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The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President Hardcover – Deckle Edge, September 29, 2009

by Taylor Branch (Author)

39 customer reviews

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A GROUNDBREAKING BOOK about the modern presidency, The Clinton Tapes invites readers into private dialogue with a gifted, tormented, resilient President of the United States. Here is what President Clinton thought and felt but could not say in public.

This book rests upon a secret project, initiated by Clinton, to preserve for future historians an unfiltered record of presidential experience. During his eight years in office, between 1993 and 2001, Clinton answered questions and told stories in the White House, usually late at night. His friend Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch recorded seventy-nine of these dialogues to compile a trove of raw information about a presidency as it happened. Clinton drew upon the diary transcripts for his memoir in 2004.

Branch recorded his own detailed recollections immediately after each session, covering not only the subjects discussed but also the look and feel of each evening with the president. The text engages Clinton from many angles. Readers hear candid stories, feel buffeting pressures, and weigh vivid descriptions of the White House settings.

Branch's firsthand narrative is confessional, unsparing, and personal. The author admits straying at times from his primary role -- to collect raw material for future historians -- because his discussions with Clinton were unpredictable and intense. What should an objective prompter say when the President of the United States seeks advice, argues facts, or lodges complaints against the press? The dynamic relationship that emerges from these interviews is both affectionate and charged, with flashes of anger and humor. President Clinton drives the history, but this story is also about friends.

The Clinton Tapes highlights major events of Clinton's two terms, including wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, the failure of health care reform, peace initiatives on three continents, the anti-deficit crusade, and titanic political struggles from Whitewater to American history's second presidential impeachment trial. Along the way, Clinton delivers colorful portraits of countless political figures and world leaders from Nelson Mandela to Pope John Paul II.

These unprecedented White House dialogues will become a staple of presidential scholarship. Branch's masterly account opens a new window on a controversial era and Bill Clinton's eventual place among our chief executives.

The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President [Deckle Edge]

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bill Clinton finds a genial Boswell for this absorbing inside account of his White House years. Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Branch (Parting the Waters) met regularly with Clinton as interlocutor for a taped diary of reflections, distilling from the rambling conversations illuminating commentaries on major issues, including the failed health-care reform, budget battles with congressional Republicans, scandals and impeachment, and foreign policy crises. They depict Clinton as both a principled man and a born operator—Branch wonderfully captures the shrewd political calculations Clinton elaborates to justify his triangulations—with a restless intellect that revels in the details of everything from Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to the Hubble Space Telescope. (The book also offers a warm portrait of the first family, with young Chelsea forever rushing in for help with homework.) Branch, who worked on presidential speeches and was paid $50,000 by Clinton for the project, often seems less than objective; he treads lightly around Whitewater and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, for example. Still, browsers and scholars will find perceptive insights on Clinton's policies and magnetic personality. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“I have seldom read a more compelling account of a leader in power. . . . An unexpected treasure-trove. Here is Clinton out of hours and off his guard. . . . The story behind this book reads like the plot of a Hollywood movie.”

--Robert Harris, The Sunday Times (London)

“A remarkable portrait of White House life. . . . An important work about American political life. . . . Branch is an historian by trade, and an excellent one. . . . To the extent that Branch’s portrait of the president rescues politics from ignominy, he has done a real public service; that he has done this while vividly portraying an exuberant American original is cause for joy. . . . Revealing and often delightful.”

--Joe Klein, The New York Times Book Review

“By turns intimate and dispassionately historical . . . this book will be a boon to historians. The casual reader might delight more in Branch’s glimpses of an unguarded president.”

--Gilbert Cruz, Time

“Taylor Branch’s latest book has made me whistle more than any comparable piece of work for a very long time, and not just because of its many remarkable disclosures.”

--Christopher Hitchens, Newsweek

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Hardcover: 720 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (September 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416543333
ISBN-13: 978-1416543336
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 2.1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 39 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,422,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2046 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > United States > Executive Branch
- #2793 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States > US Presidents
- #4343 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Presidents & Heads of State

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Worth you time and money!

ByGuzeon December 14, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

While a very long book, it was fascinating to read what Clinton was thinking as the moment was passing him by. I wish this type of project could be found with every President. Even the ones whom I dislike. Perhaps those would be the most important ones to read. Regardless, this book is worth the money and the time you will invest. Enjoy!

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A Peek

ByKindle Customeron August 27, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is an interesting,sometimes fascinating,insight into the world of Bill Clinton. Even though i kniw it is comparing apples to oranges,i am still disappointed,having been delighted by the author's trilogy on the Civil Rights era.

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A new genre of literature; astute and complex

ByBarbara L. Pinzkaon October 19, 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Taylor Branch is a noted historian and Pulitizer Prize winner for one of the three massive and excellent books he wrote concerning the late Rev. Nartin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement. As he explains early in the book, scholars have been grappling with how to render an impartial version of the history of presidencies, now that huge libraries are being built to contain the plethora of items that touch upon every Prresident: legislation, correspondence, electronic taping, gifts, memorabilia, etc.

Reagan was aware of this issue and appointed an official biographer early in his tenure and Edmund Morris, a noted historian himself, was given unprecedented access to the President and his White House. His resulting work failed, however, for many reasons, most notably that he was unable to retain the journalistic distance needed to create a proper history.

President Clinton and Branch knew one another during the McGovern campaign in 1972, sharing an apartment in Texas to help run that area of the operation. When he was elected, being aware of the historical issues I've noted, Clinton contacted Branch and asked him for a recommendation on how the needs of history could be met. What they settled upon has been described in many places, so I'll save some time.

This is what Branch created based on his observations of the process he and the President underwent. As in any good history, there is distance and criticism, as well as nearly overwhelming detail. "Wrestling History" is a great title, as a comparison between it and Clinton's own autobiography finds many differences and I think the interested reader will enjoy both, as they reveal different facets of the same President and the semi-universe of a modern presidency.

What I gleaned the most from Branch's book was, somewhat surprisingly, how big a role politics -- the horse-trading, the pork-barrelling, peevishness, etc. -- shapes a President's (or Congress') accomplishments. Perhaps I'm naive, but I'd like to think that occasionally Washington operates on a "need to help" basis, and thus this book can be quite disillusioning. It's particularly good reading right now as we watch the pols toss around universal health care one more time.

Branch belabors his efforts to remain honest and impartial, regardless of the consequences. For that reason I suspect it will not be popular, but will have earned its place in history.

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In the know

ByC. L. Pageon September 24, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Still reading this book, when I'm not using it to prop open a door. Taylor Branch is a good story teller and the Clinton years are those I remember fondly.

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Fascinating Insight into a Fascinating President

ByJeffrey T. Hammillon February 4, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Whether we are Republicans or Democrats, I think most of us agree that Bill Clinton fascinates us. Although he has been out of office nearly 10 years, he still remains much more interesting than either of his successors.
Taylor Branch's book shows us why. Clinton is shown to be both brilliant and foolish. Here is a President who balanced the budget and almost reached a Mid-East peace deal and at the same time got himself impeached. Sorry [...], we can argue about whether impeachment was the proper remedy, but there is no dispute as to the stupidity of his behavior with a White House intern.
Reading this book makes me wonder how he could get himself into such a mess? Clinton, much like a great quarterback, could see the whole field. He understood the motives of his opponents and his allies. He was adept at trying to carve out deals to satisfy both and often did. Yet, he fell right into his enemies hands and alienated many of his allies with his personal conduct.
The book also sheds some light on day to day life in the White House. I thought Presidents always had someone standing by to meet their every need. Not true. Branch describes Clinton rummaging through closets to find things, casual meals and the President watching sports on TV. All a side of our Presidents we don't really get to see.
Bill Clinton will likely continue to fascinate us for years to come. His relative youth and his wife's political career ensure that he will remain on our national stage longer than most former Presidents. Taylor Branch's book reminds us why we still want to atch.

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Four Stars

ByCindy Black Frazieron February 4, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Taylor Branch continues his good "work:!

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Inside Stories

ByNGSon May 1, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

One of the best memoirs by a White House insider since Henry Adams' Education.

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The Clinton Tapes

ByP. Brownon March 4, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I orginally checked this book out at my branch library. I liked it so well I wanted to have it in my personal library. It is more than just the scandalous books published or the one-sided books written by liberals published. on Clinton. I felt even though the author was a friend of Clinton he seemed to try to be objecctive. I especially liked the part on Haiti and it's never ending problems which Clinton was so frustrated in trying to solve. No one will solve Haiti's problems in the foreseeable future because of its culture, graft and politics.

My husband and I were stationed in Puerto Rico 1957-1960 and the problems were just as bad then as now. The U.S. Army did have a presence in Haiti but it was very low key and only a few people knew about it on our post.

0Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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