In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography (Hardcover)

~ John Gartner (Author)
Key Phrases: deep throat, birthday club, hypomanic energy, Bill Clinton, White House, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The language of clinical psychology can convey detachment—or, as in this starstruck study of the 42nd president, gushing admiration. Deploying his trademark diagnosis, Johns Hopkins psychologist Gartner (The Hypomanic Edge) pegs Clinton as a hypomanic personality with boundless energy and charisma, but prone to impulsive appetites and lapses in judgment. The author attributes much of Clinton's psyche to genes (many inherited, he argues, from an illegitimate father he tentatively identifies), but he also embraces Freudian notions: Clinton's relationships with women, Gartner contends, follow a pattern established in childhood when he felt torn between his bossy, Hillaryesque grandmother and his lushly erotic, Monica-like mother. Gartner sometimes overreaches—We can almost see Clinton going through the stages of his relationship with [stepfather] Roger in his approach to Bosnia—but his analysis of Clinton's political talents, right down to his mesmerizing facial expressions while on receiving lines, yields intriguing insights. The author himself unabashedly surrenders to Clinton's magnetism and genius intellect: [H]e has been walking in the footsteps of moral giants, Gartner rhapsodizes about Clinton during an AIDS-relief junket, comparing him to Jesus as a healer of the sick. Nevertheless, Gartner reminds us why this complex figure still fascinates. 17 pages of b&w photos. (Oct.)
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From School Library Journal

Gartner (psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medical Sch.) focused his previous book, The Hypomanic Edge, through a biographical-historical lens, on the mild form of mania that he believes can fuel outsized achievement in business, politics, and other fields. His new book is a single case study in hypomania, as for two years Gartner immersed himself in the life of Bill Clinton, reading the literature, interviewing dozens of friends and associates, and following the former President through Africa on a visit for Clinton's AIDS foundation. Like other biographers, Gartner finds that the dysfunctional family dynamics of Clinton's childhood explain a great deal, although many particulars and certainly the conclusion that Clinton is a moral hero differ from two earlier psychological studies, Paul Fick's The Dysfunctional President and Jerome Levin's The Clinton Syndrome. While some readers may consider reductive such observations as our Bosnia policy being a restaging of Clinton's relationship with his stepfather, all will be interested in details like Gartner's detective work that he believes has identified Clinton's actual biological father, and most will find the book an engaging combination of the clinical and the personal. Recommended for public libraries; optional for academic libraries.—Bob Nardini, Nashville
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031236976X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312369767
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #595,179 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hail to John Gartner for a Psychologically Sophisticated Analysis, December 10, 2008

By	Tracey A. Laszloffy - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, but bad ending, November 28, 2008

By	Harumi Kawamura - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the bill clinton i know and knew, February 15, 2009

By	William F Harrison (Fayetteville, AR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I met bill clinton one evening in the early fall of 1974 at hermon's ribhouse in fayetteville, arkansas when hillary introduced my wife and me to him. After this, we became fast friends and after the campaign for the house ended in nov of that year, we spent many evenings in each others company, conversation and friendship. It was not long before all of us who knew bill and hillary back then were charmed, not only by his personality and atractiveness, but by his incredible intelligense, curiosity and sensitivity. And as the author describes, he seemed to radiate an aura of really caring about you and your feelings and your concerns. This was shortly after roe v wade, and while it would be another 10 years before i would become "the local abortionist" in Fayetteville, he picked my brain about where i stood on the subject and why. Years later, after he became governor, and my staff, my patients, my famly and I came under under massive attack by antiabortion militants and my office was firebombed, I was very disappointed in Bill for not taking a firm stand in support of me and the patients who sought my care. It was not until he was running for president that he came out publically on the "Pro-Choice" side, though everyone in arkansas knew where he stood. But as Gartner describes hm, he never wanted to offend even those who hated him until he absolutely had to do so. And when he did have to, he took the most mildmannered approach he could. Safe, legal and rare. Which I thought he should have made safe, legal and rarely needed. But I still think Bill Clinton is one of the most empathetic, intelligent, caring, charming persons i am likely to meet in my lifetime. And except for the GRWC, could have been one of our greatest presidnets.