Book Review: Clinton, Bill, My Life.

Clinton, Bill, My Life.
(New York: Random House, Inc., 2005),
2 volumes, 1342 pages.


My Life is a very long and detailed autobiography of William Jefferson Clinton. It traces his political journey in two volumes— the early years and the presidential years, respectively. In the first, Clinton narrates his early life, from birth to winning the presidency; in the second, he describes the events during his presidency.

Conventionally, Clinton begins his narration with a general description of his birth and family background. He points out that even before he was born, tragedy had already struck his family, the untimely death of his father when his mother was still pregnant with him. The absence of his biological father will leave a life-long impression on him. As Clinton puts it—“all my life I have been hungry to fill in the blanks.” The tragedy, however, would be mitigated by his fortune to have a loving mother and grandparents. Their character would profoundly influence him: the independence and toughness of his mother in dealing with the harsh side of life, and the nondiscriminatory attitude of his grandfather toward blacks despite his being part of the rural South.

Clinton also underscores the hidden problem of his family— dealing with an alcoholic and abusive stepfather. He says that living with his stepfather was tough, not only for him and his mother but more so for his young stepbrother. The problem, he believes left a lasting scar on his stepbrother, particularly who later on would struggle with the problem of drug abuse. He seems to suggest that, like most families, his is not perfect.

Clinton also highlights that unlike most American Presidents he had humble beginnings, having come from an ordinary working class family. His origin seems to explain his greater sympathy for and better understanding of the working middle class. Closeness to that class would be very handy throughout his political career.

Clinton takes his readers along in his educational journey from the lower school to Oxford and Yale. He discusses and describes at length what he learned from his teachers and professors that would have implications for his life as a person and politician. Most of his learning would further reinforce his love of politics. His serious involvement in politics would come early; in fact, in his college years he would juggle active political participation in the Democratic Party and his studies. He points out that the network of friends that he built throughout his years of studying proved very helpful to his political career from its start and up to the White House. Moreover, Clinton relates with relish that in Yale, he get not only a law degree but also the love of his life— Hillary.

As regards his first major political post— as Governor of the state of Arkansas— he recalls the grueling campaigns, the dynamics of party politics, the thrill of winning, the agony of defeat, and most of all, the lessons learned and the arduous march to retrieve the governorship. Here, he articulates one of his basic tenets for political survival— good policies must be accompanied by good politics!

Clinton describes in detail most of the major programs and policies of his government that he, as President, strongly defended as the “right” policy. Since in politics, compromise is usually needed to move policy, he admits to the limitation of his administration in pushing for progressive change. In particular, Clinton claims unequivocally that the actions of his government were severely restricted by what he and Hillary call “the vast conspiracy of ultra-right conservatives.” His government literally struggled to survive the onslaught of ultra-right conservatives. The onslaught culminated in his impeachment via the Lewinsky scandal. Although Clinton admits his mistake (and shows remorse for it), he makes it very clear that his “personal sin” was miniscule compared with the grave sins of the Republicans, e.g., the Iran-Contra and the Watergate scandals. Moreover, he points out that were it not for the selfish agenda (which is to boot him out of office) of the ultra-right conservatives led by Gingrich and Starr, the impeachment would not have prospered— they did it not for anything else, but because they could!

In the end, Clinton asserts that his presidency was successful despite the presence of forces dedicated to destroy him. He strengthened the United States by reinvigorating the economy and fortifying her global leadership. He strengthened the Democratic Party by ensuring the party’s continued clout beyond his presidency. Hence, for him, his achievements not only gained him popularity among the American people, but more importantly won the battle against the ultra-right conservatives— his achievements thus far outweighed, the “misdeeds” of his administration.

After his presidency— especially after President G. W. Bush, a Republican, won the controversial election over Vice President A. Gore— Clinton hints that, first, since the ultra-right conservatives are rising in government (he observes the Republicans moving to the far right), therefore, there is a new fight for the Democratic Party; second, that Hillary is bound to enter politics and might aim for the White House; and third, that like former President J. Carter, he will not sink down to oblivion, but instead will continue to devote his time to serve the American people in any capacity.

Like most autobiographies, this book seeks to etch an indelible record of the author’s legacy for posterity. From beginning to end, Clinton exerts substantial efforts to remove the rough edges and tighten the screws, so to speak. He makes a very convincing effort to clarify and justify his policies, programs, and decisions, including rationalizing to counteract criticisms. Clinton presents himself as a political leader that persevered, struggled, made mistakes but, in the end, won over great odds. Hence, the central thrust of the book is really to picture him as a good leader of the American people, his party, and the world.

First and foremost, Clinton presents himself as a good President who made a difference by promoting progressive changes that profoundly benefited ordinary Americans. The benefits are very clear from the economic gains made by his administration— as he argues, his administration “sparked the longest economic expansion in our history, produced four budgetary surpluses in a row, and enabled us to reduce the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars.” Benefits are also seen on other fronts— his seemingly never-ending quest to promote civil rights and equality, employment, education, health care, and the environment. Clinton believes that a good President must use the resources of the state not only to give material benefits but, more importantly, to develop individuals— to empower them for most opportunities that would come their way. As he says, “the main point of my work was to give people a chance to have better stories.”

In enumerating the achievements of his administration, Clinton unequivocally made them more impressive by stressing that his government rectified the “mistakes” of the previous Reagan government, particularly in terms of huge debts, spending, and tax cuts; and that his presidency had to fight tooth and nail to prevail. He particularly points to the ultra-right conservative republicans who, he believes, led the conspiracy to bring down his presidency. To reinforce the conspiracy claim, he argues that the subject of the impeachment against him was nowhere near the Republican Watergate or the Iran-Contra scandals.

To establish his stature as good world leader, Clinton demonstrates the vastness of his administration’s achievements in the realm of international politics, particularly in the spread of liberal democratic values, in promoting cooperation among states, and in advancing issues in poverty, literacy, health, and the environment. For instance, he takes great pride in having planted the seeds of peaceful engagements in the Middle East— specifically, the Israel-Palestinian conflict— which he hopes would serve as the groundwork for a permanent resolution in the future. With regard to promoting democracy, he underscores important points— one is that his government sincerely helped struggling democratic countries (e.g., saving Mexico from total economic meltdown); another is the institutionalization of global cooperation as the basic framework for international actions. Clinton also maintains that his foreign policy advanced the United States well in a new global milieu, characterized by globalization, interdependence, and information technology age. Tacitly, he sends the message that, in his watch, the United States was seen as a truly genuine leader of the world.

As a good party leader, Clinton spearheaded the Democratic Party’s long and hard march to capture congress. He takes credit not only for revitalizing the party, but also for making it stable even against the onslaught of the ultra-right conservative Republicans and their allies. He notes in the epilogue that, despite the dominance of the Republican Party in congress under the leadership of President G. W. Bush, the Democratic Party remains strong. The analysis seems prophetic, for in the recent midterm elections, the Democratic Party gained control of both houses of congress (of course thanks to the debacle of President Bush’s policy in Iraq). Clinton observes that the “Democrats can come back, not by moving hard to the left, but by looking forward, with a clear vision for the future and good ideas to realize it, a strong security posture and better tactics.” He predicts that the Democratic Party is the party of the future, because slowly but surely Americans are becoming more open to the more progressive and liberal views of the party, and because the Republican Party is continuing its drift to the far right.

Clinton reiterates many times that the ultimate measure of a good political leader is whether his political ideas, policies, and decisions have a profound impact on the lives of ordinary people. However, he puts forward the proviso, that a good leader is not a perfect leader! He implies that mistakes or blunders are part and parcel of the leadership process. What is important to him is the ability to reflect, rectify, and bounce back. With obvious reference to the Lewinsky scandal, Clinton emphasizes that a personal sin committed by a public servant should not be used as the sole measure for judging a leader; surely, the goodness or badness of a political leader cannot be judged solely on the basis of his worst or weakest moment. He seems to imply, moreover, that the said scandal in no way diminishes the achievements the government made under his leadership.

Another thrust of the book, although a little bit subtle, is to lay down a good staging ground for the political ambition of his wife. Surely, the book strengthens Hillary Clinton’s quest to be the first female President of the United States. For instance, throughout the book Clinton not only strongly defends his presidency, but also enthusiastically defends and highlights the works and achievements of Hillary. He describes Hillary as a woman with “a big brain, a good heart, better organizational skills than I did, and political skills that were nearly as good as mine.” In addition, the deliberate and laborious research made to have a myriad of names of people, combining this with mostly favorable comments about most of them (especially the blacks and immigrants), strongly suggests a political agenda. In the epilogue, Clinton stresses that, as it was in his run for the presidency, today there is a need for change! He emphatically states that the mistakes of the Reagan administration have been repeated by the Bush administration, thus implying that political change is needed in the 2008 presidential elections.

Without a doubt, the book is a very valuable piece of literature in political leadership. It is not only a story of the development and growth of a political leader; it is more about what a political elite must learn to survive and win in today’s harsh political arena where political enemies are sometimes ruthless. Clinton believes that a leader who sincerely pushes for change would effortlessly create enemies. As a guide to political practitioners, he shares tons and tons of valuable “lessons” in politics. The more prominent ones are the following.

•The basic rule in politics—“you can have good policy without good politics, but you can’t give the people good government without both.”

•The rule on change— “everyone is for change in general, but against it in particular, when they themselves have to change.”

•The politics of divide— “us versus them” can work if the people are discontented and insecure.

•The best strategy against harsh political attacks— to respond immediately and in kind.

•The limitation of change— the political system “can absorb only so much change at once.”


Finally, in explaining his political success, Clinton implies that his dedication and determination are huge factors. The claim, however, is not absolute; he tones it down by admitting that some decisions and small actions taken by other people, some accidental events, and lost opportunities have also significantly contributed in defining his political journey. He believes that life is usually “shaped by the opportunities you turn down as much as those you take up.”