I have three degrees in history: BA, MA in American history, MA in art history. I work in the field, in a museum. I listened to Bill Clinton speak in depth about politics and diplomacy many times, when he was a candidate for president, when he was serving as president, and after he left office. His command of history, his analytical skills, his ability to cut through to the most important matters while still considering the complex issues wrapped around them, was always astonishing. He is brilliantly smart, as is President Obama. These intellectual gifts don’t always translate to common sense in the conduct of one’s personal life (speaking of Clinton, not Obama), but they certainly are reassuring when possessed by the most powerful man on the planet. So unlike our current situation. I was studying at Cambridge when Bill Clinton was at Oxford; I had friends at Oxford at the time. Sometimes I wish my path had crossed his.
22
It's odd, but not unusual, that Bill hasn't been inspired by any books about women, and can only list a couple works (apart from a few mysteries and detective stories) written by women. It's a long, but impoverished list. As a historian, I find it lamentable that a person could look for political guidance from a bunch of guys and seem not at all bothered that he might need to learn about the history of half the population. He's apparently not interested in the long list of books chronically patriarchy, the struggle for suffrage and equality, great biographies of women, not even Eleanor Roosevelt (!), the insights from fiction on gender, or the heroics and valor of women? Maybe start with Middlemarch. It's one of the top five British novels of all time and had to be published under a man's name because Mary Ann Evans knew she wouldn't be taken seriously if readers knew she was a woman. Over a hundred years later and guys like Bill still don't take women writers seriously, or look to their histories for guidance. And you know, you could use it, Bill!
6
"Guys like Bill"? Huh. It's as if we read different articles as I was quite impressed by the variety, scope, and depth of Pres. Clinton's reading.
8
Agree there should be more women writers in his list but he did include Barbara Tuchman and Maya Angelou.
10
When Bill Clinton was interviewed on the NewsHour before his first run for President, I remember my father telling me how impressed he was with "this Clinton." He obviously saw something; my father too was an extremely smart man, also a huge reader. I wish Bill Clinton well.
11
I think he missed "Huey Long" by T. Harry Williams which I thought was one of the best biographies I'd ever read. Williams' characterization of Long's idea of the "permissive limits of corruption,"what makes those limits acceptable, and how those limits can abruptly shift, has stuck with me ever since I read the book. Clinton's responses to the questions of what books he read is, as noted, probably studied but it's still a good list and some excellent recommendations for the rest of us. As for the previous comments on his flaws, well, he was on balance and even with mistakes one of our best presidents in terms of policy and getting things done if not in controlling his appetites and indiscretions. Probably right up there with several other presidents and other public figures if I correctly recollect my readings of biographies.
7
Mr. President. You are quite a voracious reader. I'm impressed by your choices. I read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and started to read it again about a week later. I was surprised that you read Weber because you are the only "non-sociologist" that I know of who reads him. Brilliant man, but reading him is tough.
Congratulations, Mr. President!
6
He has more books on his nightstand than Trump has read in his entire life.
22
I wish next week's column would ask these questions of our current president. (Sorry, couldn't write that without laughing!)
16
I wish the Times would have asked what he would want the current President to read. But then again, they might have and he nixed it.
7
Too bad one of his most influential books wasn't "How to Put a Lid on Your Libido When You're President."
4
I am very happy to read this piece. When the negative commenters have done as much for this country as Bill Clinton (and yes, he had sex in the White House from a position of power, and yes, I don't care, and I'm a woman and a democrat) then I will consider their opinions...(and I also wish that Al Franken were still around, regardless of his asinine behavior.) Both had their stupid moments, and their brilliant moments. I really wish that everyone could see their pasts in lights in Times Square. Never have I read one of these interviews with authors and written down more books that I want to read myself.
20
Yes, Bill Clinton has to live with his past : Lewinsky et al. But his reading list gives us another dimension of the man. Far from perfect but a curious and engaging mind.
17
Bill Clinton read 300 books in the year after he lost the governor's race in Arkansas. He has always read -- and continues to read -- deeply and widely. He's a lifelong learner. We need leaders to believe in things like lifelong learning.
36
My first reaction: WOW! The range of books, the sheer ability to summon up the titles, the seeming easy familiarity with authors and genres, the voraciousness—all improvised spontaneously, without benefit of rehearsal and at least a week or so of thoughtful research and preparation to get it all right. Wunderkindlich! For some strange reason I can’t help thinking of George Clooney’s character in “Up in the Air”, who although not portrayed as a reader, spends so much of his passing life airborne. Not fair perhaps. If only that character could have caught the bug early and spent his waking life reading while traveling, running for office, governing and hobnobbing, or say while pulling down the sheets and preparing to go to bed, all the time being consumed by agonizing over his memoirs and place in the pantheon of time. Still, with such a frenzy, such a whirlwind of reading activity, enough for twenty or so of me, I couldn’t help wondering, when does Bill ever get to talk to Hillary?
4
That's not how these things work. They send him the questions, he sends back the answers. Mr. Clinton had time to consider his responses. This is no knock on him or the process, but understanding that most published Q&A sessions are not spontaneous is relevant.
9
Obama, Clinton and Carter: all are readers and writers. Trump, W, and Reagan not so much. George H.W. Bush wrote thank you notes—almost a Democrat.
21
President Clinton is obviously very intelligent, verbal, and literate. However, that doesn't mean he was an effective or progressive president. Richard Nixon was also very intelligent, a good study, and a master of position papers. He graduated at the top of his class at Duke Law School.
Lyndon Johnson was the most effective and progressive president of my lifetime. He was also intelligent, but not much of a reader. What was important were his political commitments and values and his political skills in working with Congress. He was one of the four or five best presidents in our history.
1
Too bad what he did what he did in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos was criminal.
2
Willie Morris’ “North Toward Home” is one of my all-time favorite books. I’ve never heard of anyone else, besides my mother, who loved it too. I think it’s time to re-read it.
13
Clinton is the most intelligent, literate, and well-read President in my life time. A scholar from his Arkansas childhood to Georgetown, to Oxford, to Yale, to Governor, to President; a brilliant communicator with a superb ability to govern, I wish him god speed and good writing.
Keep the books coming!
36
And Rhodes scholar.
4
A lot of books that I've never heard before and many great books that I knew but never read them yet from Bill's book list. This column inspire me to read them now. Thanks NYT, bring them more.
20
I miss you, Bill.
LORD, DO I MISS YOU?
Take care, bro.
40
Thanks for being literate.
43
I miss Bill.
39
It's refreshing to read about the favorite books of a literate U.S. president. There's a comfort in having a leader who is plugged in to the critical issues of our times via non-fiction, and who also handles his stress via fiction. Which means that today, there is only discomfort in America.
43
“I would want to know what he believed and what was show.”
Me re: every politician ever.
13
Gosh! Bill is smart! He must have an industrial-strength nightstand!
Anyone who doesn't laugh at this presentation of Clinton as a "public intellectual" has a heart of stone.
10
Thank you so much for this column. It is the first one in the series I have seen in the NYT, and I am an online subscriber. It is terrific. Yes, I like Clinton. But even if I did not, I would apprecciate his wonderful love of the written word. He is a greater man than his critics acknowledge. I just can't say enough good things about your interview of him and his responses. They made my day!
28
I read this and my heart breaks all over again about the 2016 election - we used to be a country whose leaders accepted without question the need to be literate, informed, intellectually curious. How has America been brought so low? It's tragedy of Shakespearean proportion. VOTE DEM IN THE MIDTERMS. We've somehow just GOT to stop the degenerate madman in the White House.
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"How has America been brought so low?"
I blame the schools and the low-lever curriculum that is now being given to our kids. What we used to do commonly in high school, is now called the International Baccalaurate program, for one example. Have you ever asked a kid what they are studying in school? It's no wonder they say school is boring: I would be bored to death by the lack of challenge these kids face daily. Even more depressing; ask the a question about history. This lack of knowledge of our history is the basis for their misunderstanding of our cultural values.
6
I know that Bill Clinton looks like a saint compared to Donald Trump, and he is smart and can be very charming, but he really did engage in some pretty awful behavior. If we are to be true to the Time’s Up and Me Too movements, let’s please not flatter him with puff pieces like this.
21
This article is part of a series about books and reading, not personal lives.
19
Especially compared with stormy Donald. Sad!
4
Exactly. Let's stop giving column inches to people who are more sorry they got caught than anything else. The Clintons are part of the democratic establishment that has become increasingly tone-deaf. It'd be nice if the Times gave space instead to the opinions of newer voices with less tarnished pasts.
I, for one, would love to know what Kamala Harris, Tammy Duckworth, or Cory Booker are reading.
10
How does this guy still get a forum (and a pass on tough questions) in the #MeToo age?
20
Tough questions? Tough questions are almost always ALL he and HRC are asked. This is a breath of fresh air. I don't even know if I have seen 30 yrs. of my tax returns but I sure have seen theirs.
13
Bill Clinton is hardly in the same league with Harvey Weinstein. That inability to see any distinction is exactly why lots of us are sick of hearing about Me-Tooers.
15
You can't just erase someone. You aren't doing anything for #metoo by writing your comment. This is the book section, so get used to it. It is about real people who read.
6
I really ENJOYED reading about President Clinton's favorite books and his perspectives on reading. One of the books he cited (e.g. 'One Hundred Years of Solitude') I read in the late 1980s when I was in my 20s. Presidents like him, Obama, and JFK (my hero) were exemplars of the value and importance of reading and lifelong learning. We need more of our politicians who not only practice reading widely and deeply in both their public and personal lives, but who also extol to the general public the value and benefits of developing and maintaining a cultivated mind. Reading is fundamental.
46
Thank you Mr. President for such a wonderful list! I’m always looking for thought provoking reads and you have given me several to add to my list. I must admit how pleased I was every time I saw where you enjoyed a book and/or author that are also on my own favorites list. Like a previous reviewer pointed out, I’m proud to have lived and raised my children through the Clinton Era. By the way, do keep trying Don Quixote, it is my favorite story - I actually have Picasso’s interpretation tattooed on my arm! My best to your entire family.
29
Please tell me this is satire.
6
Great lists from President Clinton. Both he and Comey recommend the Red Sparrow series. I want to read that.
Vanity Fair, Mad Magazine, or a revamped Spy Magazine should do spoof on the "By the Book" series with Donald Trump as the guest. Imagine the answers.
"I really liked Alex Jones' audio blog on...."
"I still love Shel Silverstein..."
"Devoured Diary of a Wimpy Kid series"
Electronic or paper?
"Neither. I like to watch TV"
33
I am very pleased that both Presidents Clinton and Obama have illustrated to the public their love of reading. Reading comprehension is the key to everything; the mind is a sponge that has no limits to its expansion. Kudos also to James Patterson for the work he has done to encourage reading.
42
Oh my, I feel small. Happily so. That’s what a president’s mind should look like.
And then I turn back to the TV and am torn between rage and despair.
93
Fun to read this. I remember having presidents (Mr. Clinton and Obama) who were intelligent, literate and actually interested in doing their jobs. Can you imagine a similar interview of the current occupant of the Oval Office?
66
It's too bad they didn't ask him the usual "what book would you recommend to the president" question; I'm sure he would have had an interesting answer.
53
I remember when I was a high schooler in the Clinton years, how I'd look forward to find out what President Clinton was reading on his summer vacations at Martha's Vineyard as he'd also read something that I'd add to my list.
It was the same for President Obama, I'm not sure I would have read "Constellation of Vital Phenomena" without
having read about his purchase of that once when he bought on his vacations, same for a few other books.
Sadly, those days are long gone with the current occupant of the White House.
56
You forgot to ask him to recommend a book for President Trump to read.
27
I doubt the question was forgotten; it was simply recognized as pointless to ask.
12
You are the only person I’ve ever heard of that gives away a book, and then re-buys it - except me, of course! Enjoy your reading!
39
I do that, too! I want to share the book, but I can't bear to part with it!
5
I am really looking forward to reading your new thriller, Mr. President.
It's also fun and interesting to find out some of your favorites to add to my list-thank you!
30
An intelligent and highly literate man. I shudder to think of the answers that would be provided by the current occupant of the White House.
71
It would be the shortest article ever....
20
Given the mess of a Presidency we have today, Clinton's reign wasn't all that bad. However, when he says he wanted to reverse trickle down economics, why did he reside over the trashing of derivatives regulation and Glass Steagall? Those decisions had ramifications that still reverberate.
11
True Dave they did - and it was a very bad call but I don't believe he had any idea what would come of it. I don't know why Wall Street is EVER given the benefit of the doubt. Say what you will - the economy was doing well - no deficit...all the things that conservatives are supposed to want and they relentlessly fought him.
5
Thank you so much, President Clinton, for some great book suggestions to add to my list! Some of my favorites are "The Great Influenza" and "Rising Tide" (about the great Mississippi flood of 1927), both by John M. Barry, and for fiction, David Liss's Benjamin Weaver series which begins with "A Conspiracy of Paper". Happy reading, Mr. President.
17
What a pleasure to hear about a President who reads widely, deeply, and joyfully. It turns out that even Bush II is an avid reader. Issues of character aside, I wonder if there is a connection between Trump’s non-reading and the utter incoherence of his governing style and policies.
77
I am very impressed with Bill’s lists. I don’t know how he has the time to read all these books, however. I have not read One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I am now motivated to do so. And I have some advice for the person who does this feature. Don’t ask Donald Trump what he reads. All you’d have here is white space.
43
Thanks, NYT, for this. In the big picture, a leader's intelligence and compassion (and capacity to keep learning, i.e. propensity to read, read, read) are what matter to me. I miss Obama and I miss Clinton and feel glad to have been a citizen during their presidencies. I'm old now and my heart sinks a little every day that Trump and his ilk hold any sway.
100