The Survivor - John F. Harris

NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER

The definitive account of one of the most accomplished, controversial, and polarizing
figures in American history

Bill Clinton is the most arresting leader of his generation.
He transformed American politics, and his eight years as president spawned arguments
that continue to resonate. For all that has been written about this singular personality-including
Clinton's own massive autobiography-there has been no comprehensive, nonpartisan
overview of the Clinton presidency.

Few writers are as qualified and equipped to
tackle this vast subject as the award-winning veteran Washington Post correspondent
John F. Harris, who covered Clinton for six of his eight years in office-as long
as any reporter for a major newspaper. InThe Survivor, Harris frames the historical
debate about President William Jefferson Clinton, by revealing the inner workings
of the Clinton White House and providing the first objective analysis of Clinton's
leadership and its consequences.

Harris shows Clinton entering the Oval Office in
1993 primed to make history. But with the Cold War recently concluded and the country
coming off a nearly uninterrupted generation of Republican presidents, the new president's
entry into this maelstrom of events was tumultuous. His troubles were exacerbated
by the habits, personal contacts, and the management style, he had developed in his
years as governor of Arkansas. Clinton's enthusiasm and temper were legendary, and
he and Hillary Rodham Clinton-whose ambitions and ordeals also fill these pages-arrived
filled with mistrust about many of the characters who greeted them in the "permanent
Washington" that often holds the reins in the nation's capital.

Showing surprising
doggedness and a deep-set desire to govern from the middle, Clinton repeatedly rose
to the challenges; eventually winning over (or running over) political adversaries
on both sides of the aisle-sometimes facing as much skepticism from fellow Democrats
as from his Republican foes. But as Harris shows in his accounts of political debacles
such as the attempted overhaul of health care, Clinton's frustrations in the war
against terrorism, and the numerous personal controversies that time and again threatened
to consume his presidency, Bill Clinton could never manage to outrun his tendency
to favor conciliation over clarity, or his own destructive appetites.

The Survivoris the best kind of history, a book filled with major revelations-the tense dynamic
of the Clinton inner circle and Clinton's professional symbiosis with Al Gore to
the imprint of Clinton's immense personality on domestic and foreign affairs-as well
as the minor details that leaven all great political narratives. This long-awaited
synthesis of the dominant themes, events, and personalities of the Clinton years
will stand as the authoritative and lasting work on the Clinton Presidency.


From the Hardcover edition.