1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910786141503321

Autore

Takiff Michael <1955->

Titolo

A complicated man : the life of Bill Clinton as told by those who know him / / Michael Takiff

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven ; ; London : , : Yale University Press, , [2010]

©2010

ISBN

1-299-46378-9

0-300-16888-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (448 p.)

Disciplina

973.929092

Soggetti

Presidents - United States

Governors - Arkansas

Ex-presidents - United States

Interviews - United States

United States Politics and government 1993-2001

Arkansas Biography

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

A Complicated Man -- Front matter -- Contents -- Author's Note -- Introduction: An Endless Argument -- Part I. Local Hero, 1946-1987 -- 1. Small Town Boy: Hope, Arkansas -- 2. A Big City (pop. 29,307): Hot Springs -- 3. Positive, Positive, Positive, Positive: Georgetown -- 4. Man of the World: Oxford and Yale -- 5. On the Move: An Arkansas Politician -- 6. Too Much, Too Soon, Too Bad: Rookie Governor -- 7. Out of the Woodshed: Exile and Return -- 8. Busy, Busy, Busy: Governor Again -- 9. Comfort Level: Bill and Black Arkansas -- 10. Not Bad, But . . .: Potential Unfulfilled -- Part II. Rising Star, 1987-1992 -- 11. National Democrat: Moving Toward the White House -- 12. Going for It: Candidate -- 13. Near-Death Experience: New Hampshire, 1992 -- 14. All Roads Lead to Madison Square Garden: Nominee -- 15. A Bubba, Not a Bozo: President-Elect -- Part III. Stumble, 1993-1994 -- 16. Not an Admiral: Transition -- 17. Bedlam at Birth: Getting Started -- 18. Bill Asks, Colin Tells: The President, the Gays, the Military -- 19. New Kid in Town: Permanent Washington Greets the Clintons -- 20. Debt on



Arrival: Recharting an Economic Course -- 21. A Casino for Jesus: The Budget Bill -- 22. The Yanks Are Coming: Navigating a Post-Cold War World -- 23. Trade War: Passing NAFTA -- 24. Heroic Measures: The Fight to Reform Health Care -- 25. Stand-Up Guys: Bill, Boris, Jiang, Fidel -- 26. Action, Inaction: Somalia and Rwanda -- 27. No Way to Run a Railroad: Fixing a Dysfunctional White House -- 28. From Humiliation to Celebration: Haiti -- 29. Picturing Peace: The Oslo Signing -- 30. Something Is Rotten in the State of Arkansas: Whitewater, the Scandal Begins -- 31. Golfing with Willie Mays: Bill Among Friends -- 32. Rebuke: The 1994 Midterm Election -- Part IV. Recovery, 1995-1996 -- 33. Picking up the Pieces: The Aftermath -- 34. Relevant: Newt versus Clinton -- 35. Pastor to the Nation: Oklahoma City -- 36. End of an Era: The Road Back -- 37. This Town Ain't Big Enough: Shutdown Showdown -- 38. Shalom, Chaver: The Death of Yitzhak Rabin -- 39. I'll Show You Mine If . . .: The Big Mistake -- 40. A Commander in Chief (Finally) Commands: Bosnia, Solved -- 41. Ballot-Box Missionary: Irish Troubles, Irish Votes -- 42. A Deal. With the Devil? Ending Welfare as We Know It -- 43. Slippery or Steadfast? Shapeshifter -- 44. Piece of Cake: Reelection -- Part V. Humiliation: 1997-2000 -- 45. Reckless, Stupid, Human: Wasting a Precious Gift -- 46. Big Bucks Bedroom: Scandal of the Year, 1997 -- 47. Nailed! Linda and Lucianne -- 48. Pants on Fire: The Jones Deposition -- 49. The Bombshell Wears a Beret: Enter Monica -- 50. Scandal? What Scandal? Compartmentalization -- 51. The Puritan and the Pol: Starr versus Clinton -- 52. Respite: A Tour of Africa -- 53. Today's Word Is Is: The Grand Jury -- 54. Speech Defect: An Unapologetic Apology -- 55. Sine Qua Non: Ulster's Peacemaker -- 56. Softcore: The Starr Report -- 57. For Mature Audiences Only: A Committee, a TV Show -- 58. DeLayed Reaction: The Midterms and the Majority Whip -- 59. Impeach the Rapist! Fifty Boxes, Four Articles -- 60. Amazing: A Speech in Gaza -- 61. Bad Guys: Going After Bin Laden and Saddam -- 62. The Hypocrisy Police: Bob Livingston, Porn Star -- 63. It's Official: Impeached -- 64. It's About Sex: The Trial -- 65. Seventy-Eight Days: Kosovo -- 66. Down to the Wire: Camp David and the Clinton Ideas -- 67. In Denial: Bill Clinton and the Election of 2000 -- Part VI. Citizen Clinton, 2001 -- 68. Parting Shots: Leaving the White House -- 69. Convening Power: The Clinton Foundation -- 70. Chasing a Buck: Making Multimillions Multinationally -- 71. Bill in a China Shop: Hillary for President, 2008 -- 72. Unintended Consequences: Clinton-Era Deregulation and the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 -- 73. Envoy: A Visit to North Korea -- 74. And Now? The Future of Bill Clinton -- Epilogue: Closing Argument -- Speakers in A Complicated Man -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Photo Credits -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Though Bill Clinton has been out of office since 2001, public fascination with him continues unabated. Many books about Clinton have been published in recent years, but shockingly, no single-volume biography covers the full scope of Clinton's life from the cradle to the present day, not even Clinton's own account, My Life. More troubling still, books on Clinton have tended to be highly polarized, casting the former president in an overly positive or negative light. In this, the first complete oral history of Clinton's life, historian Michael Takiff presents the first truly balanced book on one of our nation's most controversial and fascinating presidents. Through more than 150 chronologically arranged interviews with key figures including Bob Dole, James Carville, and Tom Brokaw, among many others, A Complicated Man goes far beyond the well-worn party-line territory to capture the larger-than-life essence of Clinton the man. With the tremendous attention given to the Lewinsky scandal, it is easy to overlook the president's humble



upbringing, as well as his many achievements at home and abroad: the longest economic boom in American history, a balanced budget, successful intervention in the Balkans, and a series of landmark, if controversial, free-trade agreements. Through the candid recollections of Takiff's many subjects, A Complicated Man leaves no area unexplored, revealing the most complete and unexpected portrait of our forty-second president published to date.