Rating: 
Summary: Score one for the Clinton haters.
Review: This was a very eye opening book. I always knew that the Clintons were self serving, arrogant politicians. It amazes me how the Clinton supporters just write off everything as a "right-wing consipiracy". If you ever notice, they never have an answer for anything. No answer for "Travelgate", "Filegate", Vince Foster, Whitewater, Rose Law Firm, Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Jennifer Flowers, the China connection, Marc Rich, on and on and on. Well, Barbara Olsen does have some answers. She reveals the true nature of the Clintons. The Marc Rich pardon is the most fascinating section. It proves, completely, that Bill Clinton had no respect for law, morallity, the presidency or the American people. It's very interesting reading, but it will make you angry. Unless, of course, you are a liberal Clinton supporter. At wich point you will cry "right-wing" consipiracy and insert your head back into the sand.
Rating:
Summary: Olson's book a masterpiece
Review: A factual and documented telling of the abuse of Presidential power during the 8 years of the Clintons' occupancy of the White House.All students of The American Presidency should be required to read this book and it should be part of every history class taught.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Example for America
Review: Barbara Olson was certainly no fan of the Clintons. However, she does show fairness in this book by agreeing that there was justification for some pardons by Clinton. She also quotes some liberal Democrats who express their disgust with Clinton's last minute pardon escapade. She does point out that these same Democrats could not bring themselves to condemn Clinton for some of the earlier scandals while she maintains that the pardoning and White House furniture scandals of the last days of his term were only a continuation of the character displayed in the earlier sexual scandals. The Marc Rich pardon of course receives special attention in the book and leaves one wondering how someone with integrity could justify such a pardon of one who at the time was on one of the Justice Department's "most wanted" lists. Sometimes there is a little too much detail such as several pages listing the names of the pardoned. But overall, I found the book both interesting and informative.
Rating:
Summary: No Fluff, No Hype, No Spite
Review: Barbara Olson's passing has left us not only with a hole in our collective heart, but also a valuable insight into some very frightening people -- thanks to this book. It amazes me how people who are supposedly "reviewing" this book can get their ridiculous accusations and personal attacks on the author in print here! One reviewer, in particular, barely mentioned the book at all. However, I will mention the book, and gladly. "The Final Days" should never have been Barbara Olson's last book. Those who accuse her of writing fluff, or writing out of spite, apparently did not read the entire book. In fact, they missed the entire section on her sources of facts! Even if I were a Clinton fan (which I am not, of any of them), I would find the facts within entirely too well-documented and too hair-raising to dismiss. Some reviewers question Barbara Olson's "Washington insider" status in an attempt to discredit her, which is a ridiculously desperate move on their parts. No one who knows who Barbara was (not even so much who she knew, but who she was as a person) would ever think of questioning such a thing. This book is not fiction, and the documentation is there for all who dare to acknowledge it. In essence, "The Final Days" is a factual, cohesive, and engaging presentation of facts about the ex-president and his ever-present, ever-scary wife. Mrs. Clinton's beliefs and politics are dangerous, and if We The People do not take heed of Mrs. Olson's written words, we may well live to regret it. Writing off this book as spiteful vitriol may be cute, but it is unwise. Mrs. Olson perished because of x42's administrative failures. So did thousands of other people; some were not American citizens, but most were. The horror of 9/11 could have been avoided, had we listened to Barbara Olson and others who tried to warn us. How many more of us are we willing to sacrifice out of either stubbornness or ignorance? Or both? Don't be stubborn -- read the book. Don't be ignorant -- believe what you read. We've had burning towers and a burning Pentagon; is a burning bush (no pun should be taken) really necessary?
Rating: 
Summary: Olson does a great job with the compilation of Final Days
Review: ...Olson simply presents the facts and offers possible explanation to the link the facts together. An excellent example is the facts behind the pardon of the 4 Jews from New York. Somehow the district these people had come from voted over 90% for Hillary Clinton and then her husband gives them a pardon. Hhhhmmm, that has got to make you wonder. After reading this book, I felt like I was reading about the last days of a two-bit dictator of a third-world country and not the President and leader of the Free World.
Rating:
Summary: Fine Piece of Clinton Hate Literature
Review: This was a great account of the final abuses of power in the clinton administration: last minute executive orders, pardons, political pay-offs, and a tawdry attempt to rewrite eight years of immoral mismanagment. The first 2/3 of the book are 5 stars. My only complaint is that the author goes too far into the weeds on pardongate for the last 70 pages or so.
Rating:
Summary: Factual presentation not Vitriol
Review: When I first received this book I was a little skeptical. Would this just be a hatchet job on our ex president? The cover and title seemed to indicate that it was going to be a very one-sided right wing slam blaming every thing wrong in the world on anti-Christ Bill. But what I found out was a book that was extremely fair. The author even seemed in some strange way enamored by President Clinton's charisma and his obvious political skills. She paid kudos to him for the way he managed the government during his tenure in office, praising him for keeping a robust economy and a fairly good job at handling foreign affairs. Ms. Olson was in no ways vindictive to the ex-chief. What the author did do though was provide a synopsis of the dealings of Mr. Clinton during his last days in office. There was no specious charges brought out by this book. As a matter of fact all the allegations brought up by Ms. Olson are known and proven to have occurred. What the author has done is culminated many of the main factual news stories into a book showing the tawdry dealings of our Ex-President. One of the best points of the book was the complete lack of hyperbolic arguments or vitriolic chatter from the author. It was obvious that none was needed since the ex-presidents actions speak loudly enough. However, she does quote many of the Clinton apologists near the end of the book. And it is very fascinating that once Clinton was out of office his staunchest supports began to spew forth such verbal tirades and denunciations against him and his amoral actions. (Perhaps it is these quotes from liberals that many of the negative reviewers have confused as the authors thoughts???) Anyhow, I gave the book only 4 stars because I think it lacks depth in discussing the most pernicious action of the president in his last few days in office. That is the issuing of executive orders or legislation by presidential fiat if you will. While Ms. Olson does spend one chapter discussing these issues she only hits a few of the goodies that William Jefferson Clinton signed into law. For any conscientious American I suggest you search out all the EO's that were signed. They are easily available on the web. Once you have read them you to will be outraged at the abuse of this privilege. I hope that all Americans have learned their lesson from the incorrigible megalomaniac we had in the White House. Character does count not political party affiliation.
Rating:
Summary: The Vast Left-Wing Hypocrisy
Review: It's not all here -- it's doubtful whether any book could contain all the Clintons' misdeeds -- it's doubtful that we'll ever know every last one of them. But there's a lot here, stuff you remember, stuff you are sorry to be reminded of and will be glad to forget again, stuff you never knew. And there are only a few oases of brightness, such as the writer whose peroration reads: "Mr. President, I've worked with black men. I've known black men. Some black men have been friends of mine. And you, sir, are no black man." Of course, you have to read the full context to gain the full benefit. It's probable that the policemen/firefighters whose booing led to the shortest Clinton speech on record at Madison Square Garden recently do not know most of the facts in this book, so it's encouraging that they are onto the Clinton character. It's sad that we'll never gain the author's insights on this event, for she herself died in the September 11 attack. While this should be mandatory reading for everyone who will ever vote in an election with a Clinton on the ballot (and that may well be all of us), it's pretty grim reading. For an antidote, try Peggy Noonan's "When Character Was King", for an account of a public figure with a completely un-Clintonesque character.
Rating:
Summary: Review from the front line...
Review: She was there. She knew them. Barbara Olson articulately recaps the last days of the Clinton presidency. Well written, compelling recount of our recent, troubled history.
Rating: 
Summary: Just More Subjective Clinton-bashing by an Ultraconservative
Review: Barbara Olson, the late wife of Ted Olson who was George W. Bush's legal representative during latter's infamous rise to the presidency (and now rewarded with the post of Solicitor General in the Bush Justice Department), was on Larry King Live, Fox News, and every other cable news network during the last few years of the Clinton administration, bashing anything and everything the Clintons did. It was a relentless pursuit by the extreme right wing to discredit the Clinton administration and ignoring its legitimate accomplishments.
This book just furthers that impression. It appears to be written with preconceived notions, starting with the first Clinton campaign to the last days of Clinton's presidency. It totally ignores the fact that Clinton was ELECTED by the American people because the elder Bush, with the help of the Reagan administration, had made a mess of the economy, and had refused to accept the recession of the early 90s. It ignores the elder Bush's pre-occupation with the pursuit of Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein and ignoring domestic policies.
It ignores the fact that, after the 1994 elections, Newt Gingerich wielded his power as speaker of the house (of Congress) to obstruct the conduct of government, or that conservatives like Jesse Helms in the Senate refused to confirm several dozen Clinton appointees for no particular reason and went on record to say just that, and otherwise refused to co-operate with Clinton - almost as a matter of policy!
It also ignores the relentless harrassment of the Clintons and their supporters by Ken Starr, the special prosecutor appointed by a panel of three ultra-conservative judges in the 10th District. Starr spent over $40 million of taxpayer money, winning a few minor convictions but, essentially, wasting most of that sum in what were wild goose chases (especially with the Whitewater investigation.) His successor finally dropped the investigation during the last days of Clinton's presidency.
It also ignores a couple of additional legal issues: a) why, despite rigorous efforts by Starr and his supporters, no charges could be brought against (now New York Senator) Hillary Clinton regarding her activities at the Rose Law Firm in Arkansas, and b) why the ultra-conservative Rutherford Institute was paying for Paula Jones' legal action against Bill Clinton.
Unfortunately, this book is full of political angst and frustration, and truly expresses the vendetta the conservatives still felt after they lost the White House after 12 years. I wish I could rate this book a 'zero star', but that option isn't available.
| 
