Bill Clinton Popular Books
Bill Clinton Biography & Facts
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. Clinton, whose policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy, became known as a New Democrat. Clinton was born and raised in Arkansas. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1968, and later from Yale Law School, where he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham. After graduating from law school, Clinton returned to Arkansas and won election as state attorney general, followed by two non-consecutive tenures as Arkansas governor. As governor, he overhauled the state's education system and served as chairman of the National Governors Association. Clinton was elected president in the 1992 election, defeating the incumbent Republican Party president George H. W. Bush and the independent businessman Ross Perot. He became the first president to be born in the Baby Boomer generation. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. He signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, but failed to pass his plan for national health care reform. The Republican Party won unified control of Congress for the first time in 40 years in the 1994 elections, but Clinton was still comfortably re-elected president in 1996 against both the Republican Party nominee Bob Dole and the Reform Party nominee Perot. Starting in the mid-1990s, he began an ideological evolution as he became much more conservative in his domestic policy, advocating for and signing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, the State Children's Health Insurance Program and financial deregulation measures. He appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court. During the last three years of Clinton's presidency, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus—the first such surplus since 1969. In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U.S. military intervention in the Bosnian and Kosovo wars, eventually signing the Dayton Peace agreement. He also called for the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe and many former Warsaw Pact members joined NATO during his presidency. Clinton's foreign policy in the Middle East saw him sign the Iraq Liberation Act which gave aid to groups against Saddam Hussein. He also participated in the Oslo I Accord and Camp David Summit to advance the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, and assisted the Northern Ireland peace process. Clinton's second term was dominated by the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, which began in 1995, when he had a sexual relationship with the then 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In January 1998, news of the affair made tabloid headlines. This scandal escalated throughout the year, culminating in December when Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives, becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson. The two impeachment articles that the House passed were centered around perjury and Clinton using the powers of the presidency to commit obstruction of justice. In 1999, Clinton's impeachment trial began in the Senate, where he was acquitted on both charges. Clinton left office in 2001 with the joint-highest approval rating of any U.S. president. His presidency ranks among the middle to upper tier in historical rankings of U.S. presidents. However, his personal conduct and allegations of sexual abuse have made him the subject of substantial scrutiny. Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the Clinton Foundation to address international causes such as the prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming. In 2009, he was named the United Nations special envoy to Haiti. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Clinton founded the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. He has remained active in Democratic Party politics, campaigning for his wife's 2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns. Early life and career Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas. He is the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr., a traveling salesman who died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy (later Virginia Kelley). His parents had married on September 4, 1943, but this union later proved to be bigamous, as Blythe was still married to his fourth wife. Virginia traveled to New Orleans to study nursing soon after Bill was born, leaving him in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store. At a time when the southern United States was racially segregated, Clinton's grandparents sold goods on credit to people of all races. In 1950, Bill's mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr., who co-owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with his brother and Earl T. Ricks. The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950. Although he immediately assumed use of his stepfather's surname, it was not until Clinton turned 15 that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward him. Clinton has described his stepfather as a gambler and an alcoholic who regularly abused his mother and half-brother, Roger Clinton Jr. The physical abuse only ceased after a then-14-year-old Bill challenged his stepfather to "stand and face" him, though the verbal/emotional abuse continued. Bill would eventually forgive Roger Sr. for his abusive actions near the latter's death. In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. John's Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and the segregated Hot Springs High School, where he was an active student leader, avid reader, and musician. Clinton was in the chorus and played the tenor saxophone, winning first chair in the state band's saxophone section. While in high school, Clinton performed for two years in a jazz trio, The 3 Kings, with Randy Goodrum, who became a successful professional pianist. In 1961, Clinton became a member of the Hot Springs Chapter of the Order of DeMolay, a youth group affiliated with Freemasonry, but he never became a Freemason. He briefly considered dedicating his life to music, but as he noted in his autobiography My Life: Clinton began an interest in law at Hot Springs High, when he took up the challenge to argue the defense of the ancient Roman senator Catiline in a mock trial in his Latin class. After a vigorous defense that made use of his "budding rhetorical and political skills", he told the Latin teacher Elizabeth Buck it "made him realize that someday he would study law". Clinton has identified two influential moments in his life, both occurring in 1963, that contributed to his decision to become a public figure. One was his visit as a Boys Nat.... Discover the Bill Clinton popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Bill Clinton books.
Best Seller Bill Clinton Books of 2024
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On Becoming a Leader
Warren G. BennisA timeless classic from a pioneer in the field of leadership studiesthe only book you need to read on becoming an effective leader. Warren Bennis (19252014) was a pioneer in leader...
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Enemies
Tim WeinerThe hidden history of the FBI and its hundredyear war against terrorists, spies, and anyone it deemed subversiveincluding even American presidents. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSEL...
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Clinton Cash
Peter SchweizerThe definitive takedown by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Secret Empires.In 2000, Bill and Hillary Clinton owed millions of dollars in legal debt. Since...
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How to Lead
David M. RubensteinThe New York Times Bestseller #1 Wall Street Journal BestsellerThe essential leadership playbook. Learn the principles and guiding philosophies of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Ruth Bade...
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State of Terror
Louise Penny & Hillary ClintonAN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERNamed one of the most anticipated novels of the season by People, Associated Press, Time, Los Angeles Times, Parade, St. Louis PostDispatch,...
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Rising Star
David GarrowNew York Times BestsellerRising Star is the definitive account of Barack Obama's formative years that made him the man who became the fortyfourth president of the United Statesfrom...
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In Search of Bill Clinton
John GartnerWhat makes Bill Clinton tick?William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States is undoubtedly the greatest American enigma of our age a dark horse that captured t...
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Bill Clinton
Nigel HamiltonA decadeandahalf after President William Jefferson Clinton first took the oath of office, biographer Nigel Hamilton tells the riveting story of what was possibly the greatest selfr...
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First in Line
Kate Andersen Brower“An intimate, compulsively readable account of the dynamics that have shapedand sometimes destroyedrelations at the top of the American political hierarchy.... [and] a valuabl...
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Bibi
Benjamin NetanyahuIn Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s “compelling” (The Economist) and “fascinating” (The Wall Street Journal) New York Times bestselling autobiography, the prime minister of Israel tells...
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The President Is Missing
Bill Clinton & James PattersonDas Buchereignis 2018: Bill Clinton und James Pattersons "The President Is Missing" ist ein hochspannender Thriller über Ereignisse, die wirklich so eintreffen können – ein...
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Meditations
Marcus Aurelius, David V. Hicks & C. Scot HicksNATIONAL BESTSELLERA powerful and accessible translation of Marcus Aurelius’s timeless book on character, what it takes to be a good leader, and how to live a fulfilling life.Marcu...
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Against All Enemies
Richard A. Clarke"The [Bush] administration has squandered the opportunity to eliminate al Qaeda....A new al Qaeda has emerged and is growing stronger, in part because of our own actions and inacti...
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Rodham
Curtis SittenfeldNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of American Wife and Eligible . . . He proposed. She said no. And it changed her life forever. “A deviously clever ...
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The Run
Stuart WoodsA respected senator from Georgia, Will Lee has aspirations of more.But a cruel stroke of fate thrusts him onto the national stage well before he expects, and long before he's ready...
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Secret Empires
Peter Schweizer#1 New York Times Bestseller!Peter Schweizer has been fighting corruptionand winningfor years. In Throw Them All Out, he exposed insider trading by members of C...
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The Loudest Voice in the Room
Gabriel ShermanNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A revelatory journey inside the world of Roger Ailesthe founder of Fox Newsdetailing his rise in TV and political consulting, his brash business sty...
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See No Evil
Robert BaerIn See No Evil, one of the CIA’s top field officers of the past quarter century recounts his career running agents in the back alleys of the Middle East. In the process, Robert Bae...
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One Nation Under Sex
Larry Flynt & David Eisenbach, Ph.D.“Americans often like to think that extramarital sexor even a strong libidois somehow a sign of poor character in our presidents. One Nation Under Sex explodes that myth...You don’...
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Confronting the Presidents
Bill O'Reilly & Martin DugardEvery American president, from Washington to Biden: Their lives, policies, foibles, and legacies, assessed with cleareyed authority and wit.Authors of the acclaimed Killing books, ...
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Crisis of Character
Gary J. ByrneIn this runaway #1 New York Times bestseller, former secret service officer Gary Byrne, who was posted directly outside President Clinton's oval office, reveals what he observed of...
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It Takes a Village
Hillary ClintonIn celebration of the tenth anniversary of It Takes a Village, this splendid edition includes photographs and a new Introduction by Hillary Rodham Clinton.A decade ago, then First ...
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What Happened
Hillary Clinton“An engaging, beautifully synthesized pageturner” (Slate). The #1 New York Times bestseller and Time #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year: Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most personal memoir y...
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Living History
Hillary ClintonAuthor of the Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller What Happened The Phenomenal #1 Worldwide BestsellerWith a New Afterword Hillary Rodham Clinton is known to hundreds of millions ...
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Sex with Presidents
Eleanor HermanIn this fascinating work of popular history, the New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings and The Royal Art of Poison uncovers the bedroom secrets of American presidents...
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A Vast Conspiracy
Jeffrey ToobinNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The inspiration for Impeachment: American Crime Story on FXThe definitive account of the ClintonLewinsky sex scandals, the extraordinary ordeal that near...
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The Law Book
DKLearn about the most important legal milestones in history in The Law Book.Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy...
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Faith
Jimmy CarterIn this powerful and personal New York Times bestseller, President Jimmy Carter contemplates how faith has sustained him in happiness and disappointment and considers how we may fi...
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The Back Channel
William J. Burns“A masterful diplomatic memoir” (The Washington Post) from CIA director and career ambassador William J. Burns, from his service under five presidents to h...
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The First Family Detail
Ronald KesslerNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Ron Kessler appears to get everything first.”Slate As in a play, presidents, vice presidents, and presidential candidates perform onstage for...
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American Sketches
Walter IsaacsonOne of America's most versatile writers, author of bestselling biographies such as Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin, has assembled a gallery of portraits of (mostly) Americans that...
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Shattered
Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERIt was never supposed to be this close. And of course she was supposed to win. How Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump is the rivetin...
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The Presidents Club
Nancy Gibbs & Michael DuffyThe New York Times bestselling history of the private relationships among the last thirteen presidentsthe partnerships, private deals, rescue missions, and rivalries of those selec...
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All the Best, George Bush
George H. W. BushFormer President George H.W. Bush, revealed through his letters and writings from 1941 to 2010, is “worth its weight in gold…a valuable update of the life of an honorable American ...
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The Partly Cloudy Patriot
Sarah VowellFrom This American Life contributor and selfdescribed “history nerd” Sarah Vowell comes a collection of humorous and personal essays investigating American history, pop culture, an...
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The Red and the Blue
Steve KornackiFrom MSNBC correspondent Steve Kornacki, a lively and sweeping history of the birth of political tribalism in the 1990sone that brings critical new understanding to our current pol...
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The King of Oil
Daniel AmmannBillionaire oil trader Marc Rich for the first time talks at length about his private life (including his expensive divorce from wife Denise); his invention of the spot oil market,...
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Profiles in Corruption
Peter SchweizerNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!Washington insiders operate by a proven credo: When a Peter Schweizer book drops, duck and brace for impact.For over a decade, the work of sixtime Ne...
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Contempt
Ken StarrTwenty years after the Starr Report and the Clinton impeachment, former special prosecutor Ken Starr finally shares his definitive account of one of the most divisive periods in Am...
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A Full Life
Jimmy CarterIn his major New York Times bestseller, Jimmy Carter looks back from ninety years of age and “reveals private thoughts and recollections over a fascinating career as businessman, p...
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Howard Stern Comes Again
Howard SternOver his unrivaled fourdecade career in radio, Howard Stern has interviewed thousands of personalitiesdiscussing sex, relationships, money, fame, spirituality, and success with the...
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Bill Clinton
Michael Tomasky, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. & Sean WilentzThe president of largerthanlife ambitions and appetites whose term defined America at the close of the twentieth centuryBill Clinton: a president of contradictions. He was a Rhodes...
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Bill and Hillary
William H. ChafeIn Bill and Hillary: The Politics of the Personal, the distinguished historian William H. Chafe boldly argues that the trajectory of the Clintons' political lives can be understood...
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Destiny and Power
Jon Meacham#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this “illuminating” (USA Today) biography, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jon Meacham chronicles the life of George Herbert Walker Bush.“Destin...
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The Residence
Kate Andersen Brower“Absolutely delicious.”Washington PostFrom the mystique of the glamorous Kennedys to the tumult that surrounded Bill and Hillary Clinton during the president’s impeachment to the h...