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The Clinton Riddle: Perspectives on the Forty-second President. Edited by Todd G. Shields, Jeannie M. Whayne, and Donald R. Kelley. Foreword by David H. Pryor. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2004. Pp. xviii, 310. Paper, $24.95, ISBN 1-55728-780-5.)
Bill Clinton is on pace to be one of the most written-about presidents of the twentieth century. Articles and books, including Clinton's own oddly underestimated memoir, continue to appear at almost the same rate they did at the height of his presidency. The Clinton Riddle: Perspectives on the Forty-second President is a collection of scholarly essays that originated as conference papers delivered at the University of Arkansas in 2002. As the "eclectic and interdisciplinary group of scholars" who contributed to this volume well understand, anyone currently trying to come to grips with the Clinton presidency begins with two disadvantages: a lack of perspective and, with the bulk of the Clinton papers still closed to scholars, a lack of sources (p. xii). So it is not surprising that this volume has no overarching themes or startling new information. That said, most of the contributors are basically sympathetic to Clinton and his policies, and they seem to suggest he did about as well as anyone had a right to expect given his weak political base, the implacability of his Republican opponents, and the absence of crises that would allow him to...