Because he could

Dick Morris served as one of Bill Clinton's closest political advisers, beginning with Clinton's campaigns for Arkansas governor and continuing through the strategy behind his 1996 reelection. Drawing on that long working relationship, Morris and his wife, Eileen McGann, respond to Clinton's memoir, My Life, by examining what the book leaves out as much as what it includes.

The authors argue that Clinton reveals himself without meaning to. They describe a man who is both gifted and undisciplined, quick to anger, willing to take large personal risks, and hesitant to commit the military to defend national security. They also portray a president who habitually blamed his problems on political opponents or inexperienced aides, and who worked hard on many social issues while never fully grasping the central direction of his own administration.

Morris and McGann contend that Clinton's downfall stemmed less from his private troubles than from his apprehension about Hillary Clinton, the one person with real power over his political future. The book follows the same method the couple used in their earlier study of Hillary Clinton, which Morris co-wrote.

Written for general readers interested in American politics and the Clinton years, the book offers a critical, insider's view of a president whose record remains sharply debated.