Rating: 
Summary: An insightful, if somewhat superficial, book
Review: Klein, the author of Primary Colors, probably is the most perceptive commentator on Clinton. The Natural is an analysis of Clinton's tenure as President. Klein is a moderate Democrat, and his political bias shows through at some points. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem; however, in this case, a few good points are obscured by writing that falls into hack political journalism a little too much.At a few points, "The Natural" inexplicably leaves its analysis of Clinton to discuss the rise of smear politics, the hypocrisy of the Right that impeached Clinton, or the bias of the media against Clinton. I disagree with some of the points he makes on these subjects, and I agree with some. However, the real problem is that it makes the book oddly disconnected, and seperates Klein from the real reason to read him: his perceptions on Clinton. The discourses that Klein goes off are only tangentially related to Clinton.. In a larger book, with more space, they would be appropriate. However, they take the place in "The Natural" of more relevant information. One gets the sense that Klein was trying to score political points, when all you want him to do is describe Clinton honestly. Still, there are major themes in this book that make it worthwhile. Klein tackles questions such as what Clinton will be remembered for, why the Lewinsky scandal gained such traction, who had his ear at what time in his Presidency, and which of his qualities accounted for his successes. He makes solid arguments that Clinton accomplished a good deal of real policy work as President (a rather new assertion), and excellently documents the workings and powers in the Clinton White House. "The Natural" is by no means the definitive book on the Clinton Presidency. It is, however, by far the best available to us at the moment.
Rating: 
Summary: If you like Eggers self serving fiction, you will like this
Review: Perhaps The Natural sounded better in theory than it does on the page. Surely Joe Klein, who never fails to remind us in this book that he writes for the New Yorker, thought that a non-fictional underpinning should be created for his admittedly brilliant Primary Colors. Written supposedly by Anonymous, later discovered to be Mr Klein, Colors was a thinly veiled and rather comic look at campaigns and more specifically, former President Clinton's run for the White House in 1992. What was right about that novel is what is now so unbearable about this particular book. Klein basically serves us a regurgitation of Primary Colors, only without the more subtle wink that makes fiction enjoyable and with the browbeating of facts that can make non-fiction unenjoyable. And what makes his effort worse is -- the facts aren't historical. The facts aren't really even what scholars would call facts -- this is not a piece of journalism or even a sliver of history. It is more of an opinion piece from Joe Klein, he of the New Yorker don't forget, about Bill Clinton. His talks with Bill, how Bill recognized his children during the campaign, how his relationship with Bill has evolved over the years. His arguments with Bill's aides in the White House, because him and Bill are both New Democrats. And on and on. Which is fine. I want to hear how Bill Clinton leaned up against Mr Klein in a bowling alley for a whole night in New Hampshire, which Mr Klein preferred to call in the book a "felicitous" moment. Really, I do. Really. But there was probably a magazine where Joe should have submitted it to. McSweeney's surely would have accepted it, too.
Rating: 
Summary: A Balanced Perspective On Bill Clinton
Review: I am tired of all of the Clinton-bashing. The man is not some stupid southern hick who fell into the White House. I don't care what the pundits and just plain Clinton-haters have to say, I as an average citizen believe he did a remarkably good job over his eight years in office. Indeed Clinton infuriated me at times with his shifting positions and his seemingly uncontrollable libido. He did some stupid and embarrassing things. Yet, he was real, "warts and all." For my money, he is the most human president we have had in many years. We have enough plastic politicians. In Bill Clinton, what we saw was a very brilliant, yet imperfect man, who had an enormously natural talent to serve the American people. He did a good job on our behalf. As Klein points out, Clinton is a "Natural!" Klein presents a very balaned portrait of a bright and complex man who did remarkably well despite his own humanity and the woes of having to deal with a publicly funded witch hunt for his entire eight years in office. A fast, fair and very readable book about an interesting man who finally has a life that he doesn't have to live under a microscope anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Capturing the Complexity
Review: Klein has produced a strong, short work describing the complexity of the human being that occupied the role of President of the United States for 8 years. The Natural delivers a preliminary judgement on a presidency, rather than on the all too human individual. Instead of making psychlogical pronouncements, Klein refreshingly colors his rendition of anecdotes with possibilities and probabilities of meaning. Like the American public, who gave Clinton high marks for his official performance but wrinkled their noses at his lapses of judgement, Klein tries -- and succeeds -- to bring to light the complexity of an imperfect man trying to meet idealistic expectations in raging rapids of Washington, DC. The book is mercifully short; Klein makes his point, and doesn't try to fill the pages with distracting clutter.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book About A Complex Individual
Review: Joe Klein does a very good job unpacking the enigma William Jefferson Clinton. Like many people, I wonder how someone who was so gifted in so many ways could be so recklessly foolish in so many others. Also, Klein, without resorting to psychobabble, illuminates some of the dynamics of the Clinton marriage as well as how many of Clinton's political enemies managed to inflict much more damage on themselves than on the object of their fury. A few days ago there was a report in the press about a recent Clinton restaurant encounter with Lucianne Goldberg, the woman to whom Linda Tripp was talking about what she knew. By all accounts, Clinton was his usual charming self and exchanged pleasantries with one of his most infamous opponents. This is vintage Clinton and readers of Klein's book will come away with a clearer sense of his capacity to triumph over those who loathed him. If you're a political junkie, you'll find this a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Klein Hits a Home Run with The Natural
Review: If you want a great read on the Clinton years, this is the book! It's a fast read that you won't want to put down. After finishing Peggy Noonan's "When Character was King" a valentine to Reagan and also a great read, I thought I should give equal time to Bill - while Noonan's book is a love story, Klein's is pretty measured, warts and all about Clinton - but you gotta love him anyway. It's a frank, honest book about the disorganized character and sloppiness of the White House and the man, but reflects Clinton's brilliant mind and charisma. Too bad he couldn't use his amazing ability to lead the nation with his vision, instead of getting stalled in peccadilloes that tarnished his presidency.
Rating: 
Summary: The Clinton Presidency Is Still Misunderstood
Review: Despite promising something new with the subtitle of the book, "The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton," Joe Klein's theme is familiar. He believes Clinton was the most talented politician of the latter part of the Twentieth Century, but that his personal excesses disappointed his supporters and provided opponents with the ammunition they hoped to use to destroy him. The American people, who in Klein's story are alternatively indolent and endowed with great common sense (depending on what point the author is trying to make on any given page) save the day by recognizing that Clinton was, for all his faults, better than his enemies. Klein's method is to give the appearance of balance by deploring Clinton's well known personal weaknesses, while rendering a selective history of the presidency that inflates its substance. The author is in awe of Clinton's grasp of the details of domestic policy, but aside from his assertion that Clinton was responsible for the Federal budget surpluses of the late 1990s (which, as I will discuss below, is largely a myth), he doesn't adequately address whether Clinton, the policy wonk, had the judgment to separate forest from trees. He glides over Clinton's ignorance of foreign policy, even going so far as to relegate to parentheses an aside that Clinton's "handling of national security issues remained sketchy and uncertain." In his account of impeachment, Klein is eloquent in his silence concerning Clinton's perjury and obstruction of justice. To Klein, impeachment was about sex, pure and simple. In his words, Clinton was a "rogue," but not a "scoundrel." The Constitution delegates to the House the authority to define an impeachable offense and to the Senate the determination of whether the offense justifies removal of a president. Future events may or may not confirm the wisdom of the decision that perjury and obstruction of justice do not meet the constitutional standards for conviction, but the Senate was clear in its acquittal of President Clinton. Nevertheless, Klein is disingenuous in implying that Congress acted improperly in bringing those charges to an impeachment trial. Whatever the merits of the Paula Jones case, the actions for which Clinton was impeached were clearly undertaken to deprive her of a fair court hearing. If the American experiment has any meaning, it is that those who are granted government sanctioned power must be prevented from riding roughshod over the powerless. Congress would have been irresponsible had it not formally considered whether Clinton's abuse of power warranted removal from office. One can agree that Clinton should not have been convicted by the Senate and still understand that his crimes were not lacking in gravity. Klein's cavalier dismissal of the affair as a mere sex scandal reeks of cynicism. On the economy, Klein credits Clinton with producing a balanced budget, and he accepts Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin's theory that balanced budgets are the fundamental variable leading to lower interest rates and economic recovery. The facts do not support him. Klein tries to show that Clinton pursued fiscal discipline from the beginning in 1993. He quotes Mrs. Clinton as telling him that the President understood the importance of deficit reduction from the start. Perhaps. But then why doesn't Klein address the often quoted story that Clinton became furious with his economic advisors when they explained to him that his plans for expansive spending policy would jeopardize a recovery? "You mean the bond market dictates to the government?" he reportedly screamed. Klein's claims for Clinton's fiscal restraint would be far more persuasive had he rebutted this famous story. Instead, his silence speaks volumes. At any rate Klein implies that Clinton's 1993 budget maneuvers were a success. In fact, Clinton's budget was regarded much like Bush's 1990 effort: a combination of higher taxes and smoke and mirrors which did not make much headway in eliminating the chronic budget deficits. No one foresaw progress toward a balanced budget unless difficult political choices were finally confronted. Even at the end of his first term, Clinton's budget proposal for fiscal year 1997 predicted a balanced budget only by 2002. By 1996 fiscal plans which claimed to produce surpluses five years hence were no longer taken seriously. Conveniently picking up the story in 1997, Klein implies that Clinton's negotiations on that year's Balanced Budget Agreement ushered in a new era of fiscal responsibility. In fact the 1997 act represented a retreat from serious budget decisions as both the White House and the Congress gave a sigh of relief on finding that a massive, and entirely unanticipated, economic boom had increased revenues to such an extent that deficit worries were (for the time being) a thing of the past. Both Clinton and Congress then took credit for surpluses that neither created. What about Rubin's theory that deficit reduction leads to lower interest rates and thus to a boom? The fact is, long term interest rates stood at 6.9 percent in late 1993, when Clinton's first budget was passed. They were at 7.2 percent when his presidency ended. Deficits fell; interest rates fluctuated. Rubin's theory, which Klein accepts as fact, was not verified by empirical evidence. Does this mean that Clinton (and Rubin) were poor economic stewards ? Of course not. Is fiscal discipline important? Without question. But is Klein's narrative accurate? No. A less partisan and more factual economic history of the 1990s would read as follows: A relatively conservative Democratic president, prevented from sliding into excess by a nasty, but prudent, Republican Congress, presided over a glorious boom when both branches of government, restrained by the deficit, were forced to keep their hands off the marvelously productive American economy. The hero in this account isn't Clinton, or the Republicans, it's the American economy and that much maligned villain, gridlock. That's not the story you'll read in "The Natural." One suspects that Klein's curiously selective history of the Clinton years is really less an honest evaluation of the presidency than an attempt to make it conform to the author's own view of the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Presidential victimhood
Review: Bill Clinton would have been one of the greatest presidents, but... . That is the recurring theme of Joe Klein's superficial analysis of the president he obsessed over for so many years. In Klein's view, Clinton was a victim of the good times, when the public usually ignores the political scene, a victim of divisive politics (which of course he was more than a willing accomplice) and of course, a victim of the blue dress he joyfully stained. These shameful excuses cloak what, for the most part, was a sensible dissection of the Clinton presidency, which started with so much promise to only disintegrate into disorganization and obsession. Clinton came to office talking a good game with his refreshing Third Way governing style. His ideals of government centered on a citizenry grasping opportunity to learn responsibility in order to form a solid community. Good stuff. But as Clinton moved back to the left after the campaign, the Old Democrat took over. Clinton's foreign policy was a joke, no doubt about it, but Klein rightfully gives Clinton credit for his working class tax-credit system which limited the growth of government bureaucracy and was essentially a form of tax cut. Clinton also showed prudence by not [messing] up the technological boom with unnecessary government intervention. Klein should be ashamed for complaining about how Clinton never got the chance to lead like George W. Bush has done so well after Sept. 11. Who would wish that on any president in any country? The plain truth is that Clinton had many chances to lead, and he blew them. The bombing of the USS Cole, in particular, should have been the ultimate wakeup call, but there was no urgency. Had he listened to his supposed instincts and not his pollsters, maybe he would have been the icon he is still wrongfully lauded to be.
Rating:
Summary: I love this!
Review: When I was really young, I used to bet the other children that I could swallow loose change. The most I ever did was 78 cents and one of them was a quarter.
Rating:
Summary: Joe Klein, get a life!
Review: Joe klein surely didn't want to upset the republicans, when
he wrote this book.
If he's President Clinton's friend, President Clinton doesn't
need anymore friends like him.
Would a friend write Primary Colors about his friend,then keep silent?? How kind of you Mr. Klein, to write The Natural.
Please Mr. Klien don't do us anymore favors. Leave our President
Clinton alone. Be a friend to the man who resides now in the White House.
I should have known after Primary Colors, I was wasting my money
on this book. Live and learn.
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