The Clinton Charisma

Book excerpt: It is often overlooked, but Bill Clinton assumed the presidency in one of the most difficult times in our nation's history. The country was in a deep recession, the end of the Cold War had created new threats to our national security, and our health care system was in shambles. The country has now come full circle. Leadership has been replaced with self-interest, cronyism, and fear. More than ever, Bill Clinton's candor and success in adversity warrant revisiting during this age of a closed-door administration and governmental incompetence. The Clinton Charisma is a fascinating, prescriptive guide that reveals the former president's complex leadership techniques, including his attention to public opinion, his ability to take quick corrective action, and his efficient damage control in the face of political and personal difficulty. From diversity to decisiveness, from consensus to compromise, each chapter explores how Clinton employed important leadership principles and the ways in which they were--or were not--effective. The author asks in the introduction, "Are there lessons to be learned from his time in office--from his damage control strategies, from his ability to implement diversity, or from his decision-making process?" The answer, as Donald T. Phillips's The Clinton Charisma makes compellingly clear, is yes.