First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton

A portrait of President Clinton scrutinizes his character, draws on hundreds of documents and interviews, traces his rise through the Georgetown-Oxford-Yale years, and recognizes his ability to attract the best and the brightest of his generation. 50,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. Tour.

In this incisive, richly textured, fair-minded biography of Bill Clinton, which ends on the night he announced his presidential candidacy, Washington Post reporter Maraniss limns a quintessential politician, "sincere and deceptive at the same time." Drawing on interviews with nearly 400 people, including Clinton's closest friends, colleagues and relatives, Maraniss taps two sides of Clinton?one intelligent, empathetic, indefatigable, another petulant, tantrum-prone, indecisive, misleading, too eager to please?and declares that these components of the man are inseparable. There are revealing glimpses of Clinton the semi-bohemian Oxford antiwar activist; the casual, disorganized University of Arkansas law professor; and the Arkansas governor soliciting large contributions from corporate leaders for the public relations arm of his permanent political campaign. Maraniss, whose articles on Clinton's presidential candidacy won a Pulitzer Prize, also illuminates Clinton's pragmatic partnership with Hillary Rodham and their dependence on each other during their long haul from Arkansas to the White House. Photos. 50,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Maybe it's the logical progression of news media excess or the fact that self-absorbed baby boomers now run that media. Whatever the reason, the character of the first boomer president has received more scrutiny and instant analysis than any figure in history. Now Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maraniss offers a heavily documented (nearly 400 interviews), unauthorized biography that ends with Clinton's announcement for the presidency. Maraniss writes, "My goal was for this book to be neither pathography nor hagiography, but a fair-minded examination of a complicated human being and the forces that shaped him and his generation." He has achieved his goal. His portrait shows Clinton to be, like most public figures, a welter of coexisting contradictions--"considerate and calculating, easygoing and ambitious, mediator and predator." Maraniss writes that his research caused him to like Clinton even when he disliked him and to dislike him even when he liked him. All in all, First in His Class is solid journalism that thoughtfully evokes the tumultuous times--desegregation, assassinations, Vietnam--that shaped Clinton. Maraniss, of course, is also a boomer, but his scrutiny is more balanced and thoughtful than most. Thomas Gaughan

Clinton books have been as ubiquitous as photos of the president in jogging shorts and ill-fitting suits. Maraniss's biography similarly suffers more from overexposure than content. Most of the book examines Clinton's educational roots?from high school, where he graduated fourth, not first, in his class through Georgetown, Oxford, and Yale universities. Washington Post reporter Maraniss is at his best portraying Clinton as a product of the 1960s, when his life experiences and views were tempered by liberalism. He was tormented, as were so many of his peers, by the possibility of being drafted to serve in Vietnam; his actions were buffeted by wanting to avoid service without becoming involved in protests that could haunt his political career. This sympathetic portrait concludes with Clinton's decision to seek the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination. Maraniss's book complements John Brummett's Highwire (LJ 9/15/94), which also sees Clinton as a product of either his educational or geographical roots. The large number of existing Clinton titles and his declining popularity may make this book a tough sell. For public libraries.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.