220
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #139,817 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★★
Great Book, by a master politician.
I was really looking forward to getting my hands on this book. President Clinton was one of the greatest presidents of my life, and I wanted to know what made him the man he is. Is it just raw intellect, or was it his life experiences? During his presidency, the economy was better than at any other point in my lifetime. Bill Clinton was a whiz at knowing what needed to be done for our economy to grow. If only we could have had four more years, maybe our economy would still be prospering.
So I was very excited last night when my local bookstore stayed open to midnight to sell the book. I read this book cover to cover, and was impressed. He has some gems of wisdom in this book- treat everyone with respect, be outraged at bigotry, be grateful for everything you are given, and work hard. There was one part of the book that illustrates this point. He wrote about a teenager who was given a gift of a Hi-Fi stereo, and instead of being grateful for the gift his mother gave, the child yelled at how it was not "top of the line". Clinton wrote he was outraged at the response of the child, and said he learned from watching that episode to be grateful for what he was given. After all, someone had to work to pay for that gift, and probably doing a job that others don't want for less money.
While I do not agree 100% with everything Clinton believes, he is as open and honest as one can expect in any autobiography. For example, he wrote while he was teaching at the University of Arkansas School of Law, he gave a black student a B- on an exam where the writing quality was deserving of an F. He said he did this because he knew the student worked hard and knew the material, but was disadvantaged and did not have the proper background. I could not help but think there are many who are disadvantaged who do not get a good break like that. Not everyone has the advantages of having the money to hire tutors and attend the best private schools.
All in all, this is a good book and I highly reccomend it to anyone who liked President Clinton and anyone who is open minded. We should follow the lead of Clinton and try and see the best in people. It is too bad the right wing conservatives decided to mudsling rather than debate the issues. I guess they recognized Clinton was in a league all by himself, like Michael Jordan.
June 2004 · Books
the product in question
My Life
4.3★ · 1,075 ratings, as of 2023