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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hail to John Gartner for a Psychologically Sophisticated Analysis, December 10, 2008
This review is from: In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography (Hardcover)
"In Search of Bill Clinton" was the most elucidating, intriguing and insightful analysis I have ever heard about our former President. I was hooked from the first page and could barely put it down. While I never thought of Clinton in the terms presented by Gartner, after reading his book I will forever think of Clinton in terms of the framework Gartner provided. This is a whole new way of understanding Bill Clinton that takes us well beyond the over simplified, pop psychology analyses suggesting that Clinton simply suffers from a sex addiction or the morally self-righteous judgments that merely accuse him of suffering from "bad" character. Instead Gartner suggests that Clinton has a hypomanic temperament which is an innate personality orientation characterized by extremely high levels of energy, optimism, creativity, charisma and exuberance (please note that a hypomanic temperament should not to be confused with a hypomanic episode which is a limit limited and mildly disturbed mental state). He goes on to explain that this temperament is combined with 3 (of 5) core dimensions of personality that Clinton happens to possess in extreme abundance; intellectual curiosity, empathy and extrovertness (by the way, the statistical probability of anyone s having these 3 dimensions in such abundance is one in quadrillion). In addition to this, Clinton is an intellectual genius with an IQ that is off the charts. His brilliance (which is further facilitated by having a photographic memory), his hypomanic temperament, and his remarkably high levels of intellectual curiosity, empathy and extrovertness are innate and remarkable parts of the man who overcame formidable odds to become our 42nd president. But the fun doesn't stop there. Gartner went on to contextualize these innate dimensions of Clinton's personality by unfolding his family history and the specific family dynamics that that underpin both the best and the worst of the Bill Clinton we have observed.
While Gartner's ideas are fascinating, what I really appreciated was the systematic way that he unfolded his ideas and provided rich and extensive data to support his suppositions. This data was obtained from multiple sources including extensive interviews that he conducted with over 80 people (it's an impressive list and even more impressive that he was able to get people to open up to him in such candid and revealing ways). I felt the greatest respect for Gartner's rigorous research methods, keen powers of observation, critical thinking skills, and analytical insights.
I also appreciated Gartner's style of writing which was clear, articulate and authentic. I felt his personhood throughout. He was never just a "distant observer" somewhere off behind a curtain reporting his material. Instead I was refreshingly aware of his presence throughout and it lent an air of credibility and genuineness to the book. Of course, Gartner is a psychologist, and I can see how these credentials greatly facilitated his work. He deconstructs his subject with a probing eye, yet at all times he treats Clinton with empathy and respect. As a therapist myself, I think he has conducted himself with the highest standard of professional excellence.
I found myself wondering throughout my reading, and especially after finishing it, if Clinton has read this book. I hope so, because what Gartner provides is worth more than a decade of intensive psychotherapy. As it quite evident here, I highly recommend this book. I think it makes a unique and illuminating contribution to understanding our 42nd President, and it demonstrates why psychological biographies make for fascinating reading.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Flawed Genius Uncovered, March 5, 2009
This review is from: In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography (Hardcover)
This is an utterly stunning analysis of perhaps our brightest and yet most flawed President -- performed by now one our most impressive Psychoanalysts. In this book, Professor John D. Gartner, lays a psychoanalytic trap that is so clever, so compelling that it ensnares Bill Clinton and his "significant others" into a paradigm that is as clear and convincing as it is at the very frontier of psycho-historical analysis itself. With great skill, clarity, sensitivity, and a rich and convincing set of data based on interviews of those who knew the Clinton family best - from Hope, Arkansas all the way to Africa -- Professor Gartner demonstrates how our 42nd President drops off the scale in two directions at once: That is to say, on both the high end of the intelligence scale, and the low end of the scale of moral and social and sexual impulsiveness.
The excavated structural theme which the author carefully integrates into a compelling narrative, which he then builds into an even more compelling psychological paradigm, involves three elements: (1) Gartner's professional judgment that both Bill and his mother Virginia were "hypomanics;" (2) the fact that Bill was separated from his mother for two critically formative years (from the ages of 2-4), and that he grew up in a dysfunctional family trapped between two powerful and sexually promiscuous but warring women, both of whose behavior served as Bill's unconscious models; and both of whom demanded (and gave) implicitly, total love and loyalty.
With hypomania providing the structural or genetic psychological predisposition towards impulsiveness, and with both his mother and his grandmother providing the unconscious raw materials for "acting it out," the young Bill Clinton internalized, and integrated into his personality, a flawed paradigm of life that included impulsiveness, sexual and otherwise, and an inability to check and regulate, or otherwise over come, the defects of his genetic wiring. The sad paradox is that hypomanics tend to exaggerate the very manic traits that made President Clinton a wildly successful President, a compassionate but insecure extroverted politician, and a morally flawed "Arkansas Redneck."
Being a fan of Clinton himself (as I am), Professor Gartner did not take the "low road" and try to either finesse, deny or immunize himself against being "sucked in" by a charming "uber bright" subject who the author admitted was one of his own heroes. In fact, rather bravely, the author submitted himself to a revealing "counter-transference" analysis of his own which he discusses in the book. Tragically, he was unable to interview the ex-President himself and a lack of such an interview (as the author well knows) leaves a gapping hole in the analysis. However except for this one omission, this analysis, this writing, and the skillful interviewing, are all first-rate.
On a personal note, as a member of Bill Clinton's foreign policy transition team and an expert in Arms Control, I was asked to cover his first briefing on arms control before the National Press Club. My job was to record any errors or mistakes Clinton might make in what was obviously an arcane and difficult subject, so that they could later be corrected in future presentations. Needless to say, for two hours and without a single note card, Mr. Clinton held the entire group spellbound. And without missing a beat, he covered the arms control waterfront with no flaws or mistakes, giving one of the most impressive presentations I have ever seen given by anyone. Even in the area where I was considered the reigning expert and intellect, Clinton knew "my brief" better than I did. I was then, and still am, blown away by that single performance. This window into the mind of the only Presidential genius since Thomas Jefferson is revealing and impressive.
Five stars
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read, but bad ending, November 28, 2008
This review is from: In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography (Hardcover)
I just finished reading this book. I was hooked from the very first page. The author was veyr thorough in his research of Bill Clinton, delving into his inner life through extensive interviews with Clinton's hometown as well as public figures that worked with the former president in his political life. He also carefully combs through the memoirs and letters and biographies of people in Clinton's life, as well as Clinton himself, to map out Clinton's psychological profile.
I saw a different side to Clinton through the author's eyes.
The reason that I don't rate this book 5 stars, though, is that in the final chapter, when the author flies out to meet Clinton in Africa, the book becomes excessive, with the author writing in almost hushed, worshipful tones of Clinton; he even claims that Clinton "glowed". It was too much.
The rest of the book, though was an easy read.
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