My Life Paperback – May 31, 2005

Sure this book is long but you are basically getting his life and what a life it is. I like how he doesn't become President until almost exactly halfway into the book so you get to see what made him who he was/is. I think this book is a must read for anyone that wants to make a run into politics, in many ways it is almost like a how to do book. Clinton was a sly devil and you get to see why so many of these hardcore Republicans hated him. You also get to see his roots and where he comes from and why he does what he does and did. Just for fun I looked over some of the one star reviews about this book and you can tell that most of them didn't even read the book. They repeat a talking point of calling this book "My Lies". Other one star reviews ask why Clinton didn't talk more about his cheating and talk about how his daughter felt about it. That seems almost sick and twist but whatever; some people are just sick.It is a long read but it is best to look at it like a series of books. He does a great job. I've highlighted so many things in this book (kindle is awesome, get one!). Clinton was the man. Wish he could run again. I didn't like all of what Clinton did as President but now I see that he had to play the sick game of politics for a greater good. Politics is a nasty business and you see that in this book but you also see how Clinton would dance around to get what he wanted.This is a must read if you are a Clinton fan.This is a must read if you are going into politics regardless of your party because you'll learn a lot.This is a must read for any fan of history because his life was living history and you get to see it first hand and he explains things well enough for those of us who were too young to remember things or too busy with being a kid.This is a must read for whoever is smart enough to fix this current economy.Someday I would like to meet President Bill Clinton and thank him for what he did for America, remind him of what he couldn't/didn't do for America and then thank him for this book.He played the system to help make it a little better for the little guys and now you can read how he did it.And another thing! I can't help but notice how a lot of the players back then are still in our systems and how even the small timers at the time that Clinton would introduce us to in this book are around today and are now major players. Maybe that is part of what is wrong with our system today, all the hang arounds that become corrupted over time..

First of all, I find it a sad commentary that readers have decided to review the book, not on its merits, but on their already formed opinions of Bill Clinton himself. Since ppl either love the man or hate him, I suppose that's no real surprise. So, in the interest of truth I'll state my position on the man:I believe Bill Clinton will be remembered by history in a far better light than Ronald Reagan. I voted for him twice. I devoutly wish I was able to vote for him this coming November. The man has his flaws - as human beings, we all have them. But I like him more *because* of his flaws. Get over it. It's an opinion. Everyone has one.As to his book -- I found it moving, human, and compelling. I wasn't so much a fan of his technique however. Particularly in the beginning, his prose is stilted, as though he knows he must give rein to his life, but wishes he didn't have to. Up until he enters Georgetown, the book reads more as a series of loosely connected sketches, than an involving portrait of his life. But once he gets going with the political detail -- he shines. His enthusiasm is real. His belief in making a difference is real. His love of the game (and don't kid yourselves -- politics is a *game*) is infectious and sometimes soaring. But, unlike his speeches, his personal magnetism is dampened. Perhaps it's that we can't hear his voice, or see his face. To do so would increase my enjoyment of the book - because it's his force of personality which is most compelling, using voice and body language to fully engage the person(s) he's communicating to.Technically he's a competent writer. I would have been surprised to find otherwise. At times he turns out a lovely phrase. But his true gift is direct, person-to-person communication, and that's why he gets 4 stars here instead of 5.I hope he decides to continue writing. Tackling your own life as your first project is daunting without the additional pressures of his own particular standing. I'll be very interested to read his next effort.

Let the pundits have their day. Their rhetoric is balderdash compared to Mr. Clinton's careful documentation of his life and his time in office. Did he have fun? Was it personally rewarding for him? Did he face tragedy and subterfuge? He can run with the big dogs! He deserves every reward we can give him and his family for his effort to make the world a better place and to change the country and the planet for the common good. Bill Clinton is a master politician and a man who beat the machine designed to defeat him. What President Clinton has done is to successflly answer his critics; he exposes the " vast right wing conspiracy" for what it is. What is most evident is that while he was President, he was working, thinking, seeking solutions, inspiring visions, and using his time to lead in a progressive, compassionate, visionary way. I can't think of a president in my lifetime who possessed the candor and conviction to write such a book. My only question is to wonder why the fact checkers did not verify the Sir Edmund Hillary connection . Some say the book is a boring collection of insignificant data. Historians and presidential scholars would love to have a record such as this from every president. Can you imagine such a document from Washington, Jefferson , Lincoln, TR, Wilson, FDR, Kennedy,any of them? Clinton has rasied the bar! We have only one man with the foresight and talent to write it down. Thanks,Sir, for all you have done to make our lives better and for your service to our country and for this record of your acheivements. For a discerning reader, the book is a major acheivement. He was there. He did it! Bravo!

Item as advertised.

Came to many unknown facts about the great man, who had his share of hurdles and hardships in the very beginning of his life. These initial experiences were to prove a blessing in the later years, making him one of the most loved persons, and most admired leaders in the world, to which the history and future generations will stand a testimony.

Il est intéressant de découvrir la vie de ce personnage historique. On apprend sur le personnage et les évènements qui ont jalonné sa vie et aussi les nôtres. Il est un des POTUS (President Of The United States) les plus célèbres et appréciés.L'ouvrage est bien écrit et facile à lire.Je recommande à ceux qui veulent découvrir ou ré découvrir ce personnage.

I can't help but begin this review with that famous Clinton solipsism: the definition of 'is'. We don't really find out in the end what is 'is', or rather what 'is' was, but what we do know is that Clinton was having an inappropriate relationship with a White House intern. Actually, when I picked-up this book, the whole sex scandal and subsequent impeachment were the last thing on my mind. I wanted to gain some insight into Clinton's background and his climb in politics. I think this autobiography does an excellent job in that respect. I have read a good few political biographies and memoirs now, and judging comparatively, I would say 'My Life' deserves to be seen as one of the greats. Clinton tells us his story, movingly and comprehensively, though his prose lacks the trenchant qualities of a truly great political figure. Clinton was a driven and talented person from a young age, and he used that talent to better himself and along the way better the lives of others, but he was not a paradigmic or transformative political figure along the lines of FDR (liberal) or Reagan (conservative).Inevitably, we must turn to the Lewinsky scandal. It's covered here and Clinton - to his credit - does not seek to absolve himself in any way. There are no lacquered platitudes either. In fact, in the relevant passages on, respectively, Whitewater, Lewinsky, Kenneth Starr and the impeachment and Senate trial, Clinton coldly and painfully identifies his mistakes and weaknesses and he is honest in that respect, though he also cannot help falling into apotropaic and conspiratorial attacks on his critics. In the end my view is that he should have taken hemlock: that would have created a legacy infinitely more consequential than the transient popularity he obsessively courted. By not doing so, by clinging to office despite these personal indiscretions, Clinton set a bad example and arguably reflected, even contributed to, the moral degeneration in society. Clinton never really addresses this problem directly, namely how he can expect to call himself a leader and a man of example when he cannot even take proper responsibility for his own actions. Nevertheless, I cannot help also feeling sympathy for him, given the identified faults were more of the personal and private kind. Only the most hard-hearted person would want to condemn a public figure too vigorously in such circumstances, though as President he should have realised that his private affairs were - temporarily at least - also public and if he was not morally fit for the office, he should not have assumed the office.One further impression I gained from this book about (or, rather, that this book confirmed about) Clinton is this kind of vagueness that he has. It's difficult to pin down, but there is a similarity here with Blair. On the one hand he is a thoughtful and intelligent man, but on the other hand he doesn't really give the impression of someone who has any kind of anchoring narrative about him. Whereas Blair was morally certain but politically vague (adopting a missionary zeal in office that cost many their lives), I think Clinton was morally hazy but did at least attempt to develop a consistent and coherent political philosophy for the Democratic Party that moved it away somewhat from New Dealism but which retained the Party's progressive instincts. One of the many greatly useful things about this book is the way that Clinton explains much of his thinking within the context of that kind of middle-class-friendly political philosophy, and by extension, the way he critiques Reagan-Bush economic policy. He purports to do so with rigour and certainty, but for me it's too much of a reminder of the Continental-style, CSD-type of social-democratic thinking that began on the British Left during the late 1970s in response to Bolshevism and the New Right, only with a distinctly American character (i.e. 'progressive' rather than 'social democratic'). Really, deep-down Clinton doesn't know what he thinks, but he'll think it anyway as long as it'll gain votes.I like the format of the book. Refreshingly, Clinton eschews the modern trend towards thematic writing and just tells us his story chronologically. It's well-written, entertaining and meaningful, with very varied judgements about the characters met along the way. Predictably, it's also a very self-absorbed prose in which Clinton is at the centre of events. This ego-centric outlook reaches its zenith in the latter chapters in which Clinton tells us his story as President and becomes an increasingly sad figure, obsessed with his own political legacy. Apropos, perhaps it would have been better for America if they had elected as president someone less self-absorbed than Clinton while sharing some of his generous political instincts. Clinton had many of the qualities that would make a fine president - he had an overarching vision, he evinced optimism and he had inside him a genuinely good heart and a generous spirit - but he lacked the courage of his own convictions; was if anything too keen to gain office; was too much a creature of transient public sentiment rather than being a leader of public opinion; was too preoccupied with the feelings and whims of 'soccer moms' in focus groups; too much in awe of rich men; too ready to engage in moral grandstanding rather than adopt firm, permanent principles; too easily led by politically-correct thinking on racial issues; and - above all else - too reliant on professional political strategists and their eccentric trajections, when he should have decided what he really stood for, stood for it and stood by it.In the end, I think Clinton was a very important president, but only because of what he presided-over, not because he did anything of significance: he was essentially a marionette who achieved nothing of note in his own right. Of course you could argue that a wise president will, under certain circumstances, choose to do essentially nothing and just preside, but Clinton set out to be an activist president and so in that respect he failed abjectly. I think history will most likely remember him as one of those hazy but charismatic managerial figures that electoral politics pivots into office from time-to-time and who is sensitive to the Zeitgeist. His various deeds and doings, such that they were, amounted to mere epiphenomena, the result of and a reflection of wider social, cultural and financial movements in American society. If anything, an apt analogy for the Clinton presidency would be the 'Cohabitation' period of the French presidency of François Mitterrand (during 1986 to 1988). This book shows that even at the height of the impeachment controversy, Clinton was unquestionably adept in the art of ministerial 'cohabitation', somehow keeping the peace and maintaining a bipartisan relationship with Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress. This feat required not just considerable skill but also a nuanced understanding of the constitutional locus of the presidency. So, Clinton was no dilettante and to be fair he was much more than just a vacillator or the compromising figure of the 'triangulation' strategy. He was a man of substance and ideals and in a sense his lack of any substantive legacy is deeply tragic and contradictory. He had it in him to be great. This is a man who could have been better, could have been stronger, could have stood for more, if only, at the relevant time, he had found the will and the courage and overcome his personal demons. I think this book is really the story of that sad, bitter failure. It's essential reading if you are interested in politics and government.

Libro ha llegado antes del tiempo previsto , en estado perfecto. Libro es muy interesante, y acabas fascinando te por el.mundo de la politica. Bill C. es muy humano, es como un amigo. Recomendable el servico y el libro