When this book came out in 2003, Joe Klein (aka "anonymous" when it came to his better-known oeuvre, Primary Colors ) had the benefit of hindsight re. the Clinton presidency. However, if Klein's 2003 hindsight was 20/20, then sitting here in 2014 I felt like I had the visual acuity of a hawk that's been bred with an eagle...to produce some kind of eagle-eyed superhawk (thanks Agent Hawley!). Part of what I found so impressive about Peter Baker's Days of Fire...

Joe Klein's retrospective look at the Clinton administration (published in 2002) borrows the title of Bernard Malamud's novel, The Natural, about a gifted baseball player, so let's stay with the baseball metaphor a moment.By Klein's account, Bill Clinton played "small ball," which is to say he hit singles, stole bases, hit more singles, finally scored, and then did it over again as he outlasted barrages of homers from more powerful adversaries.This is a fine, close-in study. It is well-written a...

There's not enough perspective of time or scholarship in this book to call it a work of history, but it does successfully aspire to be a bit more than journalism. It's a mostly admiring portrait of President Clinton. Mr. Klein identifies and correctly praises some of President Clinton's accomplishments - balancing the budget, welfare reform, Americorps and improving the discourse on race relations. He also correctly criticizes Mr. Clinton for his personal failings - not just his inability to con...

I actually remember reading Primary Colours when it first came out anonymously, and the big flap about figuring out who the author was, &c &c. I didn't realize Klein was this....conservative.

I'm not gay but I love some Bill Clinton.

This review appeared in the San Jose Mercury News in 2002: More than one person has told me of their encounters with Bill Clinton: the sense of some enormous presence arriving in the room, like a sudden change in the weather. To some degree, perhaps, the aura was cast by the office, though few report being similarly galvanized by the presence of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter. It's no wonder Clinton was so adored by Hollywood: He had unsurpassed star power, and it enabled him to surv...

Very well written and enlightening, to a point, about the Clinton administration, marriage and key successes/failures. It's probably a good place to start. Two problems. While candid about what he perceives as shortcomings/failures, he essentially gives Clinton a pass for those failures. I think most people in America would agree with him and give Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson the same pass. Interesting, that he consistently is unwilling to accord the same pass to Eisenhower, Reagan, Bu...

If you have never read anything about Bill Clinton I suspect you will rate this book much higher. For me, I had already learned a fair amount and I learned much of the topics covered in this book in the author's other book called politics lost. It is a nice short book covering Clinton. Reading it almost 20 years later especially given what happened with his wife, you learn a lot about Hillary Clinton that gives some foreshadowing to her tribulations and some insight into why she had such a hard

The Natural was penned by Joe Klein in 2002, so it is a bit dated and does not enjoy the advantage of time's passage to smooth out the attendant historical ruffles tied to Clinton's performance as president.While I don't think Joe Klein took liberties in marshaling the facts to explain President Clinton's motivations, I do sense that he has a grudging, disappointed admiration of a man whom he describes as a characterization of the boomer generation. Klein's conclusions really gained traction - a...

My son lent me this book as he thought I’d find it interesting and I did. It took me back to the 90s and filled in details of events that I recall, and gave me an idea of what was going on behind the scenes. Most of all, it gave an insight into the way the Clintons worked. Very interesting and not my usual type of book!

It's hard to find a good biography of Bill Clinton so I was happy to run across this book. Unfortunately as biography it is not great. It read more like a memoir of the author's encounters with Bill Clinton and other politicians as a by product of his work as a journalist. If you approach the book from this angle, it's pretty good, although I do think he was rough on Clinton occasionally.

Started out strong. Limped into the finish

Excellent book. Well researched, well written.

I enjoyed this a lot more than Primary Colors. Klein's better at writing non fiction.

Goodread

it was informative/fun to re-visit the Clinton presidency years with a bit of historical perspective and time since 2000This was a short, well written and engaging retrospective of the perceived Clinton successes (his Third Way of triangulation, Bosnian intervention and peace brokering, earned income tax credits, balanced budgets, reduced crime, welfare reform) and failures (Somalia, Haiti, impeachment, government shut down, constant partisanship (admittedly not entirely his fault), health care,...

I enjoyed in so much as it covered Clinton's time in the White House. I found the stories interesting and informative.But that where it stop being an enjoyable read was when the author seemed to be trying to hard to prove the he knew every word in the English language and went way out of his way to make that point.In any book I have read there are always a few words I have to look up because I am not sure what the author is actually try to say or I simply do not know the word. However in this bo...

Non-fiction. Bill Clinton's rise and fall. This is as much a love story as it is a Dear John letter, Joe Klein vacillating between moony and bitter like a high school ex-boyfriend. It's uncomfortable, but even worse, it's uneven and rushed. Klein takes a lot for granted. To start with, he never introduces himself, which is a problem because the book is as much about Klein as it is Clinton. Even more annoying, Klein never identifies in what capacity he spent all this time with Clinton, nor where

This is a must read for any interested in what exactly GOT done, policy wise, and what DIDN'T during Clinton's cacophonous presidency. Moreover, Klein provides explanations as to WHY these successes and failures took place. The book's description on amazon.com, says that first attempt history accounts aren't usually as well done as this one is. I can't speak to the historical validity of that statement but i can certainly vouch for its qualitative assurance; I really have to say---and this is fr...

From the book jacket:"Much has been written about Clinton, but The Natural is the first work to cut through the gossip, scandals, media hype, and emotional turbulence that Clinton always engendered, to step back and rationally analyze the eight years of his tenure, a period during which America rose to unprecedented levels of prosperity. Joe Klein puts that record into perspective, showing us what worked and what didn't, exactly what was accomplished and why, and who was responsible for the succ...

A political reporter's discussion of the presidency of Bill Clinton. He takes us through the election campaign, Gennifer Flowers, gays in the military, the 1993 budget agreement, the 1994 election debacle,the Oklahoma City bombing, the government shutdown by Newt Gingrich, the 1996 campaign, Monica Lewinsky, Ken Starr and impeachment, Gingrich's downfall in 1998 and the runup to the '2000 campaign and Al Gore. The author discusses Clinton's personality and policy accomplishments. The book seems

In this incisive and revelatory book, Joe Klein takes us inside the Clinton White House and exposes the reason for Clinton's flaws and reexamines some of the hidden successes of his Presidency. Rather than rehash the typical line on Clinton, Klein is honest about the flaws and the reasoning for those flaws psychologically as well as being honest about what made this Presidency tick. Ultimately, history will most likely judge Clinton as a more or less successful presidency because of the vast exp...

This book gives the good and bad on Bill Clinton, his presidency, and his legacy. In so many ways Clinton was an enigma, but he did get so many things done politically inspite of all the nonsense that he created personally. What the man was, was a most astute politican who through perseverance accomplished many things, often incrementally and under the radar. I thought the author did a good job on a sidebar of Newt Gingrich and how he grew to lead the GOP and then self-destructed. Joe Klein is a...

Most political biographies can be classified as written by unloving critics or by uncritical lovers. Joe Klein has found the middle ground. His assessment of the Clinton presidency is unsparing in its criticism but also appreciative of the virtues and victories. Klein provides context for both the successes and the failures. Not a comprehensive history of the Clinton years, the book is an easy to read – and rather brief – summary of an administration marked by controversy, disappointment and ove...

Another Dean's Book choice. Klein is absurdly self-righteous. I found it difficult to take him seriously, since he seems to view the entire Clinton presidency through the lens of his failure to live up to the expectations of the New Democrats, of which Klein is one. He does have some interesting insight into Clinton's personality and charisma, so that was something.Also, he loses points with me because he was such a gigantic tool when I met him.

Mr. Klein writes an interesting book on the Clinton presidency. He discusses the natural talent that President Clinton had for politics with his intellect, empathy and charisma...he was essentially a generational political talent and the top politician of his generation. In the end, it seems that Mr. Klein expressed almost a sense of sadness that President Clinton did not achieve more given this immense talent. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in politics.

It was redundant- we all know these things about Bill's presidency; he didn't let us in on any big secret to his genius, didn't tell us anything new or nuanced about decisions. But it's Bill- and it's always nice to see how his subtlety and intelligence graced the office; as opposed to what we have now.....

This book is a good introduction to Bill Clinton's "Third Way" in American politics. Klein's excessively partisan in his assessments of other politicians around Clinton (Newt Gingrich, for example), but his retelling of the story of Clinton's presidency is helpful.

A quick overview of clinton as a person and his administration. fairly unbiased, as it recognizes his faults, but appreciates his strengths. easy to read, because its written with anecdotes, and doesn't go too in depth into the issues.

A Jeff-lent audio book. 2.5 stars. Some was interesting, but the book contained more politics than I like. This is not a complaint since that's what the book is supposed to contain. Seemed disjointed somehow; back and forth in time too much, maybe?