All Too Human

by George Stephanopoulos

For four years in the White House and one year of campaigning before that, George Stephanopoulos was rarely more than a few steps from Bill Clinton. As the president's senior adviser, he saw it all - the endless arguments, the back-hall scheming, the protracted decisions, and the last-minute flip-flops that somehow produced real accomplishments but also set in motion an almost tragic series of events that placed the fate of the president in the hands of the Senate. When Stephanopoulos first met Bill Clinton in September of 1991, he was thirty years old, and like so many others before and since, he was dazzled by the brilliance, charisma, lofty goals, and astonishing empathy of this remarkably gifted politician. Here was the perfect star for an ambitious young man to hitch himself to, yet little did he anticipate what an amazing rollercoaster ride it would be - both for the administration and for Stephanopoulos. Throughout the chaos and camaraderie, the breathtaking triumphs and disasters, Stephanopoulos clung to his vision of what a Clinton presidency could be, even as he began to see the hidden, dark compartments in the man that would bring him and the nation to such grief.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, History, Autobiography, Presidents

580 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given this 3 1/2 stars if that had been an option. For a conservative republican like myself, this might seem like a weird book choice, but I found it to be an interesting view of what went on in the Clinton White House. It didn't make me like the Clintons any more or less, but it helped give me a better understanding of who they are. I found Stephanopoulos surprisingly honest about his faults which I appreciated. Had the whole book been about how wonderful he was while working in the White House I probably wouldn't have believed what he wrote. Because he was able to point out his mistakes and make honest assessments of his shortcomings I was able to trust when he did write about the positive things he did. I think when reading material like this you always have to keep in mind that this is the way one person viewed things, it doesn't mean that's exactly how it happened, it's just how they saw it happen and their take on it. Reading this did re-affirm for me that politics is a dirty business.

[Jakub Dovcik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This well-written book is probably the most intimate account of the inner workings of the (Clinton) White House by one of the most senior (albeit youngest) staffers around President Clinton. Stephanopoulos was first a key figure in Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and later, as a Senior Advisor to the President for Strategy and Policy one of the key figures in the "political" office of the White House, and as such, he was in the middle of most of the crucial decisions during the first term of Clinton Presidency. From the famous "War Room" in 1992, through the important budget negotiations in 1993 and 1995 and various other domestic policy initiatives of the Clinton White House, this book provides an extremely detailed look inside the sausage-making of the US government, its scandals and the toll that the working around Clinton took on his staffers.

Notably, Stephanopoulos (and to some degree also Rahm Emanuel who has not written an autobiography, yet) has been the basis for two of my most favourite television characters - Josh Lyman and Sam Seaborn of Sorkin's West Wing (Rob Lowe even mentioned this book as the basis for his preparation for the character). So, if you are a West Wing fan as I am, this will be fascinating, although also a quite depressing read - not least because of the many ways in which Bill Clinton was a deeply flawed man. Stephanopoulos is transparent about his own faults, flaws and failures and one hardly feels as if he was trying to write his narrative more favourably than it ought to be.

Stephanopoulos writes well and in an enjoyable way, but the book feels a bit like his therapeutic exercise. The narrative is extremely detailed, going almost day by day during his years of struggle (1992-1995). His fights with the very strange figure of Dick Morris and the whole of 1995 are explained very intimately - including his insecurities, mental health struggles and relationships with key figures of that time, such as Hillary or Al Gore. When he gets treated for burnout and depression in December 1995, the book picks up the pace and his last year, including the second Clinton campaign is not detailed enough. Similarly, Stephanopoulos does not provide enough detail for things like the core of the Whitewater scandal or the Republican revolution of 1994 - the book is very much only an autobiography, not an account of his times, as some similar books are. his account of the Lewinsky scandal, which was very fresh at the time of the publishing of the book, is also very interesting, especially in light of the fact that Stephanopoulos defended Clinton against the Genifer Flowers accusations in 1992 as well as the early Paula Jones stories.

It would be probably very difficult to find a better account of the infightings, power-plays and small decisions that happen inside the White House, which ultimately influence the large policies affecting millions of people. An interesting, behind-the-scenes picture of relationships between the Clintons, Al Gore and some of the key policymakers of that time, it humanizes a lot of characters of that time. It shows, very much in the spirit of its title, how extremely human is even the highest level of the US government.

[Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read this book with the perspective of time. It seemed as if George Stephanopoulos gave an honest insight to what it was like working in the White House during the Clinton years...the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Mohammed omran · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was so much to enjoy in this - I flew through it. Descriptions of Bill and Hillary's relationship were real and fascinating and I loved how Stephanopoulos freely acknowledged the effect of his work on his mental health. This was such a fascinating look into the interplay between Clinton's personal problems and his political goals - particularly interesting to read about Dick Morris's frightening influence over Clinton. I couldn't get through Clinton's autobiography of his time as President- it was too meandering and each chapter told about a trillion stories. Stephanopoulos' book is how Clinton's should have been written. It gives sufficient detail about legislative fights and scandals borne by the Clinton administration, but doesn't lose you in a vortex along the way. I loved the last line too: if only this good President had been a better man. Perfect summary.

[Matthew FitzSimmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as research for my next book. Stephanopoulous is a terrific writer, which I suppose should come as no surprise. I appreciated his honesty, particularly about his own weaknesses and failures. It gave a tremendous insight into the unrelenting pace and pressure of working in the White House. Not a job for the faint of heart.

[Joanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently I bought this book almost 18 years ago, then forgot I had it. During some recent cleaning, I found it and decided to read it. I must admit up front, I LOVE George Stephanopoulos, much to the chagrin of my right-wing husband who cannot abide him. That said, I enjoyed the inside look at the first Bill Clinton Presidential campaign and the story of George's experience of working in the White House. While I found many of the stories intriguing, some of the writing jumped around so much, that I often had to go back and re-read passages to make sure I was following details properly. Learning more about wacky people like Dick Morris was mind-boggling, but I was sometimes flummoxed by the appearance of other hangers-on in the book. Nevertheless, and I am glad I read it, and while he readily admitted many of his own flaws and insecurities, I came away from reading it liking George even more!

[Frank Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early in the book, Bill Clinton tells George Stephanopoulos that the reason he hired him as his communications director was because he has a good "bullshit detector." Fortunately, that is also an incredibly useful trait in writing a good memoir. In this book, George (it's easier to type) shows that he has an almost preternatural sense for people's virtues and vices, as well as their emotional and intellectual lives. Obviously Clinton during his presidency is a rich subject for such a skilled observer, yet the book is just as much about subjecting himself to his own gimlet eye. As a self-professed "spin doctor," George's communications strategies and quips receive constant and immediate feedback from the national press, and he catalogues his successes and failures, and his own emotional reactions to them, unfailingly throughout. He is almost always sympathetic and understanding of others because he notes his own infatuations with political power and success, and the pitfalls that come with them.

Still, perhaps the best portrayal in the book is the least sympathetic one, but it helps that the man was almost impossible to portray without parody. George describes his first impression of Dick Morris as "a small sausage of a man encased in a green suit with wide lapels," with "the look of a B-movie mob lawyer, crica-1975," but he also saw that his "outfit was offset by the flush of power on his pasty face." Beginning in late 1994, George noted that some new phrases were creeping in Clinton's conversations. George, who controlled the paper flow sent to the President, usually could tell where in the docket the President's ideas came from, but he did know that "monitoring Clinton's phone calls was nearly impossible," and it seemed Clinton was suddenly getting some new outside advice. It turned out that advice came from Clinton's old frenemie Dick Morris. For the next two years, Morris dominated the White House as no one else had, and George, with an honest mixture of amazement, jealousy, and disbelief, obviously has some fun describing the amoral puppet master at his height. At one point during the Bosnian crisis, Morris claimed he didn't care about the slaughtered Bosnians, finally shouting "so what?" which he "roared in a guttural tone that made me feel I had exorcised a demon from the darkest corner of his soul. 'I want to bomb the shit out of the Serbians to look strong.'" Characteristically, this causes George to wonder how far apart he really is from Morris, how he himself, in his more interior moments, began to wonder how his own perception of the public good was clouded by what he knew would make Clinton successful politically.

By the conclusion though, George is most angry at Clinton himself, not because he thinks he was a bad President, but because he knew Clinton's personal failings kept coloring and damaging his own enormous achievements. After spending years dealing with the "bimbo eruptions" caused by Clinton's past dalliances, his "bullshit detector" was quick to divine that the early reports about Monica Lewinsky were true, and that Clinton was lying through his teeth about it. After putting so much of his own time and credibility on the line defending the man from both reasonable and unreasonable claims, George couldn't help but feel angry that Clinton would throw so much away for such a petty sexual conquest. In the end, he finds himself "wondering what might have been - if only this good president had been a better man." It's a fitting analysis from a skilled observer of the human drama, who just happened to be, for a short period, near the pinnacle of human power.

[Vivek · Rating 3 out of 5]

George Stephanopoulos was an essential part of Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, and of his white house staff during the first term. In this book, Stephanopoulos recounts what it was like being such a crucial adviser and his experiences working for the Clintons. There is also a bit in the beginning about about how George got into politics in the first place.

I found this book fascinating for the first half, and then it seemed to drag a little bit. But this reflects his experience - the excitement of the campaign and the first couple of months in the white house before it became a daily grind. There are a lot of interesting insights into what its like serving in a such a high level staff position to the President, as well as into just how Clinton ran his White House - far from perfectly. By the end, you get a good idea of what it must have been like to be in Stephanopoulous' shoes, and how much the job that he has held entails and must take out of you. The book is also very well written - the author has a way with words.

Anyone who is a fan of the TV-series "The West Wing" will get a special kick out of this book, as you see how Sorkin (the screenwriter) obviously based many of the happenings in his episodes on what really happened (indeed, he admitted that he based Rob Lowe's character Sam Seaborn on Stephanopoulos, and that he used stories he found in this book).

[Lukasz Pruski · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Two months later, two nights before Clinton's final presidential debate [...] 'The prep went well today,' I said. 'We're ahead of schedule. If you have a solid night Wednesday, the election is over.'"

Wednesday, October 16, 1996. The second presidential debate between Bill Clinton, the incumbent, and Bob Dole, the Republican nominee. My University hosted the debate and I even received a diploma for providing help with the mathematical aspect of the preparations' logistics. Alas, George Stephanopoulos, the author of All Too Human. A Political Education (1999), does not report on the debate itself.

This is the seventh item in my recent series of reads and Goodreads reviews of books on the presidential politics in the US at the end of the 20th century. The links to the reviews of the other six titles are shown at the bottom of this page.

All Too Human is a tale of love for politics, a tale told by an addict of politics. Mr. Stephanopoulos admits that the thing he cherishes perhaps the most is to be where history is made. He writes about his

"[...] desire to inhabit the smallest ring of the inner circle."

About his job at the White House he writes:

"[...] I held a relatively amorphous job that was an amalgam of political troubleshooter, public-relations advisor, policy expert, and crisis manager. [...] So much of the excitement of being a White House aide comes from having the chance to be a witness to history, and to feel like you're making it."

All Too Human is a great read: well-written, engaging, entertaining, highly educational, and it sounds authentically personal.

Several fascinating stories are the focal points of the memoir: preparations for the Clintons 1992 60 Minutes interview, the author's first press conference as the White House communications director, and the absolutely riveting story about selecting a Supreme Court nominee to fill the retiring Justice Byron White's seat. The constantly changing dynamic of the "contest" between Mario Cuomo and Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an edge-of-the-seat reading. Readers interested in "scandals" will also get their fill: the Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones affairs are well reported.

However, to me, the most stunning aspect of the memoir is that the last one hundred pages, almost one-fourth of the entire volume, is basically dedicated to the persona of Dick Morris, the author's arch-enemy among Bill Clinton's staff as well as an occasional tactical ally. The author writes:

"[Dick Morris] was the dark buddha whose belly Clinton rubbed in desperate times."

And later:

"From December 1994 through August 1996, Leon Panetta managed the official White House staff, the Joint Chiefs commanded the military, the cabinet administered the government, but no single person more influenced the president of the United States than Dick Morris."

Mr. Morris' role at the White House remains the focus of the story until one of the last pages of the book:

"Panetta took Dick's chair and gave a perfunctory, thirty-second 'Now that Dick is gone...' speech. That was that. I was there. Dick wasn't. I had won. But Man, I thought, this is one cold-blooded business we're in".

I highly recommend this book! The last item in my list below is Mr. Morris' take on the story; it is also a worthwhile read, yet I find it weaker and more biased than Mr. Stephanopoulos' work.

Four stars.

Other books on the US presidential elections and politics that I have recently reviewed on Goodreads:

David Gergen, Eyewitness to Power. The Essence of Leadership from Nixon to Clinton ,
H.R. Haldeman, The Ends of Power,
Lesley Stahl, Reporting Live,
Tom Rosenstiel, Strange Bedfellows.
Bob Woodward, The Choice: How Bill Clinton Won
Dick Morris, Behind the Oval Office. Winning the Presidency in the Nineties. .

[Geoffrey Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Michael Isikoff’s “ Uncovering Clinton”, which focused on the tawdry Monica Lewinsky—Paula Jones—Linda Tripp story, I continue to be fascinated by the Bill Clinton enigma. So I decided to get an insider’s look at the first four years of the Clinton presidency. George Stephanopoulos joined the Clinton campaign in 1991, weathered the early storms during the battle for the Democratic nomination ( including the Gennifer Flowers incident, the lack of honesty over Clinton’s draft status in 1969). He then served as “ senior adviser” from 1992-1996. The book is a lot about Stephanopoulos himself, his tangles with the media, the constant rivalries amongst senior staffers vying for access to the president, and the turbulent early years of the Clinton mandate. From the failed health care initiative to the tax and budget reforms to the rise of Newt Gingrich and the “ Contract with America”, we are reminded of the many storms the administration faced, and the countless hours staffers put in to help batten down the hatches. The portrait that emerges of Bill and Hillary Clinton is far from flattering. Clinton plays off advisers against each other, using access to meetings and his office as a weapon to reward some and punish others. Hillary is hyper-protective of her husband, and quick to see conspiracies everywhere. Having once worked as a political staffer at a more modest level, the account of the day-to-day management of the media, of elected officials in your own party and across the floor, is interesting and rings true. But I did not get answer to my own question about decoding the Clinton enigma. Despite the challenges and disappointments, Stephanopoulos but his personal life on hold to serve Bill Clinton, to witness his successes but also to look at the darker side, where truth was elastic and elusive.

[Chunyang Ding · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up on a steady diet of ABC, NPR, and PBS. I would remember watching Charles Gibson on World News and Jim Lehrer on NewsHour right afterwards. And then every now and then, I would see this funny guy with a long last name show up and make commentary on W.'s white house.

George Stephanopoulos really has an amazing work ethic, and is so incredibly dedicated in everything he does. Growing up in the 2000s, I was never truly familiar with the Clinton administration and the multiple scandals, victories, and defeats of that era. The writing in this book is lucid and tight, with just enough starpower and name-dropping to make you feel like a beltway insider. I was particularly surprised by the back and forth between the press and the white house.

Especially in today's age, it's been boggling to me where the white house leaks typically come from. But reading through this memoir, and especially seeing Stephanopoulos and his relationship with Dick Morris, you get a better sense for where these feuds can end up going.

Really excellent read; highly recommend.

[Shawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in learning about Clinton, as I was in high school when he first became President. At the time, I didn't really pay much attention to him, or his office.

This was an interesting perspective because it's written by a man on the inside. It actually confirmed much of what I believed about the Presidency: candidates can make many promises, but once in office, newfound knowledge can sometimes make it hard to follow through. In addition, this book is a good balance of the man and the Office, and how the two intermingle.

Like many history books, this one was a little dry. It took me almost six weeks to finish. But, I came away with a greater understanding of politics, politicians, and those who work for them. My conclusion is that I would not do well in that arena, so it's a good thing I changed my major from PolySci after the first semester of college.

[Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book shows readers what the political life of the Clinton White House was like. It's striking how ephemeral political power and influence was and how it relied on so many "soft" events like conversations and appearances.

Stephanopoulos rose quickly in influence during the Clinton campaign, but his power and purpose waned throughout the presidency. Clinton seemed to value Stephanopoulos most as a political confidante, so his role was always somewhat vague. Then later when Stephanopoulos talked too much to Bob Woodward, Hillary especially lost trust in Stephanopoulos and he began to be more excluded from inner conversations. Then Dick Morris dealt the final blows as he insinuated himself into the president's inner circle (and against Hillary's wishes).

[Amy Hillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while pregnant with Abby (so 10+ years ago) and came across it again recently. I enjoyed this book immensely. It is well written, cleanly told, and you get such a beautiful insider's perspective on life in DC and how it can unravel a man and his soul. He paints his demise from a healthy idealist to a jaded, neurotic, depressed political aide so well, it reads like a novel.

To me, this is a political must-read for anyone who lived through and studied the Clinton-era. (Wait - with Hil as SOS - are we still in a Clinton-era? I'm so confused.)

[Jim B · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the country went through the Clinton years, I mainly got my slant from Republican sources. It was interesting to compare events I remember as being evidence of the evil of the Clintons with the Stephanopoulos' close up view that things were very dysfunctional. He blames Hillary's lawyer-honed aggressive instincts for Bill Clinton's worst political missteps. Stephanopoulos describes his evolution from blind trust to disappointment and anger and finally resignation to Clinton's flaws and admiratin for his achievements.

[Dean Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading George Stephanopoulos' "All Too Human" I am certain that the five years he spent as Chief Adviser to Bill Clinton were the equivalent of riding on the tail of a speeding comet as it streaked across the political skies.

As I read, I was amazed how Stephanopoulos, the accomplished "Spin Doctor" was capable of telling a gritty, authentic and genuine feeling story. Every chapter was filled with well described "scenes" from the Clinton presidency.

A very well written biography that I'm certain will stand the test of time.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I was his altar boy, hoping to serve peace by serving my president.”

George Stephanopoulos writes about his time in the Clinton campaign and White House. He also talks about his hero worship and subsequent disillusionment.

[Jay Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty fair-minded piece. Both intimate & objective. I wish more political memoirs read like this one instead of being agenda-driven and apologist.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Spoiler Alert

"All Too Human" by  George Stephanopoulos serves as a young yet powerful political consultant's experience inside the presidential administration of former United States President Bill Clinton. The presentation is largely early presidential career biography with firsthand storytelling for Stephanopoulos in his early 30's, from transition to the 1992 campaign for president through much of Clinton's first of two terms as United States President in 1996. This book gives insight into much of Stephanopoulos' role within the campaign, the first term administration, and offers the political junkie a lens through which to see a layperson's view into the day-to-day of becoming, then serving, inside a presidential administration.

George Stephanopoulos spends much of "All Too Human" apologizing for his actions in serving idealism and ambition as a political aide to the most powerful person in the world. He ends up confessing to an endless compromise of pragmatic decisions that wound up undercutting the good fight for an agenda that he, Stephanopolous wanted for the administration of 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Much of my motivation for reading the book, which I started last fall when I thought that Clinton would wind up in the White House again as First Gentleman, was to reacquaint myself with the dynamic of both Bill Clinton and former U.S. Senator and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Getting to know them more, through the eyes of somebody near the inside for the better part of five years, seemed like a way to gain insight.

Truth be told, I struggled through much of the second part of the book because I lived so much of the Bill Clinton presidential narrative the first time around. The nature of the advice and council that Stephanopoulos offered never really is addressed in the book, though largely I think his role was to be a voice in the room, understand the moods of the president and his wife while serving as a buffer for them, and to sometimes help as speechwriter.

It was interesting to see how Stephanopoulos was played a bit, within the evaluation of the Clintons and others, for bad council that Stephanopoulos had given in offering background for Bob Woodward's book The Agenda. It was interesting to see how Stephanopoulos butted heads with Dick Morris, who championed much of the re-election campaign for Bill Clinton's second presidential term by moving the president from many Democratic Party positions in America towards, at the time, more Republican Party positions.

I sense from Stephanopoulos own account that he never came to grips with accepting, if even understanding, much of why the Clintons needed Morris for getting a second term. I think this was evidence that fed the narrative feeling of the tale; the tale of of George Stephanopoulos losing some degree of influence and idealism and suffering over the loss of the moral platform that he felt he shared with former president Bill Clinton.

Overall, the presentation was clearly and forthrightly told. While difficult to stay with at times, I found myself entertained. My rating for the book is 3-stars out of 5 stars.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanopoulos published his memoir in 1999, and reading it today gives a fascinating glimpse back in time to what the animating ideas of the Clinton presidency were and the thoughts at the time on the various legislative victories and defeats, as well as the burgeoning scandals that would come to engulf the presidency and forever color the popular view of Clinton.

GS is not setting out to write any kind of comprehensive history. He isn't a scholar and his book is very much focused on his own personal experiences and feelings during the years 1991 through 1996. He is an able storyteller and for political junkies he makes us feel like we too are sitting in some of the back rooms where key decisions on tactics or strategy are being hashed out. He is close enough to the Clintons that he has a real sense of what motivates them, but he is not their friend, as he makes clear early in the text. They work together and are close as colleagues but he meets them as campaign staff and a professional distance always separates them.

Much of GS's work had to do with media relations and naturally that becomes a focus of the book, as he recounts his arguments with reporters over early incidents like the Gennifer Flowers scandal and the controversy surrounding the firing of employees of the White House travel office. The reader gets a real sense of the difficulty of the job, not only because you must interact with the press without always knowing what type of story they may be pursuing, but also because you are being fed incomplete information from your own boss in such a way that may embarrass you down the line. Trying to manage both sides of this equation gives us a lot of the tension in the book.

GS is also quite open about the toll of the job on your personal life and mental health. There's a reason that many White House staffers elect to step down after the first term, and it's not just to collect a paycheck from a big lobbying firm. The stresses of these kinds of high profile jobs are unrelenting.

While GS would describe himself as not really a policy wonk, it is also interesting to read this book as a key to what the Clinton White House at the time thought to be its biggest priorities, and what fights it was rope-a-doped into unwillingly. The discussion around gay Americans in the military is an especially strange (queer, you might say) look back into an issue where the politics have changed so radically that it is hard to even understand anymore. The conversations around the budgets of 1993 and 1994, while perhaps not as high-salience reading these days, is very absorbing for the types of people who are likely to be picking up this book at this late date.

Finally, the depiction of the role of Dick Morris as a kind of Rasputin-esque figure are amusing and lend a real shade of darkness to the discussion of what lengths Clinton was willing to go to in order to preserve his own popularity and ensure re-election.

I try not to make a habit of reading too many gossipy insider accounts of politics, but as far as these kinds of books go, this one has a lot going for it.

[William Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful perspective from someone who sat at the table with Bill Clinton while he was a president under the gun. This is one of the first political memoirs I ever read---maybe the first.

I remember it fondly.

He's right that impeachment was a tool in the 90s for the opposition party to commit mischief.

The same is true now. Since the Clinton presidency, the opposition party in Congress has used impeachment---or its threat---to undermine duly elected presidents.

This is unlikely to stop after this year's election.

As the book details, Republicans impeached Democrat Bill Clinton in 1998 for his indiscretions with a White House intern and his associated perjury. Clinton’s offenses were real: having sexual relations with an intern was reckless and beneath the presidency. And lying under oath was technically criminal. But the Republicans’ multi-year, $52 million impeachment spectacle was ridiculously disproportionate.

Two decades later the Democrats overreached. Again, Trump’s offenses weren’t trivial: pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden was reckless. But Democrats undermined the process from the beginning by transparently obsessing over ousting Trump, rather than finding out what really happened. Many key questions about the underlying events remain unanswered.

The Senate acquitted both Clinton and Trump. And neither attempt to remove a sitting president will look good in the eyes of history. Trump's second impeachment---surrounding his post-election misbehavior---by contrast, was completely justified.

Impeachment is a limited Constitutional mechanism that Congress should pursue only with temperance and discretion. Only clear “high crimes and misdemeanors” under the Constitution’s Impeachment Clause should trigger impeachment proceedings. If Congress was respecting the Constitution, then impeachment would be a last resort, not a first impulse.

Revisiting this book is a solid reminder of the perils of aggressive impeachments, and of the Clinton presidency itself.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a birthday present shortly after it was published in 1999. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit it took me 22 years to finally read it. I'm glad I waited.

George Stephanopoulos was subjected to intense criticism when 'All Too Human' was published. Critics slammed his tone as moralizing. Clinton loyalists said he was a Brutus to the man who made his career. Both of these criticisms had merit at the time.

Now, Bill and Hillary Clinton are off the political stage and Stephanopoulos is well into his second successful career as a broadcast journalist. With time comes perspective and, in my view, Stephanopoulos’ memoir has withstood the test of time. All these years later, ‘All Too Human' reads as a vivid first draft of history.

What makes 'All Too Human' a rewarding read is the frankness in which Stephanopoulos critiques himself: sometimes harshly, almost always honestly, and often in bracing tones. He writes openly of his conflicts of conscience, his battle with depression and anxiety, his complicated relations with both Clintons, the compromises one makes in pursuit of winning (see his sections on Dick Morris), and the toll exacted by the brutal bloodsport of American politics.

For this and the engaging style in which 'All Too Human' is written, Stephanopoulos' memoir ranks high in my estimation as both a political and personal memoir.

‘All Too Human’ very much lives up to its title.

[Samarth Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Years later, that image sticks with me - not as a counsel of despair or an excuse for cynicism, but as a reminder to be humble about the promise of politics and the potential of government. Because I believe in original sin, because I know that I’m capable of craving a cold beer in a village of starving kids, because I understand that selfishness views for space in our hearts with compassion, I believe we need government - a government that forces us to care for the common good when we don’t feel like it, a government that helps us channel our better instincts and checks our bad ones. But I also believe in containing government and tempering the claims make for it.” (20)

“Camus spoke to me that night in a passage eI had carried in a notebook for years: ‘Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children. And if you don’t help us, who else in the world can help us do this?’” (105)

“‘We’re going through Stockman’s revenge,’ he said at a September budget meeting, referring to Reagan’s budget director David Stockman’s insight that even if supply-side economics didn’t balance the budget, the deficits created by their tax cuts would create persistent resistance to all government spending.” (387)

[Stuart Woolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a well-written account of the Clinton Administration in its first term, with fascinating insights into the inner workings of Washington. It is also a memoir written by Clinton's media man soon after he left office; for this reason, I am both appreciative of and suspicious of its candor.

I would not characterize this book, as others have, as one man's progression from an idealistic youth to a hardened adult constrained by reality. George Stephanopoulos is simply too opportunistic - from start to finish. (His concern that Clinton drifted too far to the right after the 1994 midterms does not strike me as sincere: G.S. reminds me of the kind of man who would have worked for a segregationist in another era.)

There is also too much of a focus on Beltway chatter for my tastes, but George Stephanopoulos was, in part, Clinton's media liaison, and it reveals an enduring component of the presidency. (It would seem, in the era of fake news, the role of newspapers has diminished, while the role of cable has blossomed, but it is the same relationship with the media.) In any case, Clinton was criticized for his poll-testing and his air of insincerity, and it likely hurt the careers of both his vice president and his wife (twice).

Despite these criticisms, it is an insightful and fascinating book. Definitely one of the better books I have read about Washington.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Stephanopoulos on Bill Clinton: "Clinton's compassion was involuntary, fully felt yet entirely existential, an instinctive empathy so ingrained that he communicated commitment even when he thought he was creating space. He couldn't control the bend of his neck, the fold of his lower lip, or the earnest curl of his forefinger any more than he could pace the beat of his heart or the blink of his eye. His mind, however, never stopped calculating, playing the angles, figuring the outs. Read him his words, and he'd show you the loopholes."

As a millennial liberal who always assumed that the trope of the Clintons as values-free mercenaries who just wanted power for power's sake was an unfair creation of right-wing talk radio... I don't know, guys, they both come across here like they would probably sell Chelsea's right kidney if a pollster told them it slightly improved their election chances.

[Asa Render · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone truly interested in the modern political landscape need look no further. Even as a conservative, I was encouraged to overlook my bias and buy into his fantastic writing, storytelling ability, and honesty. I do not know how this would play out for someone not as interested in politics, but I very much enjoyed following his journey to the top of the Clinton White House.

The most important praise I have to echo about this book is its honesty. George does not shy away from disclosing stories or transcripts that are not flattering to himself. To a fair degree, he is transparent about his biases and the moral predicaments he encounters daily on the job. I am not sure how much he spun, but he, at the least, did not shy away from sharing some embarrassing moments, and failures he made.

P.S. I would have given this book a 4.5 If I could've.

[Heidi Thorsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might have found this more interesting had I read it closer to the publication date. Now, so many decades removed from the action described, I'd read about events with an, "oh yeah, I kind of recall reading something about that in the news" thought instead of a more enlightened reaction.

Nevertheless, I thought this book was interesting because of the young age at which Stephanopoulos was influential within the White House. So many memoirs are written by retired men reviewing their career during their middle age, while this was a middle-aged man reviewing his work as a young man. The perspective is not one I'd read before, and can recommend the book for anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at politics for that reason alone.

[Sahil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted to read this after watching this amazing clip from The War Room: https://youtu.be/V8hIPyyB16U . Weaving together denial, threats, flattery, and bribery .. the guy is an artist.

I had no idea the Clinton White House was such a clown show. The Dick Morris parts sound more insane than Nancy Reagan's fortune teller. I would have liked to learn more about how he actually did his work in the White House -- kinda felt like he was running around all day coming up with off-the-cuff responses to the latest crisis. But how did he decide what to focus on, what kind of research & prep was involved, did he work with a team, etc.

I wonder how Stephanopoulos feels about being out of the game now -- maybe he wanted to be a celebrity more than have political impact all along.

[Myra · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This is not at all the sort of book I'd usually pick up, but I found it in a LFL and thought maybe it would be interesting. And it was, in parts. I don't generally care for biography/autobiography/memoir and I really don't care about political theory. I did find the part of the book that involved Clinton's campaign and very early days in office quite interesting. I'm still amazed that Stephanopoulos managed to get the job he got and to keep it as long as he did. However, once Clinton got in office in the book, I really stopped being interested.

If you like this type of stuff, this would be a great book. If you only have a passing interest, you'll find it long and dry.

[Jeff Bobin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written shortly after leaving the Clinton White House where he served in a couple of roles at the pinnacle of power it provides an inside look at Clinton's first term.

Looking at the campaign to win the presidency and that first term with the highs and lows of relationships within the White House, the legislature, the press and many others.

What made this most powerful for me was the number of times where the author talked about his mistakes, inexperience and the impact that had, as well as his personal struggles.

For those interested in getting a look at how the press treats anyone in the Oval Office is is worth the read.