In Search of Bill Clinton

A Psychological Biography

By: John D. Gartner

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

William Jefferson Clinton, the forty-second president of the United States, is undoubtedly the greatest American enigma of our age---a dark horse who captured the White House, fell from grace, and was resurrected as an elder statesman whose popularity rises and falls based on the day's sound bites.

John D. Gartner's In Search of Bill Clinton unravels the mystery at the heart of Clinton's complex nature and explains why so many people fall under his spell. Gartner tells the story we all thought we knew, from the fresh viewpoint of a psychologist, as he questions the well-crafted Clinton life story. Gartner, a therapist with expertise in treating individuals with hypomanic temperaments, saw in Clinton the energy, creativity, and charisma that leads a hypomanic individual to success as well as the problems with impulse control and judgment, which frequently result in disastrous decision making. He knew, though, that if he wanted to find the real Bill Clinton he couldn't rely on armchair psychology to provide the answer. He knew he had to travel to Arkansas and around the world to talk with those who knew Clinton and his family intimately. With his boots on the ground, Gartner uncovers long-held secrets about Clinton's mother, the ambitious and seductive Virginia Kelley, and her wild life in Hot Springs, as well as the ghostly specter of his biological father, Bill Blythe, to uncover the truth surrounding Clinton's rumor-filled birth. He considers the abusive influence of Clinton's alcoholic stepfather, Roger Clinton, to understand the repeated public abuse he invited both by challenging a hostile Republican Congress and engaging in the clandestine affair with Monica Lewinsky that led to his downfall.

Of course, there is no marriage more dissected than that of the Clintons, both in the White House and on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign trail. Instead of going down familiar paths, Gartner looks at that relationship with a new focus and cle...

©2008 John D. Gartner (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Written with lucidity, humor, compassion and amazing insight, it is a tour de force that...helps explain one of the smartest yet complex men of our time." (Nigel Hamilton, author of Bill Clinton: An American Journey)
"An analysis that is completely absorbing in its compassion and complexity." (Booklist Starred Review)

The Clintons Explained

This book is for everyone who never understood what made either of the Clintons tick or what kept them together. Dr. Gartner has studied them, and their lives, with a psychiatrist's expertise and has figured them out. I couldn't put it down.

BILL CLINTON ONE OF OUR BEST PRESIDENTS

Loved this book. Clinton is an extraordinary man, that the right wing in America saw before he became president that he would easily win 2 terms and probably pave the way for others like him. they knew they would have to shut him down no matter what, according to Newt Gingrich. Republicans threw everything they could at him. They impeached him, but he is the most popular politian in the world. We know he cares when we hurt.

Bill is Back

This book will really flesh out the listener's picture of Bill Clinton. Details of his childhood forward are drawn clearly and presented in a most interesting way. The reading is great. The book sets out to present a psychological profile of the former president and seeks to explain his behavior and leadership patterns. Perhaps the first 75% of the book follows the psychological theme which - though perhaps speculative - was interesting. The last portion of the book, while worthwhile, is primarily biography. If one has not read a biography of Clinton. This is not definitive, but worth the time.

What a gem!

Fortunately, I stumbled upon this book after wanting more of Stephen Hoye’s narration. Initially apprehensive . . . I’ve always appreciated the former President’s contribution to this country/the world and wasn’t interested in rehashing the Luwenisky drama. This book was so much more. The author took a clinical perspective with regard to the hypomanic personality, but details Clinton’s life in a very compelling manner. I gained a profound respect for him as a man and walked away feeling the need to contribute more of my life to making a difference to others.

Disappointed

As a therapist, I was looking forward to listening to this book. I was sadly disappointed to listen to this 2 dimensional portrait of President Clinton. The premise of the book is that Clinton has a "hypomanic temperament," which is not a psychiatric condition. This seems to be the author's own term, and described in large part as a "temperament" causing charisma and endless energy. Hypomania is a very serious psychiatric symptom, and the author minimizes how crippling it is.

The author also inserts his self-impressed resume into the story which added nothing to the story. Mr. Gartner states he has created a new genre.I think this is a genre we could do without.