From the Center to the Edge is the first historical interpretation of the politics and public policies of the Clinton administration. Eminent political historian William C. Berman describes in penetrating detail the origins, evolution, and transformation of Clinton's programs for change as well as the reasons for its various successes and failures. Berman sheds new light on both domestic matters—such as welfare reform, deficit reduction, and the impeachment process—and key foreign policy issues, including American relations with Russia and China, and the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo. From the Center to the Edge provides a balanced but critical perspective of the Clinton administration, and is strongly recommended for anyone interested in presidential politics and recent American history.
William C. Berman taught for nearly thirty years at the University of Toronto where he is now professor emeritus of history.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 From Little Rock to Washington Chapter 3 From Winning to Losing Chapter 4 Clinton's Comeback Chapter 5 From the Center to the Edge Chapter 6 Seeking a Legacy Chapter 7 Conclusion
What People are Saying About This
Gavin Scott
The 'edge' of the book's title refers to the humiliating Capitol Hill inquiry arising from Clinton's Oval Office dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. Yet Berman, author of three previous volumes on contemporary U.S. politics, has mostly managed to avoid that abyss. Instead he offers a concise, balanced recounting of the cascade of political maneuvers that occurred in an almost manically busy, explosively reactive period of Washington politics. His focus, like Clinton's, mostly dwells on domestic affairs....
Stanley Kutler
William Berman has established the framework and agenda for serious historical consideration of the Clinton presidency. This is a thoughtful work, that properly measures seismic shifts in economic and cultural life, as well as the evolving nature of the presidency, and takes us far beyond the momentary obsession with trivia and gossip. We are in his debt....
Ronald Brownstein
A CliffsNotes guide to the Clinton era.....
Leo P. Ribuffo
William Berman transcends the familiar mass of gossip, punditry, and political trivia to examine Bill Clinton's administration in the broad context of recent American political history and structural economic change. This is the wisest book on the Clinton era....
