Rating: 
Summary: How To Share an Ego
Review: I was not expecting the author's detailed views on President Clinton's personality. I was assuming I was going to get a 350 page "I am the Greatest" ego stroking puff piece. I was actually prepared to dislike this book given the author's conservative leanings and now permanent pundit position on FOX, but as it is the inside book covering how Clinton turned around his numbers in 94-95, I felt it was worth getting through. It turns out I was wrong. The book was very well written and interesting. The author shared a number of insights into how the Clinton White House worked and what was going on in 94 - 95. The author also did not have the overblown ego that I was expecting to encounter; as a matter of fact he spent a good deal of time apologizing for his famous fall from grace. He was also rather kind to some of the people he worked with (or battled with) in the White House. As a matter of fact some of the other insider books on the Clinton years have not been this kind to Dick Morris. Maybe that is the danger of being one of the first out of the gate with your memoir, you can not get back at others. Overall I found the book very good. It was detailed and fun to read. The comments are well thought out and provide an interesting view into how politics works now days. Ok, his ego does pop up from time to time, but it is not so bad that it takes away from the overall book. Hey at this level they all have healthily egos. I would recommend that it be one of the books to read on the Clinton years.
Rating: 
Summary: the man behind the victory
Review: Part campaign chronicle, part autobiography, part political strategy primer, Behind the Oval Office is Morris's look at the period from about November 1994 through August 1996 when he worked as a consultant for Bill Clinton. Morris includes some background information, such as his earlier history with the Clintons and his relationship with Trent Lott, but the primary focus is how Clinton won the presidency after the 1994 midterm elections, to many observers, turned him into an apparent lame duck.
Morris takes great pains to point out that he is (or at least was) an equal opportunity consultant, advising both Republicans and Democrats. Indeed, when he got his first call from Clinton in 1994, he was working on a handful of Republican campaigns, including Tom Ridge's race for governor in Pennsylvania. Previously, he had worked for Trent Lott, whom Morris deeply respects, and, surprisingly enough, for Jesse Helms, a job which, not too surprisingly, ended with Morris's being fired. There's something a shade Machiavellian about this, about caring for victory above all else. But Morris also goes to great lengths to explain his "craft." It is not simply spin or slander or attack or government-by-polls; rather, it is about issues and substance. Morris insists that he merely examines a candidates repertoire of positions and, based on polls, picks the ones to emphasize.
It is an interesting book by an obviously brilliant man. Clinton's reversal of fortunes between 1994 and 1996 is nothing short of stunning, and much of it was Dick Morris's doing. That is, until he encountered his own scandal during the 1996 convention. (Of course, Dick Morris's strategies would continue to reap benefits after he left.) If there is a negative of this book, it is Morris's constant apologies for his trysts with the prostitute. It's a refreshing stand--to admit his wrongdoing, apologize for it, and recognize that he hurt others more than he hurt himself. But it was such a constant refrain in the book as to detract from its overall impact. Still, the book is insightful not only into the 1996 campaign but also into campaign strategy in general. It is a fascinating read.
Rating:
Summary: The political genius
Review: The undisputed master of polling, political stratagem, geopolitical sagacity, and, er... prostitutes writes an amazingly candid look into the Clinton White House worth reading years later. Morris chronicles his triangulation strategy that unfortunately led to Clinton's improbable 2nd term. Morris operated largely in secret as "Charlie" over the phone and later in and out of the East Wing while Clinton's staff worked separately in the West Wing. Morris tells how Clinton instructs Morris to continue with the subterfuge to avoid the largely ineffective and overly quarrelsome Leon Panetta and Harold Ickes. Without Morris and his insight, Clinton no doubt would not have signed the Republican-sponsored Welfare Reform Act and would have lost in 1996. Morris, who is a foot shorter than Clinton, was tackled by Clinton while in Arkansas, only later to be consoled by Hillary as she told him that Bill only does that to people he loves. With friends like that...
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