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My Life

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 14,506 ratings · 749 reviews

An exhaustive, soul-searching memoir, Bill Clinton's My Life is a refreshingly candid look at the former president as a son, brother, teacher, father, husband, and public figure. Clinton painstakingly outlines the history behind his greatest successes and failures, including his dedication to educational and economic reform, his war against a "vast right-wing operation" de...more An exhaustive, soul-searching memoir, Bill Clinton's My Life is a refreshingly candid look at the former president as a son, brother, teacher, father, husband, and public figure. Clinton painstakingly outlines the history behind his greatest successes and failures, including his dedication to educational and economic reform, his war against a "vast right-wing operation" determined to destroy him, and the "morally indefensible" acts for which he was nearly impeached. My Life is autobiography as therapy--a personal history written by a man trying to face and banish his private demons.

Clinton approaches the story of his youth with gusto, sharing tales of giant watermelons, nine-pound tumors, a charging ram, famous mobsters and jazz musicians, and a BB gun standoff. He offers an equally energetic portrait of American history, pop culture, and the evolving political landscape, covering the historical events that shaped his early years (namely the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK) and the events that shaped his presidency (Waco, Bosnia, Somalia). What makes My Life remarkable as a political memoir is how thoroughly it is infused with Clinton's unassuming, charmingly pithy voice:

I learned a lot from the stories my uncle, aunts, and grandparents told me: that no one is perfect but most people are good; that people can't be judged only by their worst or weakest moments; that harsh judgments can make hypocrites of us all; that a lot of life is just showing up and hanging on; that laughter is often the best, and sometimes the only, response to pain.

However, that same voice might tire readers as Clinton applies his penchant for minute details to a distractible laundry list of events, from his youth through the years of his presidency. Not wanting to forget a single detail that might help account for his actions, Clinton overdoes it--do we really need to know the name of his childhood barber? But when Clinton sticks to the meat of his story--recollections about Mother, his abusive stepfather, Hillary, the campaign trail, and Kenneth Starr--the veracity of emotion and Kitchen Confidential-type revelations about "what it is like to be President" make My Life impossible to put down.

To Clinton, "politics is a contact sport," and while he claims that My Life is not intended to make excuses or assign blame, it does portray him as a fighter whose strategy is to "take the first hit, then counterpunch as hard as I could." While My Life is primarily a stroll through Clinton's memories, it is also a scathing rebuke--a retaliation against his detractors, including Kenneth Starr, whose "mindless search for scandal" protected the guilty while "persecuting the innocent" and distracted his Administration from pressing international matters (including strikes on al Qaeda). Counterpunch indeed.

At its core, My Life is a charming and intriguing if flawed book by an equally intriguing and flawed man who had his worst failures and humiliations made public. Ultimately, the man who left office in the shadow of scandal offers an honest and open account of his life, allowing readers to witness his struggle to "drain the most out of every moment" while maintaining the character with which he was raised. It is a remarkably intimate, persuasive look at the boy he was, the President he became, and man he is today. --Daphne Durham

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Published (first published 2004)

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Aug 28, 2007 Kelly (TheWellReadRedhead) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, biography-memoir, nonfiction

Make sure you are interested in politics if you're going to read this. Don't just read it for the Lewinsky scandal because it's barely mentioned! Clinton is a brilliant political mind and it shows in this book. I learned a lot about the events of his administration, which was interesting for me as I was only ages 9-17 while he was in office. Gave a good perspective to things (though, admittedly, one sided).

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Sep 06, 2007 Joshua rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, nonfiction, auto-biography

Okay, first, I have to confess I listened to the abridged audio edition of this book, and that's what I'm basing my review on. I listened to the whole thing on the drive from my home to seminary (6 hours).

That having been said, I am coming to understand that way more of "The West Wing" was based on actual events than I realized. I feel like I just experienced the entire series - the book even ends with the same word on which the series concluded: "Tomorrow."

Not having been politically aware unti...more

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May 23, 2007 Billy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: revisionist historians

Shelves: readalready, non-fiction, fiction, history, biography

I put this book under the fiction bookshelf for a reason. I read this book for a class on Bill Clinton's foreign policy (ok, most of the book. I skipped over all the personal stuff because frankly, I don't care about Monica Lewinsky). Anyway, due to the class and the fact that I lived through his presidency, I was fully aware of what his foreign policy actually was during his time in office (for a better, and more accurate understanding of his foreign policy read David Halberstam's War in a Time ...more

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Oct 26, 2008 Will Byrnes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, biography-autobiography-memoir, american-history

There is much that is good about the book. There is much that is annoying. I most enjoyed his descriptions of dealings with foreign leaders. We get the skinny on who was really in favor of what, who was willing to make serious concessions, who was not. Good stuff. The part of the book about his early life was interesting as well, showing family background and how he got the connections that helped him move up. Interesting. I found it annoying that every person he mentions he seems to feel it nec...more

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Sep 04, 2007 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I listened to this abridged audio but I liked it so much, I'm thinking of reading the much longer unabridged book! Bill Clinton was awesome, despite his brushing over his welfare reform, which was the worst thing he did while in office. Also, I'm all about Hilary now, I'd totally vote for her. People who just hate Bill Clinton for some reason or other should really read this book. I think it really humanizes him and shows just how many powerful people were working against him, going to any lengt...more

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Apr 06, 2007 Mark Fullmer added it · review of another edition

In his first chapter, Clinton mentions that he once departed from his reading material of choice, fiction, and picked up a sort of self-help book on making goals for the future. As instructed by the book, the college-age Clinton made up a list of short and long term goals, with the top few being to have a family, a successful political career, and to write a great book.

If this was his great book, I'm disappointed. It reads like a long-spinning political yarn with Southern-gentility reticence in...more

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Nov 11, 2007 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

At nearly 1000 pages, this book is not for the faint of heart. The beginning is slow, as it seems that Clinton is mentioning every single person that passed through his childhood and adolescence. The book finally gets interesting when Clinton enters politics. As someone who lived through the Clinton years, I enjoyed reading Clinton's perspective on events during that time. His views on the Middle East talks were particularly interesting and enlightening. His insider's view of politics during tha...more

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Oct 14, 2007 Emilia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I was already a Bill Clinton fan, but his memoir just solidified my reasons. Very moving account of his life, especially his childhood/young adulthood. He is such an intelligent, self-made man. His detractors would do well to read this, too. Granted it is looooong. I initially purchased the book for my husband who enjoyed reading it, but I had trouble getting through all 900-plus pages and bought the audio CD instead. Listened to it on a long vacation drive. (Made my then 12-year-old son listen...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of our more complex leaders of modern times, Clinton has that rare ability to inspire great loyalty in some and equally great loathing in others. What I like about the man is that he is constantly thinking and has never given up even in the most difficult or most awkwards situations. Anyone who has been close up view of life for the to political leaders will have some empathy for the way their personal life is laid bare. Therefore it is good to have the opportunity to read the man's personal...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

He may have been a bit clumsy with his semen, but for all that Clinton's presidency looks like salad days compared with the horrendous years of Bush and the disappointment of Obama. This magnum opus is a fascinating and yes, self-serving, account of the boy from Hope's rise from poverty, through political awakenings during the JFK era to the White House itself.

Clinton dominated the 1990's with an articulate and at times visionary zeal that saw the US again in the foreign policy and economic asce...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Khaled rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For anybody growing up in the relatively calm 1990s, Bill Clinton was an iconic figure. A champion of both the N.Ireland and middle-east peace plans, sending ground troops to the Balkans, the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and memorable for his laughter.

Clinton's backstory beginning in Arkansas is engrossing, as is the time up to his second election. By then the reader can appreciate the numbing pain of Washington politics. The 'witch-hunt' of both Clintons for supposed financial irregularitie...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Rita rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While writing is not President Clinton's top skill, he writes much as me lives his life - straight from the heart. A huge book, it took me a while to get through it, occasionally bogged down by the parts discussing war strategies and other ugly or tedious wheel turnings of government.

Aided by the fact he kept a lifelong diary, Bill did an amazing job of recalling an impressive life. I always liked him. Now I understand him like never before and love him - I am grateful that he stepped up and en...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Ariadna73 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Yo debo ser una de las dos únicas personas del mundo que se ha leído este libro de cabo a rabo. Es un libro eterno, larguísimo, donde Clinton nos cuenta la hora a la que se levantó, qué desayunó, con quién conversó, etc... Es una descripción muy minuciosa de un millón de hechos sin importancia, y por supuesto, del escándalo con la niña Lenguisky o como se llame, que casi le cuesta la cabeza y el matrimonio.

Es un libro fascinante, porque al leerlo uno se da cuenta del poder tan grande que tiene...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Anton Klink rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I listened to the abridged audio version of the book read by Bill Clinton himself but as such, it was disappointingly short. Having compared abridged and full versions of books before, I know that abridged versions can be brutally butchered, sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility. I'd in fact rate the audio version a mere three stars due to its brevity, but I am going to give four stars instead, assuming that all the interesting bits that the abridged audio version brushed over are all el...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Dave marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: calibre, non-fiction, biography

SUMMARY: President Bill Clinton’s My Life is the strikingly candid portrait of a global leader who decided early in life to devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public. It shows us the progress of a remarkable American, who, through his own enormous energies and efforts, made the unlikely journey from Hope, Arkansas, to the White House—a journey fueled by an impassioned interest in the political process which manifested itself...more SUMMARY: President Bill Clinton’s My Life is the strikingly candid portrait of a global leader who decided early in life to devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public. It shows us the progress of a remarkable American, who, through his own enormous energies and efforts, made the unlikely journey from Hope, Arkansas, to the White House—a journey fueled by an impassioned interest in the political process which manifested itself at every stage of his life: in college, working as an intern for Senator William Fulbright; at Oxford, becoming part of the Vietnam War protest movement; at Yale Law School, campaigning on the grassroots level for Democratic candidates; back in Arkansas, running for Congress, attorney general, and governor.We see his career shaped by his resolute determination to improve the life of his fellow citizens, an unfaltering commitment to civil rights, and an exceptional understanding of the practicalities of political life.We come to understand the emotional pressures of his youth—born after his father’s death; caught in the dysfunctional relationship between his feisty, nurturing mother and his abusive stepfather, whom he never ceased to love and whose name he took; drawn to the brilliant, compelling Hillary Rodham, whom he was determined to marry; passionately devoted, from her infancy, to their daughter, Chelsea, and to the entire experience of fatherhood; slowly and painfully beginning to comprehend how his early denial of pain led him at times into damaging patterns of behavior.President Clinton’s book is also the fullest, most concretely detailed, most nuanced account of a presidency ever written—encompassing not only the high points and crises but the way the presidency actually works: the day-to-day bombardment of problems, personalities, conflicts, setbacks, achievements.It is a testament to the positive impact on America and on the world of his work and his ideals.It is the gripping account of a president under concerted and unrelenting assault orchestrated by his enemies on the Far Right, and how he survived and prevailed. It is a treasury of moments caught alive, among them:• The ten-year-old boy watching the national political conventions on his family’s new (and first) television set.• The young candidate looking for votes in the Arkansas hills and the local seer who tells him, “Anybody who would campaign at a beer joint in Joiner at midnight on Saturday night deserves to carry one box. . . . You’ll win here. But it’ll be the only damn place you win in this county.” (He was right on both counts.)• The roller-coaster ride of the 1992 campaign.• The extraordinarily frank exchanges with Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole.• The delicate manipulation needed to convince Rabin and Arafat to shake hands for the camera while keeping Arafat from kissing Rabin.• The cost, both public and private, of the scandal that threatened the presidency.Here is the life of a great national and international figure, revealed with all his talents and contradictions, told openly, directly, in his own completely recognizable voice. A unique book by a unique American.(less)

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Nov 27, 2012 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If nothing else, this book made me appreciate the office of the president even more. It is such a demanding job. The book drives this home but also makes you understand that Clinton, and hopefully, all those who seek this office, truly thrive at a pace that would do most of us in very quickly.

For those of you looking for details of the Lewinsky scandal, you won't get any. He admits it happens. Apologizes many times, talks about how he worked to put his marriage back together and that's about all...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Caden Polk rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: that-s-a-keeper

This is a book I've had the pleasure of listening to on long cross-country trips with my dad, on tape. While I do wish Bill (when you're done listening to this book, it feels like you've been friends with him for years) had read it himself, I think you're able to hear his voice ring clearly throughout it anyway. Incredibly long, it is equally incredible in it's detail, and while at some points leaves you wishing he had left out all the names (and some details) of his elementary friends, the deta...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Dennis Troy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

William Jefferson Clinton's My Life is more than a book. It is a news event, a slice of history, a personal testament, a work to be argued over for years to come by political partisans, most of whom will not have actually read it.

Perhaps general agreement might be possible on one point: This massive book is the most complete and wide-ranging apologia ever produced by a former American President. Its only distant competitor is U. S. Grant's autobiography --- but when you compare the scope of the...more William Jefferson Clinton's My Life is more than a book. It is a news event, a slice of history, a personal testament, a work to be argued over for years to come by political partisans, most of whom will not have actually read it.

Perhaps general agreement might be possible on one point: This massive book is the most complete and wide-ranging apologia ever produced by a former American President. Its only distant competitor is U. S. Grant's autobiography --- but when you compare the scope of the two books, Clinton's emerges as much wider by a large margin. It is not simply an account of his two Presidential terms; it is a full-bore autobiography, starting with his birth on page 1 and continuing to his retirement from office and final summing up on page 957. Even as a physical object My Life is daunting. On my bathroom scale the book weighed three and a half pounds.

Clinton sums himself up as "both a political animal and a policy wonk." This is a good capsule summary of the book, which is awash in lists of the programs he advocated, policies he backed in every conceivable field, foreign and domestic; speeches he delivered, and travels he undertook, leaders he dealt with from rural Arkansas bosses to foreign heads of state. The book is far too long, and one shudders to read in his acknowledgements of how much he was persuaded to leave out. The writing can be sprightly and quotable on one page, then ponderous on the next.

Is My Life self-serving? Of course. This is Clinton's brief in his own defense, his chance to fire back at his numerous still-active critics. He sees himself as a moderate progressive, not radical enough for the far left and openly at war with the far right faction of the Republican Party. His scorn for the Gingrich-DeLay-Armey wing of the GOP is a major theme throughout. Perhaps the most important of his political heroes is a fellow Arkansan, Senator J. William Fulbright, legendary chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Clinton began his Washington career as a lowly clerk for that committee.

The former President is also unhappy with our national preference for political trivia over substantive news. Time and again he complains that public fascination with nonessentials kept the world from learning about things he considered important and newsworthy.

This brings us, of course, to the subject of his private life as President. Readers whose only interest is in the Monica Lewinsky affair, Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, Whitewater, Vincent Foster and other such titillating events will find them all here, treated with Clintonian reserve and strictly from his personal point of view. He admits to sexual wrongdoing and apologizes (rather too profusely, I feel). But these episodes are only one strand in the larger tapestry of his public career and embattled Presidency. Most of them he dismisses as partisan attempts to destroy him rather than honest investigations of questionable goings-on. Kenneth Starr in particular emerges as a kind of homegrown Javert, an unscrupulous and unprincipled tormentor rather than an honest prosecutor.

There is no point in a reviewer trying to sort this out. Every reader will have his or her own perspective. I for one am grateful, however, that these subjects do not take over and dominate the larger narrative of which they form a distasteful but certainly necessary part. Clinton's narrative of his political baptism of fire and upward rise in Arkansas, for one thing, seems far more interesting and important in the overall picture of his life. It's not sexy, certainly, but it matters more.

Clinton as a writer lacks the same thing he lacked as President: self-discipline. The level of detail in this book is staggering (remember those 80-minute-plus State of the Union speeches?). The number of names dropped is immense; we learn about the personal styles of political operators in half the small towns of Arkansas, and also those of government leaders in half the Banana Republics on the face of the globe. Hillary and Chelsea are there too, of course, sometimes cheering him on, sometimes putting up with him. And White House staffers, down to the level of his valets, are duly memorialized.

Clinton is no more successful than other writers have been in making the details of Washington budget battles interesting to the lay reader. The same caveat applies to some extent in international affairs; the protracted negotiations on peace in the Middle East, for example, are here at a level of detail that will certainly be of interest only to specialists.

My Life is one of those books that has "Important" written all over it. It is not, however, consistently interesting because it bogs down in too much detail. It is Bill Clinton's testament, his boast and his mea culpa all at once. When you reach page 957 you know you have read something that really matters --- but you're glad it's over. And I read it three times!(less)

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Aug 07, 2012 Allan Leonard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, own, politics, usa

Did a radio piece for BBC Radio Ulster’s books programme, to review two recent biographies: Bill Clinton’s autobiography, My Life, and Dean Godson’s, Himself Alone: David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism.

My Life has been dismissed by some as an exercise in some sort of cathartic releasing of guilt, or of exorcising the demons from the darker side of his parallel lives (as he self-explains his personality framework). Meanwhile, others have described Trimble as the loner, as epitomised by Godson...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Loy Machedo rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Loy Machedo’s Book Review - My Life by Bill Clinton

Among all the Presidents of USA, I have 5 Favorites.
JFK, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Regan & Clinton.
So it was indeed great to know that there was a book I could read to know the thoughts of one of the Presidents whom I admired. However, my fiery excitement got splashed with cold water.

Introduction to the Book
‘My Life’ is a 2004 autobiography written by Bill Clinton which has sold in excess of 2.25 Million copies. And he received at that time, wh...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Dev rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So I chewed through this book for over a year. Reading a few chapters, a few hundred pages before reading the last 500 in one fell swoop. First off, I like Bill Clinton. I think he's a smart fellow, who though I disagree w/him on the role of the gov't, is thoughtful and not hidebound in his ideology. Moreover, the Lewinsky scandal will be as remembered a hundred years from now as Grover Cleveland's love child is today. For those of you saying Grover Cleveland had a love child! I say precisely.
Wh...more So I chewed through this book for over a year. Reading a few chapters, a few hundred pages before reading the last 500 in one fell swoop. First off, I like Bill Clinton. I think he's a smart fellow, who though I disagree w/him on the role of the gov't, is thoughtful and not hidebound in his ideology. Moreover, the Lewinsky scandal will be as remembered a hundred years from now as Grover Cleveland's love child is today. For those of you saying Grover Cleveland had a love child! I say precisely.
What's more he's on a short list of living folk that I would be delighted to sit down for dinner and chew the fat. Though now that he's vegan I guess it would be the celery.

That being said his book fails in a number of ways: wonkish to an almost laughable degree. Clinton's penchant for the inside baseball of every policy quirk that has come down the pipe in the last 50 years is on display, and it's boring. Second, and probably more disappointing, is its Bloodless. Yes, Clinton has an affinity for campaigning and really hearing the story of ordinary people but seems to have a lack of same in referencing his own story. Examples abound from his glossing over his father's alcoholism and abuse to the moment when he had to divulge to his daughter that he had an assignation w/an intern just a little older than her.

Finally, Clinton's proclivity to use his early years as homilies that informed his later activism becomes tedious. Relating how he befriended a girl who others thought was odd only to discover she had MS and then to break into how in such an such a year he passed this or that law while remembering her is both pedantic and highlights the book's underlying flaw: Clinton is still a politician guiding his Message and Image and that mission makes for dull reading at best an unintended humor at worst as when for example he relates his rather overeducated take on rap music.

Perhaps, as a more political document this is understandable but it makes for torturous reading at times. Clinton should take a page from Eisenhower who wrote a book late 'Stories I tell my friends' that was filled w/warm anecdotes, comedy, life lessons, and even some favorite soup recipes(there's the vegan problem again though).(less)

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May 25, 2012 Bart Breen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't particularly like Bill Clinton ....

I don't particularly like Bill Clinton on many levels. I have read many Presidential biographies and autobiographies and so I felt I should read this one, and suspend judgement.

I'm glad I did.

Whether you like Bill Clinton politically or personally is beside the point. He was President of the United States for 8 years. He has left a mark on History and what he has to say about it and the information he provides is worth the time to digest.

Unfortunately,...more I don't particularly like Bill Clinton ....

I don't particularly like Bill Clinton on many levels. I have read many Presidential biographies and autobiographies and so I felt I should read this one, and suspend judgement.

I'm glad I did.

Whether you like Bill Clinton politically or personally is beside the point. He was President of the United States for 8 years. He has left a mark on History and what he has to say about it and the information he provides is worth the time to digest.

Unfortunately, today's commercial market demands instant gratification and so, in responding to that demand the most obvious criticism I can offer is that this book was written too soon. It takes time to digest the events and thinking of a presidency, and if anything, I believe this book would have benefited from some time passing and Clinton himself being able to digest and think through the events and policy of his presidency.

As it is, not suprisingly, Clinton spends a great deal of time and effort in this work defending himself and attacking his detractors. In that regard it reads like a current political campaign work, rather than a Statesman reflecting on his time in power. There could have been a lot more accomplished in this work had he avoided the temptation to use this platform to form a response to his contemporary political foes. I don't doubt that 50 years from now as people removed from the events read this work, they will be less concerned with Clinton's major investment of time and space to paint Ken Starr's investigation of himself as a witch-hunt and will want to know a little more about his actual thoughts and actions while working with policy and foreign relations.

Regardless of what you think about Bill Clinton, if you are able to set aside the need to attack him or extol him, you have to objectively admit that he is a remarkably intelligent and politically savvy person. While it is probably too soon to write a final assessment on the impact of his Presidency and policies upon History, he presided over a time of tremendous economic growth, technological change and a change in political climate and tactics. Whether his leadership was causitive or reactive to these factors, he will no doubt command attention in the years ahead as all that happened to and around him is digested and no doubt, over time additional information, yet unknown will come to light and factor in as well.

The book is long. It is thorough. It uses a consistent formula of presentation that seeks to take the issue or event addressed and put a human face. In that regard it reads like a summary of a State of the Union address and not a deeply reflective biography.

There is a ton of factual information, but it becomes somewhat shallow in tying that information together into a cohesive explanation as to the rationale for actions taken, positions espoused.

Nevertheless, regardless of what passions you may hold or not hold with regard to Clinton himself, the book is a reasonably well written work that the committed reader can work their way through it and hopefully come out with a better understanding of the life and times of this important contemporary and soon to be historical figure. I hope time is kind enough to President Clinton that he will take the time to suppliment this work and preserve some more of his thinking as times passes and he is able to better assimilate much of which remains to be addressed within his presidency.(less)

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Apr 29, 2012 Margot rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, audio-books, memoir

The two-star rating is for the abridged audio version. There doesn't seem to be an unabridged audio version, and the copy I had was not very forthcoming about the fact that it was abridged -- couldn't find it anywhere on the cover; only suspected since it was only 6 discs long. I would not have listened to it had I known it was abridged.

As far as what was included in the audio version, it was most interesting to learn about Clinton's upbringing and political career before the presidency. I find...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Matt Randall rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First my thoughts on President Clinton. I liked a lot of his economic policy. Didn't like some of his domestic policy. I thought his foreign policy was weak.
That being said, I really like to read the books of people who had an impact on america. One of the things people forget about is the law of unintended consequences. Its easy to stand back now pick certain parts of a legislation and say look at what this did...he meant to do this and cause this or that. Most of the time I don't think that i...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Jeremy Perron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

William Jefferson Clinton is my first president. Well, not really, I was born on July 3, 1981 so my first president was actually Ronald Reagan. The first presidential election that I remember is the 1988 election of George H.W. Bush. However, in many ways, Clinton is my first president. The presidential election of 1992 was the first national election I ever cared about. Coming from a family of Democrats excited for the first chance in sixteen years to capture the White House, Clinton was very m...more

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Apr 15, 2011 Sarah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, read-in-2011

A 1,000 page doorstop. That's the best I can do with this one.

I lived through the Clinton years, I remember a lot of what he discusses in this book. I agreed with some of his policies and disagreed with others, and I was interested to hear his take on his presidency.

I could not stand the number of times that, one way or another, he said, "Well, I would have done XYZ, but I couldn't because of the Republicans." Or, "I tried to, or wanted to, do ABC, but I couldn't because of the Republicans." Mor...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, history

I bought President Bill Clinton's book when it came out in 2004. I started reading it right away, but after a few chapters, it was put back on the shelf. Curiosity made me pick it back up. I didn't expect to read the entire book, but I became fascinated. I learned a lot about him: his accomplishments, his pain, his optimism, his mistakes...

Besides the obvious, (Whitewater, Monica), there were a bunch of things about his life I found interesting, such as his studies in Oxford and the Vietnam War,...more

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May 12, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who are interested in politics or biographies

Shelves: biography-memoir

Bill Clinton wrote about his life from about college age up to Hillary's election to the Senate in this best seller from years ago. As I am deep into spring gardening, I have been searching for all audiobooks that can keep my mind occupied while I work. As a conservative, I wasn't sure I would like this book, but Bill tells his story in an interesting and warm way. He manages to spin things his way, but that is to be expected.

Bill tells how he met Hillary and it is funny to think of the two of t...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Jeffery Moulton added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-books, political, nonfiction

I don't feel qualified to rate this book because I only listened to the abridged audio version, which had obviously undergone some severe cuts (how do your reduce a 1000-page book to less-than 8 hours of audio?). So I feel like I missed out on too much of the book to offer a decent rating. What I heard, I thought was well-written and interesting. I probably would give it 4 stars.

Clinton was president when I was going through high school. The town where I grew up is largely conservative, so pret...more I don't feel qualified to rate this book because I only listened to the abridged audio version, which had obviously undergone some severe cuts (how do your reduce a 1000-page book to less-than 8 hours of audio?). So I feel like I missed out on too much of the book to offer a decent rating. What I heard, I thought was well-written and interesting. I probably would give it 4 stars.

Clinton was president when I was going through high school. The town where I grew up is largely conservative, so pretty much anything I heard about the President in those days was negative. Going into this book, I knew next to nothing about the man who is so respected by so many and so reviled by others. I picked up the book so I could form my own opinions.

In the end, I found that Clinton is human, with his good qualities and his bad. I learned that he had a much different past than I'd envisioned and came to see and respect him as a man of passion and principle. Even if I don't always agree with all his ideas, I was impressed by how he presented them and his reasons for doing many of the things he did while in office.

I was also impressed with his life story—one of rising from humble beginnings to the position of most powerful man in the free world. At the beginning of the book, he says it's a good story. He is right and I had heard next to none of it as a teenager. Clinton's story inspires us to believe that anyone, no matter where they began life, can succeed in this place called America. That is a pretty good story.

Clinton himself is also pretty interesting. Did he make mistakes? Absolutely. We're some of them REALLY bad? Without question. But I liked that he didn't hide from them or spend a lot of time justifying his actions. Instead he admitted them, analyzed why he did something so stupid, and talked about the lessons he took from them. I felt that he was doing his best to overcome his own faults and become a better man You know, kinda like all of us.

I was most fascinated by the parallels of Clinton's time in office with today. Like Obama, Clinton was reviled for the get go, sometimes with reason, but more often simply because he was a Democrat. Like Obama, Clinton was often stonewalled by his opposition for no other reason than that they were instructed to oppose him. Sadly, I think that Obama faces more vilification than Clinton did, but the beginnings of that over-the-top vilification really took root during the Clinton years. It was interesting listening to Clinton, who read the audiobook, talk about some of his opponents. You could often feel his disdain and disgust for some of the things they pulled and you could hear his frustration at not being able to accomplish things because of the constant harping of those that opposed him. I think Obama has the same issue.

In the end, I agreed with Clinton's self-assessment. Clinton is not a good as his staunchest supporters like to believe but not as bad as his harshest critics claim. Like so many of us, he is somewhere in between: imperfect and fallible, but trying to do his best.

I can relate. (less)

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Sep 06, 2012 Jake Kilroy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir, non-fiction, politics

I miss Bill Clinton being in charge. Sure, I was just a kid at the time, but he always seemed like an articulate goof, and that swagger comes across in his book. It's his voice and his opinions, and it's not hokey or boring. He gets it. He gets America, he gets politics, he gets people. The way he sees the world is so damn conversational and, if I could be so lazy, so damn 90s. First of all, he should never have cheated on his wife, but, secondly, that's pretty incredible if that was the general...more

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Really?	17	99	Apr 18, 2013 01:53pm
The History Book ...: 20. MY LIFE ~~ October 24th - October 30th ~~ Chapters FIFTY-THREE and FIFTY-FOUR (865-916); No Spoilers Please	54	23	Dec 29, 2011 06:33am
The History Book ...: 21. MY LIFE ~~ October 31 - November 6th ~~ Chapters FIFTY-FIVE and Epilogue (882 - 957 or end of book); No Spoilers Please	27	31	Dec 29, 2011 06:24am
The History Book ...: 19. MY LIFE ~~ October 17th - October 23rd ~~ Chapters FIFTY-ONE and FIFTY-TWO (839-864); No Spoilers Please	20	18	Dec 22, 2011 06:30am
The History Book ...: 17. MY LIFE ~~ October 3rd - October 9th ~~ Chapters FORTY-SEVEN and FORTY-EIGHT (735-799); No Spoilers Please	54	65	Nov 29, 2011 07:39am
The History Book ...: 9. MY LIFE ~~ August 8th - August 14th ~~ Chapters TWENTY FOUR, TWENT FIVE and TWENTY SIX (331-398); No Spoilers Please	44	31	Nov 28, 2011 06:50am
The History Book ...: 10. MY LIFE ~~ August 15th ~ August 21st ~~ Chapters TWENTY-SEVEN, TWENT-EIGHT and TWENTY-NINE (399-470); No Spoilers Please	29	22	Nov 19, 2011 07:31pm

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About Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III) was the forty-second President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president, older only than Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. He became president at the end of the Cold War, and is known as the first baby boomer president, as he was born in the period after World War II. He is the hu...more William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III) was the forty-second President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president, older only than Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. He became president at the end of the Cold War, and is known as the first baby boomer president, as he was born in the period after World War II. He is the husband of the junior United States Senator from the state of New York and a Democratic candidate in the 2008 US presidential election, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Clinton was described as a New Democrat and was largely known for the Third Way philosophy of governance that came to epitomize his two terms as president. His policies, on issues such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, have been described as "centrist." Clinton presided over the longest period of peace-time economic expansion in American history, which included a balanced budget and a reported federal surplus. Clinton reported a surplus of $559 billion at the end of his presidency, based on Congressional accounting rules. His presidency was also quickly challenged. On the heels of a failed attempt at health care reform with a Democratic Congress, Republicans won control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. In his second term he was impeached by the U.S. House for perjury and obstruction of justice, but was subsequently acquitted by the United States Senate and completed his term. Polls of the American electorate taken at this time showed that up to 70% were against pursuing the allegations. (N Y Times December 21, 1998).

Clinton left office with a 65% approval rating, the highest end-of-presidency rating of any President who came into office after World War II. Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the William J. Clinton Foundation to promote and address international causes, such as treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming. In 2004, he released a personal autobiography, My Life.
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Quotes from My Life

“I learned a lot from the stories my uncle, aunts and grandparents told me: that no one is perfect but most people are good; that people can’t be judged by their worst or weakest moments; that harsh judgements can make hypocrites of us all; that a lot of life is just showing up and hanging on; that laughter is often the best, and sometimes the only response to pain.

Perhaps most important, I learned that everyone has a story – of dreams and nightmares, hope and heartache, love and loss, courage and fear, sacrifice and selfishness. All my life I’ve been interested in other people’s stories. I wanted to know them, understand them, feel them. When I grew up into politics, I always felt the main point of my work was to people a chance to have better stories. - Page 15, Paragraph 5, ‘My Life’ by Bill Clinton. –Hard cover version-” — 30 people liked it

“If you want to live like a Republican, vote like a Democrat.” — 11 people liked it

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