Bill and Hillary: The Politics of the Personal by William Henry Chafe

Bill and Hillary: The Politics of the Personal Reviews

• 
  Melissa

  "At Yale, [Bill] Clinton found an answer - another person, equally bright, just as driven to break barriers and change the world. She was almost as complicated as he was - perhaps even more so - with a family history that came close to his in its crazy dynamics. Hillary Rodham would change his life. He would change hers. And from the moment of their meeting, they created a partnership, both political and personal, that helped shape the course of the country." (pg. 64)
  
  I'm fascinated with the Clintons. So, it makes sense that this would be of interest to me - and it was.
  
  I should say, however, that I haven't read Bill Clinton's memoir My Life. Nor have I read First in His Class by David Maraniss or The Clinton Tapes by Taylor Branch (a longtime friend of Bill and Hillary's). I did read - and enjoy - Hillary's memoir Living History, as well as All Too Human by George Stephanopolous.
  
  Drawing from all of these (especially My Life) and accounts from Clinton associates (especially Betsey Wright), Chafe gives his reader the biographical details of both Clintons' lives - their childhoods; their time at Oxford and Wellesley, respectively; and their years together at Yale Law School. In some ways, the biographical information seems slightly redundant. Perhaps that's just because it is a narrative that most of us of a certain age know by now, having grown up not really knowing a time when the Clintons weren't headline news for one reason or another.
  
  Chafe does seem to emphasize their early years (especially Bill's). That's important to the premise of the book: the belief that, like many of us, Hillary and Bill's personalities and character were each shaped by their upbringing and the family environment that they grew up in. Chafe takes pivotal moments in the Clintons' political life together and examines them within the context of their personalities, their strengths and flaws, and the dynamics of their personal relationship.
  
  In doing so, Chafe doesn't skirt around the reason why most of us would probably be reading this book: to gain the ultimate inside scoop on Bill and Hillary's relationship, and why and how, after all the womanizing and after all the scandals, they stayed together.
  
  We see this pattern early and often in their relationship, and it is one confirmed by close friends. There are new names revealed in this biography; for example, I'd never heard of Marilyn Jo Jenkins before Bill and Hillary, but apparently Bill was in love with Marilyn Jo so much that he asked Hillary for a divorce in 1990, before deciding to run for President. (Obviously, she told him no.) Personally and politically, things would have been very different indeed, had that occurred. You could probably say that our very country would have have been different.
  
  Make no mistake: Bill and Hillary isn't a fawning love story to the Clintons nor no wistful look back at the way things were. Chafe reminds his reader of the six weeks of bombshells that the 1992 campaign withstood between January 23 and March 7 (Gennifer Flowers, Bill's Vietnam draft dodger issues, and questions about Hillary's work at the Rose Law Firm) followed by the dysfunction and chaos of the early days of the Clinton presidency - which was very, very much a co-presidency. The American people definitely got their "two for the price of one" deal that Bill Clinton infamously promised.
  
  "For better or worse, the chemistry of this relationship suggested a degree of emotional attachment (and dependency) rarely on display in American public life. It was almost impossible to speak of one of the Clintons without having the other in mind as well." (pg. 138)
  It still isn't.
  
  All the rest of the scandals we've come to know are recounted too - Vince Foster, Whitewater, Troopergate, Travelgate, and of course, Monica Lewinsky. (There's new information - to me, at least - on the latter, although it could be from her tell-all tome about their relationship; I haven't read that one either.)
  
  While Bill and Hillary could be viewed as a hatchet job, I didn't read it as such. I thought Chafe presented the facts and historical events quite fairly - with a little inside baseball for those of us who remember those days. With each one of these scandals, Chafe successfully makes the case that the cause can be traced back to the dynamics of the Clintons' personal relationship. It's more than just having a crappy childhood and needing to win the approval of others. That's a big part of it, sure, but
  
  "[a]s one person close to Bill observed after the Lewinsky affair broke, 'in deed and expression, you could see he was trying to do everything he could to make it up to Hillary...Whatever Hillary wants, Hillary gets.' She, in turn, had something to give. Her forbearance and love permitted him to survive, even to 'come back.' No one else could rescue him as she could. No one else could make right what was wrong. The exchange even worked romantically. When she was in charge of defending him, they were a team once more, affectionate with each other, sensitive to each other's feelings. 'It was hand-holding,' one of the White House lawyers said, 'arms around each other, lots of eye contact.' In some respects, their partnership achieved a new intimacy and camaraderie when she stood by him in the face of his misbehavior. Thus, in the strangest of ways, Clinton's reckless sexual behavior actually enhanced their personal ties. It made their relationship more functional and productive. Arguably - and in the strangest irony of all - it was at the heart of their partnership, the centerpiece that made it work." (pg. 299)
  
  Depending on what side of the aisle you're on, it could be said that that partnership did or did not work for America. I think it's both, which is the position Chafe seems to take. It seems to be working for them, because they seem to be doing okay. But the fact remains that, whether we like the Clintons personally or not, their relationship and its dynamics not only had the power to influence a generation, but to change an entire country.
• 
  George Clack

  This is familiar territory for anybody who was alive and reading the newspapers during the Clintons’ codependent copresidency. In Chafe’s telling of his politics-is-personal theory, Bill pursues women and then, out of guilt and gratitude for her support, gives Hillary an opening to seize control of key decisions in the White house and she screws up. If conventional wisdom is your thing, it’s here in abundance. At bottom this book is what reporters call “a clip job” – a compendium of nuggets from previous books by better writers.
  
  In his thorough rehashing of tales from the Clintons’ entertaining marriage, Chafe does salt in some nicely telling details. Did you know, for example, that only nine of 35 Rhodes scholars in Bill Clinton’s 1968 class earned an Oxford degree (Bill wasn’t one of the nine), or that when the Gennifer Flowers story broke, Hillary had staff investigate 19 women from Bill’s past?
  
  But the book has many weaknesses. Chafe surprisingly takes both Bill and Hillary at face value when they make statements in their naturally self-serving memoirs. It’s also surprising that as a historian, he doesn’t offer more historical perspective on the Clintons. Has Hillary learned from disasters of her own making in the White House years? If so, when and how? The book cries out for more follow-up on Hillary’s career after 2000.
  
  Finally, Chafe badly needs an editor to jump on his too frequent passages of tired writing. E.g., p. 14 “Physical violence reared its head”; p. 71 “Electricity was in the air”; p. 11 “Triumph and despair existed side by side, the one emerging almost immediately after the other, as night follows day”; p. 200 “Alas, it was not to be.” Alas, a good editor would cut probably one-quarter of this astonishingly repetitive book. Chafe feels the need to make each of his points at least three times and then inflicts a final chapter where he recapitulates the book’s arguments in 10 pages. Doesn’t he realize that if we’ve gotten this far, we’ve read the book?
  
• 
  Vivian Blaxell

  For me the story of the Clinton's personal relationship and its impact on turn of the century US and international politics is one of the most interesting and important stories around. Its fascinating and the fascination survives Chafe's humdrum treatment. Much of his analysis is a rather glib and stale take on the political dramas of the times. One could forgive Chafe this if his too few explorations of the Clinton's relationship and its effects on the political dramas of the times were well and subtly explored. They are not. Chafe brings a set of tired psycho-cliches to his analysis of the marriage, and even this worn out set is rarely brought into the analytical play when it comes to politics. Chafe writes well and the topic is inherently engaging, but in the end Chafe offers nothing new.
• 
  Jason George

  I picked up this book because I love reading about recent political history and because I know William Chafe to be an extremely well-respected and accomplished historian. The book is exceptionally readable and based on Chafe's argument that the dynamics of the Clinton marriage drove the Clinton presidency. Chafe packs a lot of information into a relatively succinct narrative and does a good job including necessary details to support his claims without delving too deeply into the more salacious elements of the period (although some discussion of these details is necessary as Chafe's argument rests upon the idea that Bill Clinton's womanizing - and Hillary Clinton's subsequent decisions to "rescue" him - were the driving force in their relationship.
• 
  Jessica

  Really enjoyed this book. It was informative for me because during Clinton's presidency, I was too young and naive and uninterested in politics to know what was going on. Not only does this give an overview of Clinton's presidency (and Hillary's contributions) but also it paints a vivid picture of their personal lives and personalities, which all seems pretty dramatic now considering they are seemingly adored by everyone these days. While reading, I kept thinking: "Bill and Hillary? Or Romeo and Juliet?" I mean, really, their relationship is Shakespearean in its drama.
  
  
• 
  Dorothy

  This book gives a detailed and unknown history of Bill and Hillary, both as individuals and a couple. The author does an excellent job at getting you emotionally involved with their tragedies, success, and shortcomings. You feel sorry and then pissed both for different reasons.
  
  The only con is the way the author paints Monica Lewinsky to be a sexual deviant individual when she was just a recently graduated student and young woman. There was a power dynamic.*
• 
  Duke Press

  "William H. Chafe understands, as do too few historians and biographers, that the personal and public lives of political figures cannot be separated. . . . Chafe is quite right to insist that the stories of Bill and Hillary Clinton prove the point." — Jonathan Yardley The Washington Post
  
  "Riveting. . . . Chafe sees clearly what we who were there, chronicling the Clintons in real time, missed." — David M. Shribman The Boston Globe
  
  "The strength of this book lies in Chafe's reconstruction of the Clintons' early lives and the way their connection affected the decisions Bill Clinton made as governor of Arkansas and as president. . . . [Bill and Hillary is] a welcome reminder of the great promise that the Clinton 'co presidency' initially held, and of the attributes, from Clinton's intellect to his willingness to engage on racial issues and his ability to connect with people, that made those of us who saw him sworn in truly believe, for a time, in 'a place called Hope.'" — Laura Eggertson The Toronto Star
  
  "Chafe . . . delivers a superior portrait of how the dynamic between Bill and Hillary Clinton affected their achievements in public life."
  
  Publishers Weekly
  
  "An engaging look at the personal relationship behind one of the most powerful political marriages in the nation's history."
  — Vanessa Bush Booklist
  
  Reviews
  "Chafe is careful to back up his suppositions with good evidence, and the portrait that emerges is both believable and of consummate interest to political junkies. An illuminating glimpse behind the scenes."
  Kirkus Reviews
  
• 
  Becky

  Historian William Chafe has done his homework here. Well researched and insightful, the book tries to answer the question that so many of us have wondered, "What kind of relationship do Bill and Hillary really have?" Beginning with the stories of how each of them grew up, we begin to understand who they are individually and how their unique partnership as adults enriches both of their lives. Regarding the subtitle: "The Politics of the Personal," he illustrates how the personal experiences of leaders shape their goals, visions and methods, and lead to the political outcomes that result. Very interesting reading.
• 
  Nancy

  This one took me a long time because it was like reading about a train wreck. I had so much hope when he was elected, then I felt betrayed because I actually believed he had " not had sex with that woman". Then I had to work my way back to the point that I contribute to the Clinton Foundation. This book brought it all back and I had to work my way through it, sometimes stopping for a while. The "what ifs" the author poses in the last chapter are very good and pose interesting questions. I have some questions on how he KNOWS FOR A FACT what the Clintons were thinking and their motivations.
• 
  Beverly

  As reviewer Vivian Blacksell says, this is a humdrum treatment of the Clintons and their relationship, offering little that is new. But this is also a pretty dramatic story. If Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016, it would be a good idea to revisit her behavior during the first part of her husband's presidency. She seems to have reclaimed her integrity since then, but this story does give one pause.
• 
  Holly

  Unpublished proof, gotten from a Little Free Library. Fascinating insight into their personal lives, and how that shaped their political. Beginning makes you a bit more endeared for both of them, and insight into their marriage as a political partnership and how they complement and need each other. Sometimes not so flattering view of the Clinton presidency, but honest, and generally pretty objectively written.
• 
  Judi

  I feel like I wasted enough of my time with this book. The author's falling back on well with Bill's roving eye and Gennifer scandal, he really had no choice but to allow Hillary to have her way on this topic. Give her total control over health-care well because the depth of his remorse over the Gennifer scandal....bleck!!!!!
• 
  David Horney

  It could be tempting to read this book as a hatchet piece, but it is meticulously footnoted/documented. Fascinating dissection of the the codependent relationship that made Bill's presidency possible.
• 
  Marsha

  I now have a better understanding of the amazing people Bill and Hilary are and the eight years of the Clinton presidency.
• 
  Leila Cohan-Miccio

  I mean, is it the dishy, explanatory book I would like to read about the Clintons' marriage? No. Is it a pretty good light biography of both Clintons? Sure.
• 
  Linda

  Fascinating perspective.
• 
  Pat

  a must read before a vote for Hillary
  
• 
  Cathy

  All I can say is this is a great book if you would like to learn more about the inner workings of this marriage.
• 
  Reforming

  Interesting, but at this point I can't take any more of Hillary. May pick it up later.
• 
  Ann

  Repetitive, but readable account of the Clintons' co-dependency. Especially interesting to read about Hillary's decision making thought processes in this election year.