Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2
Book reviews for "Jones,_James_Clinton" sorted by average review score:

The Soul Care Bible Experiencing And Sharing Hope God's Way
Published in Paperback by Nelson Bibles (10 June, 2001)
Authors: Tim Clinton, Edward Hindson, George Ohlschlager, and Timothy Clinton
Amazon base price: $24.99
Used price: $8.00
Buy one from zShops for: $7.00
Average review score:

Soul Care Bible Hits the Mark!
Outstanding Bible. Loaded with information to help people in various crisis situations. Very importantly, this Bible provides lots of scripture so that people in these situations can turn to several places in the Bible and see how God delivered those in similar situations. This Bible is also great for pastors, lay counselors, and others who desire to help people build a spiritual foundation as they address their life issues.

Finally a Counseling Bible
This Bible is a great asset to anyone in a counseling ministry. Articles about specific counseling issues such as raising children, divorce recovery, sexual abuse, guilt, eating disorders, and many more are included in the text. Even more numerous are the "soul notes" interspersed throughout the text. These notes explain how certain verses pertain to the counseling topics. Another outstanding feature of the Bible is the extensive index which enables the reader to locate the articles, soul notes and verses about a given topic. Definitely a wonderful version of the Bible.

A Lay Counseling Must!
Covers a wide variety of topics which a lay counselor might encounter. Format is easy to follow and very effective at getting the point across. Great resource for anyone wanting to help people.


Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press (1992)
Authors: Catherine Clinton, Nina Silber, and James M. McPherson
Amazon base price: $21.50
Used price: $4.35
Buy one from zShops for: $6.00
Average review score:

Gender Wartime Crisis in a Historical Perspective
Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War is a collection of essays pertaining to the crisis in gender relations that accompanied the Civil War in America. As a collection, the essays present a narrative that chronicles the various impacts on gender that affected men and women, the North and the South, as well as slaves and non-slaves. What emerges is a cohesive body of text that is informative, illuminating, and instructive. The themes most explored in this volume are those of empowerment through abolitionism. In The Civil War as a Crisis in Gender Relations by Leann Whites, the two groups most perceptive of the gender crisis were Northern feminists and black abolitionists. During the Civil War, the public status of motherhood increased. This leads to another theme that will later be explored in following essays, that of the State as family. In this first essay, Leann Whites argues that the Civil War created circumstances for gender equality, both diminishing white Southern male masculinity and increasing black manhood. Ideas of manhood during the Civil War are further investigated in Part II and in Reid Mitchell's Soldiering, Manhood, and Coming of Age: A Northern Volunteer. The journey from civilian to soldier was mirrored in the transition from boyhood to manhood, and the constitution of manhood evolved as a delicate balance of masculinity and manly restraint. During the Civil War, the body politic as well as the army assumed familial ties to facilitate solidarity. Despite the changes in notions of manhood, for the black male population the "empowerment" was not always beneficial. Jim Cullen's Gender and African-American Men details how conceptions of black manhood changed during the Civil War, with the mastery over one's own body leading to mastery in warfare. Despite being placed on some of the most dangerous fronts, black soldiers endured low pay and high disease in exchange for their mastery over their bodies. In Part III of Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War, the themes move from issues of manhood to those relating to women. In Arranging a Doll's House: Refined Women as Union Nurses author Kristie Ross writes about female volunteers on hospital transports, and she draws from the familial theme by presenting the hospital transport as the rearrangement of a doll's house to appear domestic. Ross also reveals a sense of agency for women volunteers, claiming that many felt "...an eagerness to seize an occasion to escape the routine pattern of their lives and a familiarity with genteel standards of household organization." (101) Lyde Cullen Sizer's Acting Her Part: Narratives of Union Women Spies also deals with the issue of female agency during the Civil War, but Sizer further examines the repercussions women felt depending on whether they were white or black. For white women spies, their efforts were more dramatic than substantial, whereas for black abolitionists like Harriet Tubman the cause and consequences of being a spy were much more realistic. Sizer's essay is also an attempt to place female spy narratives in a literary context from which they have been excluded. Of all the essays in Divided Houses, none is more colorful and titillating than Michael Fellman's Women and Guerrilla Warfare. Through his dramatic prose, Fellman explores how peacetime morality was subverted through guerrilla warfare, with male guerrilla fighters attacking traditional values while physically attacking women. Fellman, doubtless, is presenting a form of psychological history by claiming "there was also an additional element here of bad boys acting out against a nagging, smothering mother." (151) For many Kansas guerrilla regiments during the Civil War, the "freeing" of slaves was an act of defiance rather than a moralistic pursuit. Guerrilla warfare finally reinforced the need for love, security, and family. The fourth part of Divided Houses closely examines dynamics on the Southern homefront. Peter Bardaglio's The Children of Jubilee: African-American Childhood in Wartime explains how prior to the Civil War, slave children were age-segregated but not gender-segregated. With freedom as a concept first emerging for many slaves during the Civil War, play activities among children became more gendered. Martha Hodes's Wartime Dialogues on Illicit Sex: White Women and Black Men further draws on the theme of black male power as a political issue emerging during the Civil War, which consequently led to sexuality itself becoming a political issue. With most yeoman farmers at war, the homefront became a location for "illicit" sex as well as the performative stage for class discord. The Southern states were not the only ones to feel the impact on gender relations that the Civil War created: Part V examines gender issues on the Northern homefront with Patricia R. Hill's Writing Out the War: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Averted Gaze. In Part VI, essays examine how the politics of Reconstruction became gendered, with Northern women beginning to campaign for the vote and new labor opportunities for African-American men and women. In spite of these advances, however, the ruling classes in the South still attempted to exert authority and black women were still subjected to southern white male violence, as evidenced in Catherine Clinton's concluding essay, Reconstructing Freedwomen. Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War is a combination of various historiographical methodologies; cultural, social, psychological, intellectual and political, which simultaneously present a coherent and evocative study of wartime's affect on gender relations. In addition to mapping themes in gender relations during war, narratives of women's undertaking of professional and managerial duties while men were fighting in the Civil War provides a historical anchoring of the themes of female labor that were to arise again during the First, and especially Second, World War.


James Madison (Encyclopedia of Presidents)
Published in Paperback by Children's Book Press (1988)
Author: Susan Clinton
Amazon base price: $6.95
Used price: $3.00
Average review score:

The most informative juvenile biography of James Madison
I have read that there is a second series of the Encyclopedia of Presidents, and I certainly look forward to seeing these informative juvenile biographies redone with better production values. These volumes always look to me like they were printed in the Fifties, which is actually three decades off of the reality. The cover paintings are rather cartoonish and all of the illustrations inside are in black & white so there is able room for improvement in how the book looks. However, if you are looking for information about a particular president, this is a very solid series from start to finish.

All of the books in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series begin in media res, in the epic tradition of Homer, with a highpoint from the President's career. In the case of James Madison we are talking about his role in American history as the Father of the Constitution. This means that Madison's greatest achievement in life was accomplished long before he was elected President, a truth usually reserved for war hero generals (e.g., Zachary Taylor and James Garfield) and Herbert Hoover (best Secretary of Commerce we have ever had). This is also reflected by the fact that Clinton devotes only two of the book's ten chapters to Madison's two terms in the White House, one for the First Term and the other for the defining event of his Presidency, The War of 1812.

The illustrations are mostly etchings and paintings contemporary to the life of Madison, including a couple of political cartoons, which are always a treat. But the chief strength here is the biographical detail. Clinton does a good job of contextualizing the Constitutional Convention and emphasizing the pivotal role played by Madison in the writing and adoption of the nation's most important political document. As far as juvenile biographies go this is not the first book I would recommend to a student, particularly a younger one, but once they have picked up a basic understanding of Madison's life and times from a smaller book, then this one is great for providing additional details and a more advanced understanding of Madison's importance as a Founding Father.


James Madison: Fourth President of the United States (Encyclopedia of Presidents)
Published in School & Library Binding by Children's Book Press (1987)
Author: Susan Clinton
Amazon base price: $27.00
Used price: $1.99
Buy one from zShops for: $20.49
Average review score:

The most informative juvenile biography of James Madison
I have read that there is a second series of the Encyclopedia of Presidents, which I look forward to seeing these informative juvenile biographies redone with better production values. These volumes always look to me like they were printed in the Fifties, which is actually three decades off of the reality. The cover paintings are rather cartoonish and all of the illustrations inside are in black & white so there is able room for improvement in how the book looks. However, if you are looking for information about a particular president, this is a very solid series.

All of the books in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series begin in media res, with a highpoint from the President's career. In the case of James Madison we are talking about his role in American history as the Father of the Constitution. This means that Madison's greatest achievement in life was accomplished long before he was elected President, a truth usually reserved for war hero generals (e.g., Zachary Taylor and James Garfield) and Herbert Hoover (best Secretary of Commerce we have ever had). This is also reflected by the fact that Clinton devotes only two of the book's ten chapters to Madison's two terms in the White House, one for the First Term and the other for the defining event of his Presidency, The War of 1812.

The illustrations are mostly etchings and paintings contemporary to the life of Madison, including a couple of political cartoons, which are always a treat. But the chief strength here is the biographical detail. Clinton does a good job of contextualizing the Constitutional Convention and emphasizing the pivotal role played by Madison in the writing and adoption of the nation's most important political document. As far as juvenile biographies go this is not the first book I would recommend to a student, particularly a younger one, but once they have picked up a basic understanding of Madison's life and times from a smaller book, then this one is great for providing additional details and a more advanced understanding of Madison's importance as a Founding Father.


About Face: A History of America's Curious Relationship With China, from Nixon to Clinton
Published in Hardcover by Knopf (1999)
Authors: Jim Mann and James H. Mann
Amazon base price: $30.00
Used price: $10.29
Collectible price: $10.59
Buy one from zShops for: $19.94
Average review score:

A Sharp Eye on China
If you want to know what is wrong with American policy towards China, there is no better place to start than James Mann's superb "About Face: A History of America's Curious Relationship with China, From Nixon to Clinton."

As a skilled journalist, Mann writes clearly and to the point. But this book is more than a journalistic tour de force. Mann has been following the China story since he was posted by the Los Angeles Times to Beijing in 1984 and his experience has produced a depth of knowledge unmatched by any academic China watcher I have read. That knowledge not only shines through in the main text but it is testified to in a notes section full of sources and corroborating detail.

What I particularly like about this book is its uncommon commonsense. Mann refuses to be swept off his feet by the "romance of China" -- a romance that repeatedly over the last century has discombobulated the thinking of American policy-makers, business executive, scholars and journalists. Stolidly eyeing the authoritarian reality behind all the fine words and sumptuous banquets that Beijing bestows on influential visitors, Mann constantly reminds us how sorry has been China's record on human rights in recent decades -- and how cravenly Washington has sought to sweep that record under the carpet.

This book is important too for its worldly wisdom in repeatedly showing the ease with which the Chinese system can manipulate America's money-driven and short-sighted political system. None of this is particularly surprising to those of us who have been watching U.S.-Japan relations in recent decades -- but it is rare for China experts (and still rarer for Japan experts) to highlight how the East runs rings around our Western democratic institutions.

Essentially this book is characterized throughout by a show-me attitude to the American intellectual community's vapid determinism on East Asia. As Mann repeatedly points out, China is far from being "bound" to converge towards Western values. Quite the reverse, thanks to the comprehensive mismanagement of American trade policy in the last fifteen years, China is now in a stronger position than ever to flaunt its rejection of those values.

First published in 1998, this book has already been around for a while. Don't be put off. "About Face" has no sell-by date. It is a modern classic.

-- Eamonn Fingleton, author of "In Praise of Hard Industries: Why Manufacturing, Not the Information Economy, Is the Key to Future Prosperity ."

Not losing face
About Face puts into perspective much of what I have experienced first-hand living in Taiwan and China for the past 20 years. Although no administration comes out with its reputation intact, clearly China, not afraid to use brinkmanship, has been more effective in bending US policy to its advantage. Mr. Mann's objective reporting show that China has come to understand the workings of America's political system, while the US remains ineffective in dealing with China's rulers who continue to mock American ideals of human rights and democracy while at the same time convincing the US to assist in modernizing its armed forces and investing billions of dollars in its economy. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to make sense out of US-China relations since Henry Kissinger or concerned about the developing US-China relations. This book will give a better foundation for understanding upcoming WTO and Taiwan arms sales issues, as well as China's bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.

A good reporter becomes an outstanding historian
The discipline of history is in need of the ethos of the good journalist: objectivity. That is what Mann brings to the history of US/China relations. His account demonstrates a repeating pattern of instability in US China policy. Mann uncovers its cause: the competition between diplomatic institutions and the covert-personal diplomacy of individuals (such as Kissinger and Brzezinski). He also brings to light the positive contribution of individual "team players" (such as James Lilley) that should not be overlooked but often do. This book is well written. On a train ride from Hong Kong to Beijing, I could not put it down.


Behind the Embassy Door: Canada, Clinton and Quebec
Published in Hardcover by McClelland & Stewart (1999)
Author: James J. Blanchard
Amazon base price: $21.95
Used price: $7.20
Collectible price: $6.35
Buy one from zShops for: $17.38
Average review score:

OH, CANADA . . .
If you're Canadian, you really need to read this book. If you're American, you really need to read this book. James J. Blanchard has seen our Canadianisms and helped us to do the unthinkable, define ourselves. From coast to coast and beyond, the essence of what we are leaks out on these pages. It is fitting that an American should expose our mysteries and histories. Not that we are hidding them, we just seem to have a hard time accepting them. We remain the True North, Strong and Free. Thankyou James Blanchard.

If you're from the USA and interested in Canada...
...read this book. It is a decent primer for US residents who want to learn more about our oft-neglected neighbor. Warning: Mr. Blanchard is quite liberal, and liberal policies (US & Canadian) are treated matter-of-factly. His conservative successor as governor of Michigan (John Engler) has, in most people's opinions, done a better job. Interested conservatives will still enjoy the book--just keep a few grains of salt handy.

Canadians might get a kick out of a quintessential "American discovers Canada actually exists and is also pretty neato" story.

A Great Book about Clintonism, Too
As the previous reviewers have said, Blanchard has written a key book for understanding US-Canadian relations. But this is also the most insightful book I have found about Clinton and the Clinton Administration in the areas in which Clinton was most successful, personal relations and trade policy.


The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media's Effect on Our Children
Published in Hardcover by Atria Books (2002)
Authors: James P. Steyer and Chelsea Clinton
Amazon base price: $18.20
List price: $26.00 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $5.87
Collectible price: $19.06
Buy one from zShops for: $6.25
Average review score:

Useful if you knew nothing about the media beforehand
I read this book after reading Gerard Jones' _Killing Monsters_ and was disappointed. Much of the book is spent describing the intertwined homogeneous nature of mass media. However, this shouldn't be news to many people. We are supposed to be shocked and outraged that the people who are programming television "entertainment" are doing it to make money at the expense of our children. We are supposed to be surprised that shows like the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are parts of extensive, pervasive campaigns to extend brands across television, movies, toys, cereals, etc. We are supposed to be outraged that the mass media has close ties to government. Does he think we've been living in a cave?

However, Steyer distorts a grim picture to make it appear even worse than it is. Yes, Colin Powell may be friends with the chairman of AOL Time Warner, and maybe that had something to do with his son being appointed to the head of the FCC, but Steyer neglects to point out that Michael Powell served as an FCC commissioner for years beforehand, and that his father was a board member of AOL/TW until he resigned to join the Bush administration.

Furthermore, Steyer's suggestions of what parents can do lacks the specifics that would lead to action. He advocates increasing "media awareness" in our children, but doesn't suggest many sample activities that might help our children control their media intake themselves. Our children will grow in an environment where they will not be isolated from the mass media no matter what we do in our own homes. They will see and hear about terrible things, like it our not. We need to provide them with the tools to cope which they will use the rest of their lives.

Have kids who watch TV? Time to get media savvy...
"If another adult spent five or six hours a day with your kids, regularly exposing them to sex, violence, and rampantly commercial values, you would probably forbid that person to have any further contact with them. Yet most of us passively allow the media to expose our kids routinely to these values...and do virtually nothing about it." - James P. Steyer in "The Other Parent"

James Steyer does a fabulous job examining how sex, violence, and commercialism in the media affect children; why the media is full of these things; and what can be done about it. Steyer, a parent, child advocate, and Stanford professor of constitutional law and civil liberties/head of a children's media company, is well qualified to address these issues. His data comes from studies, personal interviews with key media figures and politicians, personal experience in the media industry, and parenting 3 children.

Many of Steyer's points really made me think. Here are just a few:
* Over the past 30 years, more than 1,000 studies by reputable sources which Steyer names, have concluded that media violence impacts children in four ways, specified on p. 72.
* PG-13 rated movies have a lot of sexual content, foul language and violence, that would have been restricted to R rated movies prior to 1984. p. 57
* Children who play with media action figures "are bypassing their own imaginations, substituting prepackaged commercial characters and story lines for their own creative efforts." p. 105.

Steyer's solution to protecting children from harmful effects of media, begins at home with his 10 steps for parents, whom he calls the "first line of defense." Children I know, who are brought up in homes where parents follow most of these steps, are more engaged in activities other than TV and video games, and pester their parents less frequently for toys and junk food advertised to kids. An earlier review complains that one of these steps, "teach media literacy in school and at home" fails to provide specifics on how to do this. This is true, but Steyer explains that these techniques are well documented in other books which he names. He also provides 10 steps each for the media industry and citizen activists.

After reading this book, I feel a lot more knowledgeable about what goes on the other side of the TV and other media. I learned more about how to protect children from harmful media effects, and felt supported in what I do know. I highly recommend this book to all adults who have an influence in a child's life.

Do Children really mirror what they see?
If you're a parent then you know the answer to be YES! Mr. Steyer reveals what's really behind the methodology of the media industry -money of course - however they just don't know when to stop and our kids are their biggest and easiest target for their big purse strings through their constant manipulation and exploitation of airwaves with commercialism, sex and violence. As a parent you need to take responsibility to ensure that your children are not over-exposed to the media and to really evaluate family priorities. Well worth the read and advice that Mr. Steyer gives.


The Federalist Papers: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
Published in Textbook Binding by New American Library (1992)
Authors: Clinton L. Rossiter, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
Amazon base price: $6.99
Used price: $0.69
Collectible price: $2.59
Buy one from zShops for: $3.00
Average review score:

I'm amazed at the wisdom and vision of our founding fathers
If you are going to read "The Federalist Papers," you must also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers" in order to get the complete picture. Both books cross-reference each other, and both are instrumental in understanding how our government was designed and how it was intended to work. In addition to the Papers, this edition also contains the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and an excellent introduction by Charles Kesler.

In a time when each colony had its own "constitution," the Federalists believed in creating one strong centralized government (with one Constitution) that could effectively represent the people. The authors and supporters of the Constitution knew that they could not afford to lose the vote in the state ratifying conventions. In an effort to win over his home state (New York), Alexander Hamilton, with the assistance of James Madison and John Jay, began a collection of 85 essays and published them under the pseudonym of "Publius" (named after one of the founders and heroes of the Roman republic, Publius Valerius Publicola). The Papers, published in 1787 and 1788, analyze and defend the proposed Constitution of the United States.

Obviously, the Federalists succeeded in winning the colonists' support. But even though the anti-federalists lost, their ideas were also brilliant and made an important contribution to the history of our government, which is why you should also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers."

This book is a must-read for all Americans. After reading this book, you will have a renewed appreciation and admiration for the wisdom and vision of our founding fathers.

I am amazed at the wisdom and vision of our founding fathers
If you are going to read "The Federalist Papers," you must also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers" in order to get the complete picture. Both books cross-reference each other and both are instrumental in understanding how our government was designed and how it was intended to work. In addition to the Papers, this edition also contains the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and an excellent introduction by Charles Kesler.

In a time when each colony had its own "constitution," the Federalists believed in creating one strong centralized government (with one Constitution) that could effectively represent the people. The authors and supporters of the Constitution knew that they could not afford to lose the vote in the state ratifying conventions. In an effort to win over his home state (New York), Alexander Hamilton, with the assistance of James Madison and John Jay, began a collection of 85 essays and published them under the pseudonym of "Publius" (named after one of the founders and heroes of the Roman republic, Publius Valerius Publicola). The Papers, published in 1787 and 1788, analyze and defend the proposed Constitution of the United States.

The Federalists succeeded in winning the colonists' support. But, even though the anti-federalists lost, their ideas were also brilliant and made an important contribution to the history of our government, which is why you should also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers."

This book is a must-read for all Americans. After reading this book, you will have a renewed appreciation and admiration for the wisdom and vision of our founding fathers.

Excellent Edition
I found this book to be one of the best books I ever read. Instead of giving a lay understanding of some of the arguments, I would like to note what I found exceptional about this book: the footnotes. The footnotes of this book gave detailed accounts of historical references made that shed much light on where the arguments were coming from. There is so much to be had from this book that I know I will read it at least five more times. Should be required reading by all Americans.


Dead Center : Clinton-Gore Leadership and the Perils of Moderation
Published in Hardcover by Scribner (1999)
Authors: James Burns and Georgia Sorenson
Amazon base price: $27.50
Used price: $2.05
Collectible price: $10.59
Buy one from zShops for: $2.75
Average review score:

The First Good Academic Read on the Clinton Era
Twenty years from now, when time has allowed for an author to look back on and write on the Clinton Presidency with some emotional detachment and real perspective, this book will be in the bibliography. Burns and Sorenson provide the most complete review of Clinton's legacy to date, superceding, as an academic source, Joe Klein's more recent, more opinionated and more reader-friendly "The Natural". That said this book has many flaws. It is denser than frozen cookie dough. Stuffed with the kinds of details that only poltical science professors and their students could stand to bear for even one page (for example, I came across the book while writing a senior thesis on the Post-modern presidency...if that excites you this book might be of interest)so it can be a sluggish read. It is also tilting to the left but that actually makes it's criticisms of Clinton stick more then say, a book written by Right-Wing Conspirators (and there are plenty of those if you are just into Clinton bashing for the love of it).

The book also suffers from the fact that it was published before Clinton actually left office so issues like his last minute pardons are not touched on. In contrast to The Natural, where Hillary comes off as a villain, here, for virtually the same reasons Klein criticizes her, she is the star of the Clinton Era. An oasis of ideolgical purity, striking in its contrast to the vacuous desert of the"the Third Way" centrism that enslaved Clinton and Gore. A bit hyperbolic, but that's the gist of the epilouge, incidentally written before Hillary's run for the Senate so perhaps Burns and Sorenson were on to something.

The book deserves kudos for focusing on substantive policy issues and evaluating Clinton on those rather than getting caught in the trap of focusing the many personal scandals and confusing them with his professional failings. Burns and Sorenson on one page offer one of the best retorts to the vicious, partisan and very often malicious attacks on Clinton. Yet,they aren't soft on him themselves and therefore one can not dismiss this book as propaganda. Rather, it is a truly substantive study that may be driven by the authors policy concerns but makes evaluations based on substance not smoke.

A good academic book. The Natural's conclusions, I think, will stand up as being more historically accurate than Dead Center's but for a really detailed look at the Clinton Presidency this book is indispensible.

Clinton/Democrats needed Centrism for politcal survival
This provocative yet thorough analysis of Bill Clinton's tenure in office provides an almost convincing argument against Centrism and its implementor. As a Bill Clinton fan, I must say that the author's arguments nearly swayed me to believe that Bill Clinton may have failed in what they called "transformational" and "principled" leadership of the country. They trace the beginnings of Clinton's presidency, from his inauguration speech of change and renewal, his failure of health care reform, his foreign policies to the Gingrich revolution and finally to impeachment. Within each, the authors argue that Clinton failed to bring any sweeping reform or decisive leadership but instead brought tactical politiking, dealing and governing from the vital Centre. The reader is left wondering whether Centrism is good at all. In fact, one gets the impression that Clinton's legacy lies in a tangled web of disjointed policies and no over-arching vision.

However, I think the authors miss the point that whilst Clinton did promise change and succeeded in some ( balancing the budget, welfare reform, NAFTA) and failed in others (health care reform,arguably race, campaign finance), the political environment he was in and also the post cold-war era constrained such sweeping changes. The Gingrich revolution forced Clinton to think more pragmatically and more tactically as re-election loomed. Impeachment (his own doing) poisoned Congress to a standstill in enacting any later reforms. In fact, whilst I agree that Clinton failed to deliver the high hopes he had promised from the start of his presidency, the situation changed to such a degree, that to survive politically, he had to govern from the centre ( see his triangulation). To a small degree, Clinton's presidency was a product of its times; there was no Cold War or major crisis to display "principled" leadership as with Reagan.

Not everthing is bad news of course. They outline Clinton's foreign policy successes in Ireland and the Middle East but also his hesitant meandering in Haiti and Bosnia.

The overall picture is one of a work in progress - a President learning on the job, trying to enact "bold change", later displaying tactical and political skill and subtly reforming the people's view of government. At the very least, this book strongly initiates the debate on the Clinton legacy and his leadership. It is by no means the end.

BILL CLINTON TRIED TO PLEASE ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME!
Historian James MacGregor Burns and Georgia Sorenson have written an interesting book about Bill Clinton's failed effort to be a success by becoming a "centerist" U.S. President. Their excellent book, title DEAD CENTER: CLIINTON-GORE LEADERSHIP AND THE PERILS OF MODERATION(1999), is worth reading.

The authors contend, rightfully, I think, that Bill Clinton tried to please everybody, and ended up pleasing no-one (well, almost no-one). Pulitzer prize winning historian James MacGregor Burns and his co-author Georgia Sorenson argue that the price of centrism is high. They state that in choosing a centrist strategy, Bill Clinton rejected the kind of leadership that might have placed hiim among the historic "greats."

They review Clinton's presidency (which they imply was a failed presidency), and state that Clinton lacked creativity in fashioning new policies, the courage to press for reforms and other changes despite popular apathy and opposition, the conviction to stick to grand principles no matter how long their realization might take (they imply Clinton was a notably mediocre President, and that he must really be grouped in the unprestigious ranks of Presidents who were fence sitters).

Most interestingly, Burns and Sorenson contend that Clinton (and by association, Albert Gore) was notable for his lack of commitment to the people to fight for their welfare at any personal cost. This is quite a charge considering that the main Gore Presidential candidacy battle cry was "I will fight for you!"

Burns/Sorenson review the disasterous faillure of Clinton's 1993-94 health bill and ascribe the failure of it to Clinton's centrism. They remind readers that Clinton rejected the highly intelligent Canadian health plan model, which has been successful for decades in attaining a liberal good, universal health care. Clinton tried to avoid alienating highly paid doctors and insurance companies. The result was that his health plan had no particular idology, pleased nobody, really, and failed miserably. The ironic thing was that Clinton's health bill was the most noble effort he made in his Presidency, which went downhill from that point.

Buy and read this excellent book. It's a good read, and great discussion of how not to be a U.S. President.


Human Biology
Published in Hardcover by McGraw Hill College Div (1997)
Authors: Clinton L. Benjamin, Gregory R. Garman, and James H. Funston
Amazon base price: $78.15
Average review score:

Good with ambition, poor with follow through.
This book has potential, but some of the high tech features leave a lot to be desired. The Essential Study Partner CD doesn't work in older CD-ROM drives (my computer is 3 years old) but since it works with either a PC or a Mac so I was able to use my husband's new I-Book, but how many other poor students can upgrade? The on-line tests are downright horrible though. There are numerous times where the answers that were considered incorrect were actually correct, such as being told in the book that osmosis is the diffusion of water across a membrane and being told by the quiz that it's the diffusion of oxygen. There are other times that it tells you that you put the wrong answer and shows what you had entered as being the correct answer. A little (OK, a lot) of proof-reading prior to publishing would have been very nice, considering that I am getting concerned about remembering the wrong information during a test. The flashcards and matching are very good though and the text doesn't have many more mistakes than I have seen in other textbooks so that's why I am giving it 3 stars.

Got here fine
There was a bit of a delay in the process, but the seller notified me right away and it's exactly what I had wanted.

A perfect book for undergrad who wishes to study physiology
It is brief, detailed, colorful and in conjunction with the related Web-site, (which offers and grades quizes on line) it is PERFECT. Thumbs UP!!!

PS: I haven't checked the Study Guide yet, which is (by the way) not available through the Amazon.com, but I've heard it's pretty good and helpful.


Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2

Reviews are from readers at Amazon.com. To add a review, follow the Amazon buy link above.