Chances of a Lifetime

Rating:
Summary: Solid, Positive and Truthful
Review: If you are looking for a kiss and tell book full of gossip or new and exciting state secrets this is not the book for you. The author may be the last true nice guy in politics and his book echo's his character. The book spends about 30% of its time on his boyhood, working with the LBJ administration and working on different riots in he country. To be honest, this was not what I really was interested in. The rest of the book deals with his work in the Carter and Clinton administrations, which I felt was the most interesting sections of the book.

Christopher spends a good deal of time on his involvement in the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 and 1980 and on the Middle East peace process during his Clinton years. Both areas are well written and interesting, he brings a sense of a true gentleman to his writing - always taking the civil high road in his descriptions. I also found the sections on the personal security given to the Secretary of State and how he travels around the world new and interesting. Overall the author does a good job in this memoir; it is well written and understated. You understand why the author is so well respected; he goes out of his way not to include snide little comments and back- handed attacks that fill so many memoirs.

Rating:
Summary: More Politicians Should be Like "Chris"
Review: Warren Christopher gives his personal history the most cursory of treatments before plunging into exposition of his interactions with some of modern history's greater figures. At first I found this self-effacement irritating--I wanted to understand what would propel someone to work so tirelessly for his nation, under such trying circumstances as the widespread civil unrest of the late '60s and the hostage crisis at the end of Carter's term in office. Then I realized that Christopher's approach to his memoirs reflects his approach to public service: it's not about _him_, not at all. It becomes very clear as the book progresses that Christopher's modesty, discretion and unrelenting focus on the task at hand have made him the epitome of the gentleman statesman and a model to which other politicians should aspire. Sure, other ex-Cabinet members might write juicier memoirs. But they very likely are not be as widely-respected, or as consistently in demand over decades of American political life, as Christopher. "Chances of a Lifetime" is a worthwhile read for that lesson alone.