Sam Smith has been one of the most vocal opponents of Clinton from the left, and this 1994 book explains what all is wrong with our president. Intelligent, well-written and well-argued, this is a fine early work on Clintonism. Smith also does a nice job pointing out inherent flaws in our political system that make it rather antipopulist and lead to the likes of Reagan and Clinton. Not as many ideas for change or suggestions as his 1997 Great American Political Repair Manual, but presents some fine thoughts. Well worth reading for a view of American politics other than the one we see on TV, where the Democrats and Republicans are the sole alternatives. I don't always agree with Smith, but he certainly inspires thought.

For those of us who love modern political histories, this a very good book. It examines campaign finance in the real world, with highly detailed and researched insights into how one modern election was approached by candidates and those with money. it has some fascinating inside scoops and details that washington-insiders and those who follow politics closely will love. For example, it examines the role of gingrich and other republicans during the budget debates and government shut-down, providing details I've never heard before (and I read the Wash. Post each day and review articles and books on this subject often.

Bottom line: if you want a good look into how money really corrupts our politicians, and a glimpse into how much power the interest groups have, read this book.

I loved this book. I used it on a term paper on the media's tendency toward scandal and found it very informative and interesting. If you want to understand the games the news media plays and form solid opinions on journalistc ethics, read this book.

Included in this book is some of Micah Morrison's finest work, covering material that has yet to reach the full comprehension of the public, but which someday will seem like the writing on the wall for believers in the American ideals of integrity and individual freedom.

I am not sure what I expected when I started to read this book but this book was certianly not what I expected."American Rhapsody" by Joe Eszterhas uses the Clinton Lewinsky affair as a kind of metaphore for all that is/was wrong (or right if your are Joe Eszterhas) with the Sixties and the Hollywood counter culture, illicit sex, drugs, more drugs, radical polotics, and more illicit sex. I gave this book a second star because it did at times succede in two of it's major goals: 1) It did on occasion make me laugh and 2) It Almost (On occasion) made me, a charter member of the vast right wing conspiracy, feel sorry for Clinton. Make no mistake however, this is NOT a nice book by any means, in fact it is one of the meanist and most vicious books I have ever read. Joe Eszterhas Clearly is a egotistical self centered low life, who has only disdain for anyone who profess' any moral value. Eszterhas spends an entire chapter detailing how he "CREATED" Sharon Stone, ( he wrote "basic instinct"). Then got her to have an affair with his (ex?)friend to breakup his marriage so he could marry his friend's newly ex-wife. He spends another entire chapter blasting Arianna Huffington and her Ex-husband for no apperant reason except that she dared to call for the resignation of Bill Clinton. In a chapter tittled "The Ratwoman and the Bag Lady of Sleeze" (Linda Tripp and Lucciane Goldberg) he wites "To those in Washington who learned of the tight connection between Linda Tripp and Lucciane Goldberg, it made perfect sense, the two of them part of the same sleazy photo: the ratwoman gnawing on her bone in her bunting filled gutter and feeding next to her, the noxious bag lady of sleaze, cigerettes drooping from both their bloodred lips." And liberals say Repulican's are mean spirited? My recommendation for this book, wait for the paperback version, you will save some money and with the exta time to fumigate the stench of the Lewinsky scandal the book might seem a little funnier.

In the age of hypocrisy, defamation of character, finger-pointing, lying, manipulating, dirty tricks, and political warfare known as The Clinton Era, here is a book that tells it all. But guess what, no one can call Joe Eszterhas a member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. He's as far to the left as they come, and this book details exactly why those from the left should despise Bill Clinton and everything he stood for. There's a good reason why Richard Nixon's shadow pops up throughout this narrative. Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon are so similar that it's scary. This book looks at the hope the Flower Children had in Bill Clinton when he was elected President, and then goes on to explain why he was the antithesis of what people like Eszterhas had hoped for in him. Bill Clinton's Presidency, Eszterhas argues, wasn't about any great cause other than Bill Clinton. But Eszterhas doesn't just go after Bill Clinton. Hillary, Al, W., Dole, and others all get the same treatment here. Eszterhas hates hypocrisy and here he goes after it. Unfortunately for America, there is a lot to go after.

Excuse the pun. You'll see why when you read this book.

Man, this book is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, no holds barred, in-your-face account with raw, intimate, superbly described and researched details of events that took place in and around Washington (and Hollywood) prior to, during and after MonicaGate.

MonicaGate is the basis of this book, with snippets of the taped conversations between Tripp and Lewinsky at the beginning of each chapter. But Eszterhas has also given us his reflections on all the juicy, sordid goings-on in Hollywood & Washington as well as his "takes" on the "thoughts" of certain key figures involved in MonicaGate.

Which made me wonder throughout the book: How can he get away with this? Naming everyone's name, giving such intimate and often seemy information of what these people have done and said, exposing everyone and their mamas for the hypocritical, judgemental, pious peons they are. If he gets away with it, it must mean it's true and a lot of it must be documented somewhere or else Eszterhas would be sued to death! I kept asking myself, "Is this true?!? This can't be true!" It's hard to believe the things that go on in front of and behind closed doors! Which makes me say, everyone should read this book just to find out the truth of what went on during some of the most embarrassing incidents in modern American history.

In this book, Eszterhas has brilliantly connected and cross-referenced and revealed and exposed so many of the facts that it has your head reeling and keeps you wanting for more.

My gluttonous (sp?) appetite for more insider's knowledge of what goes on in the upper echelon of power in Washington and Hollywood only whetted.

Mr. Eszterhas, give us another one like this but with your assault rifles targeted on Hollywood. Now that would be delicious!

Sidney Blumenthal explores his Clinton years in a profoundly well written book that resolves many questions a caring reader has about that time.

I chuckle when I read how a reviewer was "a Clinton voter" and then proceeds to take both Sidney and President Clinton apart. Only a school boy couldn't see through this childish ploy which is to justify the ill founded opinions of those writing the review.

Take it from a life long Republican who was forced to leave his party due to the low lifes that now occupy it. This is a great book and the beginning of the more accurate look at just what the Clinton years were all about.

The greatest strength of Blumenthal's book (among its many assets) is its ability to transcend the who, what and why of his engrossing narrative to reveal in the fullest dimension yet the cultural war in America which fueled the relentless attack against our last elected President. In fact, the dimension and endurance of that war are fully apparent in the diverse reviews written here about this book.
To echo other reviewers, Blumenthal deserves thanks for writing the first draft of history...and exposing the prosecutors, pundits and reporters who sullied themselves in their attempted overthrow of American government. Blumenthal trades in what these critics do not--the facts. And thus, for them, the truth certainly hurts.

Just the fact that the right wing neoconservatives are attacking this book should encourage every "independent thinking" American to purchase and read The Clinton Wars. As a progressive liberal I am a thinker, learner, reader, and not a "ideology follower" like most right wing neocons. I don't agree with everything Mr. Blumenthal said in this book but it was a good read and will provide great entertainment in debates and discussions. President Clinton is such an intelligent and powerful leader, His charm and charisma is overwhelming. He is still the most important stateman representing the United States around the world and this is unchallenged. This book reinforces President Clintons ability to manage the most powerful country on earth for eight years, win the hearts, minds of people everywhere and reelection in a landside. With jealous conservatives trying to bring down our democracy and prosperity for the Presidents entire eight years, he withstood the attacks. Mr. Blumenthal's writtings take the media to task and exposes the conservative witch hunt as Starr wasted about 20 million tax dollars and found nothing worth the paper he used. What a sad and embarressing situation this put the right wing in for the entire world to see. This book is attacked for no reason other than to scare people from reading it. Attacks will have the opposite effect. I bought the book because of the attacks as I said earlier. Information is knowledge, information is power. Those who wait for others to tell them what to do are doomed to be followers always. I highly recommend this book if you are open minded and enjoy knowlege and both sides of the issue. Looking forward to Hillery's new book as well.

In spite of all the accusations that Toobin is a DNC lackey and a Clinton apologist (even in the New York Times), I am hard pressed to see where he grants the president any leeway. As an attorney, he carefully distinguishes between legal and ethical questions; as a journalist, he is scrupulous about stating (and hedging) facts. His account is entirely credible, and it appears that he is critical about his sources.

It gets less than a perfect score because Mr. Toobin too often succumbs to the temptation of his own moralizing and gossip, even beyond valid criticism of questionable legal practices here and there. The facts about the individuals speak for themselves.

Undoubtedly, Clinton-haters will also hate this book, since it doesn't support their views. Toobin's main point - that there are political operatives in this country who do not respect the democratic process and instead seek redress in the legal system - is amply demonstrated in the Clinton/Lewinsky/Jones/Whitewater fiasco. This is the real news in this affair, not that presidents have uncontrollable egos (and libidos).

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the whole chain of events and is unafraid of being disgusted even more by everybody.

While the book is not perfect (Toobin doesn't follow up on the full implications of the Conway-Moody link between Kenny Starr's OIC, Linda Tripp and the Paula Jones legal team, for example), it is, as Gene Lyons says in his 01/05/00 review of the book for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the first CoupGate book to hit the shelves that wasn't written by either one of the conspirators or by a certified Clinton-hater. Ergo, it's the first book that actually makes a stab at showing just how reprehensible - how, in fact, evil - was the conduct of the right-wing conspirators.

Among the many fact-filled revelations made in this book, Toobin describes the deals, and who made them, that where promised to the Arkansas State troopers that ultimately led to the impeachment of the President. Hang onto your hats for the Surprise as to who this GOP Big Wig is.

An excellent book - which means, of course, that I largely agree with the author. During the hot heyday of the Clinton sex scandal, when everyone at every water cooler was condemning the president as too immoral to run a country, I often found myself thinking "Isn't this thing a bit overblown?" I wondered whether Clinton's main public critics themselves led pure, flawlessly moral lives, or whether they were also human with a few "skeletons in the closet". I thought about all the previous presidents who'd had extramarital affairs, and wondered how many people, if cornered on TV, wouldn't try to squirm their way out of a Kenneth Starr prosecution/persecution. And ultimately, my strong feeling was that Clinton's fling was a personal or family affair, not a matter of national concern; it might affect his relationship with Hillary, but how much would it affect his ability to run a country?

Reading this book calls to mind another book, which a friend gave me when the CLinton bashers reigned. The book was "Presidential Temperaments", by David Keirsey and Ray Choiniere; this book delves into the psychology of what has made the various United Stetes presidents tick, including how fundamental differences in temperament may lead both the presidents (and us, their judges) to take different stances on issues of "morality".

It is obvious from many posts regarding political book reviews that comments serve more to field a detest for one side of the political spectrum. Liberals, aka Democrats, want to bring up the negativies of Conservatives, aka Republicans, as a means of pointing out that one should not be criticizing when your own back yard has trash in it (Mr. Manges and Mr. Klinges). Conservatives want to embrace any publication that points out the horrors of the Liberal Agenda regardless of the lack of value in said publication (See the many reviews on books by Barbara Olson or the Limbaugh boys). There are many political sites for these opinions, but please do us all a favor and stick to a review of the book and not your unsolicited political opinion.

Mr. Gathercoal's assessment fails to recognize the point of this book. On many levels one can be criticized for their actions. The first Bush Presidency can be justly criticized for the Contra Affair. What Bennett does is to look at the public sentiment towards the "popular" president and why that is disturbing. Mr. Gathercoal's comment "70% of the American public liked Bill Clinton and wanted the case dropped" is just the point that Mr. Bennett is trying to make: that those 70% should have been outraged by the "moral" position taken by Mr. Clinton with regards to his lying to the American public. That is the point of the book, to note that the American public did not utilize a moral code to determine whether or not the President should be supported.

Mr. Bennett does, however, show his Conservative bend at times which can ignite the defense mechanisim in anyone who wonders why, if politicians are so concerened with morality, that they are only so when it is not connected with their political party. For that some of the "liberal reviews" do have merritt when bringing up the failings of the Right. But I think to a greater degree what Mr. Bennett does is to use this incident as a foundation for an attitude about people and politics that we, the American public, should employ not just to the Democrats but to Mr. Bennett's party as well and maybe if Mr. Bennett would turn his pen on his own party he would find that he would be more credible to more people.

The book is well written and you will find yourself able to go through it in one sitting. It is best to come to this book with a mind that is open not to the subject of but rather the philosophy behind why the book was written. Some may not be able to this and it is understandable. If you have a bent towards Moral Relativism then this book will not convince you to change your stripes. It does not work as a harsh philosophical investigation into morality. If you are one who feels that the moral compass of America is off North then this book will justify that sentiment. If you sit somewhere the middle and can read the book without trying to minimalize the attacks by saying "well the other side did this" then I believe you will find some of Mr. Bennett's points worthy of reflection

POST NOTE: A comment to the first person who voted that this review was not helpful: thank you for satisfying the attitude mentioned in my first paragraph. The idea behind a review is to add to the dialogue about the subject, thereby allowing the reader an understanding of content before reading the book. My guess is that your vote was solely based on attitude within the review rather than whether you found the review to be helpful to you in understanding what is occuring between the pages. You might honesty and objectivity to be beneficial to you in your everday life as opposed to walking the "party line" like a mindless automaton.

William Bennett's book was written at the height of the scandals of Bill Clinton, just before his Grand Jury testimony. At the time it came out feelings were running high and Bennett as a political opponent of the president took his share of hits as a "Clinton Hater"

Now four years later with a sober mind and with a much more important things to worry about the arguements made by Bennett make more sense, but his fears it turns out were unfounded.

He soundly refutes the arguements of Clinton's defenders and has a great comparison of Clinton's defenders and Nixon's defenders. His part concerning the Biblical defense of Clinton could easily apply to those defending millitant Islam today.

His worry about what the death of outrage would do to our culture was unfounded the country's response to the attacks of last year proved that without a doubt and outrage and American ideals will live as long as America does. The reason it was wrong was this. Bill Clinton was a small man and America saw that. America doesn't waste its outrage on small things.

This book made me remember what it was like to be proud to be an American. The president's continuing cover-up has been allowed by our country's lack of outrage, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. The Clinton administration's attitude toward those seeking the truth is revealed as what one White House official has dubbed, "our continuing campaign to destroy Ken Starr." William Bennett brings up an interesting fact--The Clinton Justice Department has brought a case that involved lying under oath about oral sex in a civil case to a perjury conviction. In U.S. v. Battalino, the Dept. of Justice prosecuted a Veterans Administration psychiatrist who falsely testified under oath that she did not have a sexual encounter during a June 27, 1991 appointment with Ed Arthur. However, Arthur had recorded phone conversations with his doctor in which she referred to the rendezvous. The doctor pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, was sentenced to one year of probabion, six months of home detention and electronic monitoring, and fined $3,600 for the same crime as our president.

Liberal, but not a socialist. Popular, but not deified. Two terms, but not four. Wife rumored to be a lesbian, but not confirmed to be a lesbian. For all these reasons and many many more, all of them richly explored in this authoritative volume, one can fair-mindedly state that if Bill Clinton were a soft drink, he'd be Diet Roosevelt.

Great taste! Less filling!

It is nearly impossible to think objectively about Bill Clinton, the man or his administration. In THE NATURAL, Joe Klein, the once-anonymous author of PRIMARY COLORS, gives us a concise, balanced history of the Clinton presidency. He provides a fair account of Bill Clinton: we are not spared his self-pity or the scale of his appetites and indulgences, but we also see the seriousness and vision he brought to the nation's leadership.

The Clinton administration had a rocky beginning, noted for its naïve political blunders. Remember Travelgate? How about the mere possibility of universal health care? The Clintons relied heavily on their friends, who were not always the wisest or most capable choices. One of the strengths of THE NATURAL is its portrayal of key relationships. We learn a lot about the former president through Mr. Klein's account of his complex marriage and Mrs. Clinton's formidable, imperfect influence. He also describes the similarities and differences between Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, who led the failed Republican revolution and masterminded one of the nastiest, most counter-productive political arenas in American history.

It is unfortunate that Bill Clinton's comprehensive understanding of economics will not be what history remembers about his presidency. Mr. Klein points out that balancing the budget was a tremendous gamble and the budget surplus Clinton left the next administration was unprecedented. His sound policies --- welfare reform, Internet commerce, the earned income tax credit --- provided a base for financial prosperity that we are unlikely to see again. One of the melancholy notes of the book is the sense of squandered talent and opportunity. What else might Bill Clinton have accomplished if he had not been so distracted?

Bill Clinton was under constant attack from the right wing and the scandal-hungry media. He fended off investigations into his avoidance of the draft during the Vietnam War, his use of marijuana, his finances, his extramarital affairs, his wife's law practice and not one of the fanatics determined to destroy him made the slightest impact until he lied under oath about his affair with a White House intern. Why did he give his assailants such a wealth of ammunition to use against him? How could such a smart man make such a stupid mistake? We may never know what he was thinking, but the disappointment and disillusionment of the president's staff and supporters practically soak through the page.

The strange thing about THE NATURAL is how distant the Clinton presidency seems. September 11, 2001 was a moment of such enormous import in American history that the overwrought peccadilloes Bill Clinton became known for now seem trivial. Bill Clinton never faced a challenge to the presidency like al-Qaeda's attacks; he made his own challenges. It will take a much longer, more in-depth book to really examine Bill Clinton's complicated character, but THE NATURAL captures his administration, a time that is simultaneously recent history and a long time ago.

--- Reviewed by Colleen Quinn

Bill Clinton's presidency was characterised as much by media frenzy as anything else, therefore it is probably appropriate that a journalistic approach to the overall history of his presidency is taken at some stage.
While not a scholarly work, this is a very well written, balanced account of the Clinton years and the major events that shaped his administration. Mr Klein (thankfully) spares us the gory details of Whitewater, the Lewinsky affair and so on and instead presents these scandals in their proper context.
The author makes a convincing case in describing how the landscape of US politics in the 1990's was shaped by trends which began with Watergate. The years of dirt-digging, media hyperbole and inter-party warfare all converged during this period to new levels. In terms of Clinton's own failings, in the author's view the moral self-indulgances which are characteristic of the nation as whole, and which themselves derive from years of prosperity and peace, are epitomised and exemplified by the president.
It's not all doom and gloom however, and Klein presents his case very well in showing the concrete achievements of the Clinton era. There are also great portraits of the other major personalities such as Gore, Gingrich and of course Mrs Clinton.
There may be more exhaustive and analytical accounts of this period to be published and of course it will be some time before Bill Clinton can be placed in his proper historical context, however in the interim this book explains the Clinton years with great insight. Well worth reading.

Love MattDrudge. LoveChrisMatthewsBillOReillyJonahGoldbergGeorgeWillSeanHannityAlanColmesPaulaZahnGeraldoRush. Agree with KenStump: Hard to read, sloppy format, gimmicky style (or none at all). The result is what a hardcover book would look like if a nethead printed off his archived e-mail, dropped the pages, scooped them up and stapled them, out of order, and threw them through a vanity press transom. Bless Julia Phillips for allowing her name to appear (once, inside). One wonders if her compensation for her input was any more than a 39-cent taco. I am a Drudge fan. Drudge fans should buy this book, if only to validate his work, his risks, his values...if only to keep his cat, Cat, in Sheba. But even a big fan must point out that while most of DRUDGE's appeal (websitenotMatt) is its lack of an editorial filter, this book could have stood some blue pencil. Yes, Matt's news stories beat all major media to the punch, but his fans waited ten months...Ms. Phillips could have taken a day or two to skim the galleys. Nonetheless, Matt Drudge shares enjoyable details of his sleep-deprived, door-barricaded, very exciting life, from the first tips of the Lewinsky scandal to his hilarious encounter with Helen Thomas' White House UPI terminal. He spares no one of the "mainstream" media from comment. In fairness, as a fan, I am grateful the writing of this book did not distract much time away from The DRUDGE REPORT. I am also grateful to "the man with the Dickensian name" for sharing this book with his readers. Buy it. Read it. Spam it on.

Matt Drudge, with 'Drudge Manifesto', has proven himself as much of a creative writer as he is a courageous reporter and inspiring internet pioneer. From detailing the days leading to the break of the Lewinsky story, to recounting his first time in the White House press gallery, to telling of his days as a youth growing up in DC, Drudge bares his soul. And he does it in darling fashion.

Untypical of his press peers, Drudge is fun to read -- without a trace of arrogance or liberal bias. He is a genuine Gen X'er, able to relate to readers under 35, who have been raised in this pop-culture era of cynicism and distrust for our institutions of government and media. Despite his cutting-edge philosophy and insight, Drudge has relied on the old-fashioned spirit of the Fourth Estate to rekindle America's appetite for news. That energy, that passion for truth, makes Drudge's book impossible to put down.

Entertaining throughout, 'Manifesto' is just that, as Drudge declares TV and traditional print journalism as "dead, dead, dead." It is just another reason Drudge is feared by the outdated, corporate-run mainstream press corps. But with this dandy of a book, Drudge has made it known to those perched in journalism's ivory towers that he and the internet are here to stay.

Let the future begin.

Drudge's web page is my home page, and I'm always fascinated by how things work and stories about how things came to be. I read this book to learn more about the man behind the dirt, and I wasn't disappointed. It was interesting to learn how he collected his information and how he got started with everything.

From a style perspective, the book is written in a Tom Peters-like snippyrantingincomplete way, although you get used to it. (Certainly anyone who reads The Drudge Report has.)

I always love stories about how the little guy beats the big guy, and this is definitely one of those stories.