Word: maraniss
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That may seem like a paradox, but Clinton, Maraniss shows us, is complicated. He is thoughtful and sensitive about sexuality. Gay friends of the president recall how they were able to express feelings about their sexuality to Clinton and no one else. Yet Clinton's own sexual behavior is hardly exemplary. As governor of Arkansas, Clinton did, in fact, use state troopers to arrange sexual liaisons...
...nailing down that fact, Maraniss may have done his most awe-inspiring piece of reporting. The author was able to get Clinton's former Chief of Staff and chief protector, Betsey Wright, to tell him on-the-record about a conversation they had when he was mulling a bid for the presidency...
...letters to his first girlfriend, Denise Hyland, are some of Maraniss' most revealing primary documents. "To be adrift in a stormy sea is no sin," Clinton writes in a letter to console Hyland, who is confused about her future. "Perhaps it is essential to really knowing yourself and seeking your future...
...Maraniss lets the story linger long, perhaps too long, over Clinton's days as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. But it is an important stop. There we see Clinton's boyhood habit of telling people what they want to hear turn into a propensity for deceit and lies. Clinton seems to struggle genuinely with his conscience, but ultimately he ducks a choice. He is drafted, but pulls strings to get into a ROTC program in which he has no intention of actually participating...
...Maraniss never generalizes about Clinton, and the book's account of his rise to prominence is so complete that it is hard for the reader to make generalizations about him either. But Clinton's political ambition, hard work, intelligence and sensitivity combined with a questionable character are constants throughout his life. Each quality is essential. All of those who knew him at different points in his life seem to understand his potential. They sense that Clinton is closer to achieving his goals than they are. He is destined to be First in His Class, even though he never graduated first...