race) may have been intended to keep him out of the way and set up a Presidential run for Hillary (the author quoted a news story on that). Whatever the real intent, the affect was that Al Gore was seriously hindered by his boss, in several ways, and apparently his boss had no misgivings about that.

Was it all so depressing, seedy, all so sordid? That's how the Clinton years feel reading this book. Of course, most depictions of the inner workings of any White House administration make for a depressing read. But perhaps a little more effort could have been made to explain how they did not seem to mess things up so much in the Clinton years. Yes, Bill actually was a competent president.

The best part of this book, is how it shows the Clinton working together so intimately. People who think they should have gotten divorced don't really understand the complex dynamics of their relationship.

I am nearly through reading this book. It is a great read, well researched and well written.

I remembered the Clinton years well, I thought, but I had forgotten a lot of the events in this presidency, nor did I realize how deeply Hillary impacted policy at the time. I do hope voters will read and ask themselves, do we really need a repeat of the tawdry, cheesy scandals of the Clinton co-presidency? Hillary is far more disciplined than Bill, but this book reveals that she really isnt terribly effective or successful at persuading people to adopt her policies (for which we can be grateful).
And you just cant escape the notion that these two people reinforce the worst as well as the best in each other.
This book also makes it very clear that neither of them understands the nature of 'truth'...truth for the Clintons is whatever statement is convenient for them in the moment.

Sorry I am being political. I could have been a Bill Clinton voter if not for the fact of her influence over him. Bill is, for all his weaknesses, far more palatable than Hillary. I would think most people reading this book would almost nothing to admire in her.

In the past few months, I have been reading a lot about the Clintons. I wanted to know more about Hillary. After reading Carl Bernstein's "A Woman in Charge", I had a favorable impression of her, even though his account was not slanted in either direction.

This book focuses more on the Hillary and Bill Clinton's dynamic. After reading this book, it is clear that you cannot study one without the other. They are truly each other's "other half".

After reading this book, it is clear that they did run a co-presidency during Bill Clinton's 2 terms in office; and it is understandable to see why she refers to this time as the needed experience for her own presidency plans.

In fact, the impression I got from this book is that even without the Monica Lewinsky and Whitewater incidents, Bill Clinton would still not have been an effective president without Hillary at his side. She brought the discipline that he needed to put into practice his political dreams.

He on the other hand provides the political vision and spontaneity in thought, that she lacks.

The book is successful in showing that Hillary is certainly capable of being our next president, but it also makes you wonder if you really want her to be. I felt that the book was not as objective as it could have been. I have always liked Bill Clinton, but I finished this book disgusted with his sexual behavior, and with the distinct feeling that they are both so political ambitious and self-centered, they will step on anyone, say and do anything to get elected. This book did not present the facts in an objective way as Bernstein's did, but in a more negatively-slanted manner. She mentions The Drudge Report without illuminating us on its creator, she talks about Mellon Scaife without clarifying how much money he gave to feed the right-wing conspiracy that was definitely working against the Clintons; and she mentions David Brock as a source against the Clintons, without mentioning that he later wrote a book describing in detail all the lies and manipulations that were exercised in the conspiracy that Brock himself confirmed to exist.

Perhaps one of the more interesting "side effects" of this book for me, is the light it sheds on Al Gore. I had already gotten a whiff of his brilliance in Bill Clinton's autobiography, but in this book he is also shown to be a highly honorable, decent man. It once again, saddened me to reflect on how different the world would be today if he had been president these last 8 years.

I have often wondered why Al Gore has not endorsed either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. In view of what I read in this book, I don't think he would endorse Hillary; but he would probably feel he was betraying the Clintons if he endorsed Obama, and so will refrain from doing so. In the end if he does endorse Obama, it will be because he truly believes in his candidacy and not for payback to the Clintons, even though he would be quite justified in doing so.

In conclusion, reading this book has changed the way in which I view the Clintons. Although it is true that they were the victims of a right-wing conspiracy, they made many personal and political mistakes, that gravely affected the presidency. In the book someone is quoted as saying that Bill Clinton was a great president but not his presidency, and I think this is not only very accurate, but could also describe Hillary Clinton's presidency, if there's ever one.

Read Sally Bedell Smith's "For Love of Politics" and you will decide that another four or eight years of a Clinton White House will not be in the best interests of our country. The behind-the-scenes manipulations might be politics as usual - but we need to get away from that and take a more unified approach to move our country forward. This book is thoroughly researched and the facts are supported by interviews with participants: Senator Bill Bradley reflects on being told that he will be "demonized" if he fails to support the Clintons' Health Plan back in 1993. Several references to Laura Tyson suggest a flirtatious President who could have faced sexual harassment charges. Also - remember that Bill Clinton will be the unofficial Vice-President...which will lead to more negatives and Bedell Smith's book reinforces the number of faulty efforts of Bill Clinton's administration.

I watched Ms Smith on book tv talking about this book. She was giving her lecture in front of a biased group of think tank people. Hint #1
She is totally biased. She is a very good assassin and deserves whatever they paid her to write this attack piece. When a right wing think tank with board members from the health care industry invite an author to give a speech about her book....then buyer beware...DONT BUYT THIS BOOK.