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Title: State of a Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton by Jerry Oppenheimer ISBN: 0-06-019392-1 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Pub. Date: 18 July, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (33 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: I learned why people like the Clintons
Comment: Because the author goes into so much detail about both Bill and Hillary Clinton's childhood and personal families, I was able to get a fuller, more human picture of them. It was very helpful to me, as I have been honestly unable to comprehend why anybody would trust or like either one of the Clintons. Reading this gossipy book with all its quotes from childhood friends, stories from Hillary's mother, brothers, cousins; the friends of Bill's mother, etc. honestly helped me to flesh out these people and realize that they are not, after all, monsters. They have become something much different from what they envisioned in their youth because of their willingness to sacrifice personal principle for political power, but they are not monsters.
I appreciated learning that many people liked Hillary at Wellesley and Yale Law School because she was genuinely friendly and did many kind things for others. I could imagine why Bill fell for Hillary and vice-versa, and how their relationship began as a genuinely passionate one.
Likewise, I found it very believable that Hillary said something to the effect that she would never be able to go through all the rigors of politics if she didn't know that "they were saving the world." From the beginning of their relationship, Hillary believed that Bill was a semi-messianic figure who would attain the presidency, that he and she would be able to get into the government and create lots of positive (to her mind) changes that would help lots of people. Just like any messianic figure, people would oppose him. Unfortunately, that's a delusion. If she had been less idealistic and more realistic, she might have demanded faithfulness and either forced him to change or divorced him. Either of those outcomes would have spared us from the Clinton presidency. At any rate, I liked this book very much.
Rating: 3
Summary: Is This The Straw That Broke The Proverbial Camel's Back?
Comment: I am writing these comments in the early part of August. The real question, though, is how will this book be perceived the day after the national election in November. It is virtually certain, whether it's fair or not, that Hillary Clinton's attempt to become New York's next U.S. Senator has been destroyed by the charge of an anti-Semitic remark of over two decades ago. Is it true? Also, even if the accusation is accurate, does Mrs. Clinton deserve forgiveness? One could engage in much abstract speculation and moral inquiry into the larger issues of Hillary Clinton's predicament. Nevertheless, in the practical realm, she is in dire straits. The First Lady needs solid and overwhelming Jewish support if she is to have any realistic chance against her Republican challenger, Rick Lazio. Recent polls already indicate that Hillary Clinton is unlikely to regain the trust of a sufficient number of Jewish voters to salvage her campaign.
I am uncomfortable that there are not more witnesses to confirm this allegation. Yet, isn't Jerry Oppenheimer simply doing his job? Some people will question Oppenheimer's credibility because of his National Enquirer past. That argument is simply fallacious. The National Enquirer is admittedly a scandal sheet, but it is still highly regarded for meticulously and thoroughly double checking facts before approving them for print. A former campaign worker has gone on record with his incendiary claims. How can the media not report the story? Shouldn't we be outraged if these charges were ignored? I think that a fair and objective person, regardless of how they feel towards Hillary Clinton, must conclude that the media are placed before a rock and hard place when forced to decide how to handle such a dilemma. The reader may notice that I am ignoring the other aspects of Oppenheimer's book. I am doing so because in the long run the anti-Semitic charge is the only reason why it will be remembered. Historians may very well refer to this book as the one that demolished the Clinton family's last hope for political and perhaps even personal redemption. The impact of this book far outweighs its intrinsic value. I am sure that we will still be discussing it many years into the future.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Accurate, Carefully Researched Portrait of the Clintons
Comment: Unlike Peggy Noonan's trashy tome about Hillary Clinton which I lambasted in another review, this book was excellent, being factual, carefully researched and well written. The author delves into family histories of both Clintons, which helps the reader to better understand how their upbringing shaped their personalities. Oppenheimer interviews numerous friends and relatives who were close to the Clintons, and disputes some inaccuracies found in other Clinton biographies.
Of all the books I've read on Bill and Hillary, this one portrayed them the most objectively and fairly. It is not a one-sided, gossipy tell-all but a careful study of the Clinton's marriage and an analysis of their very diverse, but complimentary personalities: Hillary as a strident, intense, ambitious perfectionist from the Midwest and Bill, an affable, laid-back, shrewd, womanizing Southern boy. Their strengths helped them to achieve their goal of the Presidency; but their weaknesses proved to be their undoing.
Theirs is not a marriage of love but one of raw political ambition and power, a business partnership in which a deal was struck before their nuptials. Of the two, Hillary comes off the worse. Her foul mouth and vicious "go-for-the-jugular" attacks against opponents and friends are legendary. Bill, clearly eclipsed and overpowered by his strong-willed wife, resorts to behaving like an oversexed school boy, unzipping his fly at the drop of a hat. Possibly his excessive womanizing is because Hillary castrates him on a daily basis, so poor Bill has to make sure his equipment grows back and is in working order....hmm, that sounds like a familiar Greek myth, only instead of entails being ripped out by a vulture and growing back overnight, we have...,well you get the picture.
This book is out of print, but if you can snare a used copy here at Amazon.com, you're in for an intelligent, enjoyable read.
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Title: Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Barbara Olson ISBN: 0895262746 Publisher: Regnery Publishing Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Bill and Hillary: The Marriage by Christopher Andersen ISBN: 0688167551 Publisher: Best Sellers Pub. Date: 03 August, 1999 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: The Case Against Hillary Clinton by Peggy Noonan ISBN: 0060393408 Publisher: Regan Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House by Barbara Olson ISBN: 0895261677 Publisher: Regnery Publishing Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Hillary's Scheme: Inside the Next Clinton's Ruthless Agenda to Take the White House by Carl Limbacher ISBN: 0761531157 Publisher: Crown Forum Pub. Date: 22 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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