High hopes1996
the Clinton presidency and the politics of ambition
by Stanley Allen Renshon
In this perceptive psychological portrait of Clinton and his presidency, Stanley A. Renshon investigates whether Clinton has demonstrated the requisite qualities of judgment, vision, character, and skill to meet the daunting challenges he faces domestically and internationally. Renshon incisively analyzes Clinton's sweeping ambitions, his enormous confidence in himself and his goals, and his success in convincing people that he genuinely cares about them.
He reveals a Bill Clinton whose capacity for political success is often undermined by the very traits for which many praise him. His unusually high self-confidence, for instance, leads him to believe that he, as a "New Democrat," can accomplish what others have not, that he can, for instance, reconcile polar opposites such as liberal...