13 January 2014 Taylor & Francis

Was Bill Clinton a great president? David H. Bennett’s Bill Clinton: Building a Bridge to the New Millennium (Routledge, December 2013) is the first concise, yet academic biography of the 42nd U.S. president on the market, and will enable each one of us to make an informed decision on that question.

A key figure of change in the Democratic Party, Clinton's political and personal actions ensured his lasting status as an important if controversial leader at a critical moment in recent American history. He instigated striking increases in employment and real wage growth, declines in poverty levels across every part of the population, and all during a time of budget balancing, trying to reduce the national debt .

Including selections from many of Clinton’s important speeches, this book places the president’s achievements, problems and legacy in historical context. Bennett traces Clinton’s life and career from childhood through his two terms in the White House, using him as a tool to illuminate the political landscape of America in the 1990s, as well as the role of the U.S. in the global context of the post-Cold War world.

"This compelling biography of Bill Clinton is the first by a distinguished scholar of the presidency – and likely to remain the best for a long time to come. Bennett brings historical perspective to the achievements and trials of our 42nd chief executive while narrating a remarkable career with lucidity and insight."– Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution

"This is the Clinton book that college professors have been waiting for. Bennett’s tour de force offers a Clinton-in-context, as he constructs a concise, objective, and readable biography of Bill Clinton, then uses that biography to highlight many of the major issues of modern American history. Bennett offers us a challenging, fascinating biography, as well as a perfect teaching tool." – John Robert Greene, author of The Presidency of George Bush

Visit the book page at:

http://www.routledge.com/u/billclinton/