ON THE MAKE

In less than two years, Bill Clinton has established himself as one of America's most controversial presidents. He is a perplexing mix of private flaws and political brilliance. He is also a master of personal relations - a skill that may, paradoxically, lead to his undoing. Only one reporter has followed him in his political rise from Arkansas to Washington. For 13 years - beginning with his first days as Arkansas's governor - Meredith Oakley and Bill Clinton spoke daily. As the political reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Oakley saw close up in Bill Clinton what the whole world is seeing now: Clinton's "ability to appear to be great without actually being so". She deems it "one of his most troubling traits". In On the Make: The Rise of Bill Clinton, Oakley has penned the first comprehensive biography of our 42nd president, showing the political "genius", as she doesn't hesitate to call it, that enabled him to rise from humble roots to achieve his life's goal: the highest office in America. On the Make shows President Clinton's rise to power as a dizzying combination of personal charm, shrewd alliances, steadfast loyalties, timely abandonments, promises, evasions, contradictions, and the most important element of all: his seemingly incongruous, unhappy, yet strangely successful marriage to Hillary Rodham Clinton. Their marriage has brought them to the pinnacle of power - a power shared in a manner unprecedented in American history. Fairminded and discerning, Meredith Oakley delivers a revealing portrait of an extraordinarily ambitious couple by tracing the roots and influences that have led them to the top, and by looking deeper than their polished appearances. What sheuncovers will change the way America views its First Couple - for better and for worse.