William Henry Chafe

"The decisions a political leader makes can determine the fate of a nation, but what determines how and why that person arrives at certain choices? William H. Chafe, a distinguished historian of twentieth century America, examines some of the most significant political leaders of the modern era in order to explore the relationship between their personal patterns of behavior and their political decision-making process. The result is a look at how personal lives and political fortunes have intersected to shape America over the past fifty years."--BOOK JACKET.

"The 'sit-ins' at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro launched the passive resistance phase of the civil rights revolution. This book tells the story of what happened in Greensboro ; it also tells the story in microcosm of America's effort to come to grips with our most abiding national dilemma--racism"--Cover, p. .

In Hillary and Bill, William H. Chafe boldly argues that the trajectory of the Clintons' political lives can be understood only through the prism of their personal relationship. Inseparable from the day they first met, their personal dynamic has determined their political fates. Hillary was instrumental in Bill's triumphs as Arkansas's governor, and she saved his presidential candidacy in 1992 during the Gennifer Flowers sex scandal. He responded by delegating to her powers that no other First Lady had ever exercised. Chafe's penetrating insightsinto subjects such as health care, Kenneth Starr, welfare reform, and the Lewinsky scandaladd texture and depth to our understanding of the Clintons' experience together. Hillary and Bill is the definitive account of the Clintons relationship and its far-reaching impact on American political life. In this new edition, Chafe explores how Hillary adopted a new persona as a U.S. senator, returning to the consensus-oriented reformer she had been before she met Bill. Listening to her constituents and building bridges to Republicans in Congress, she left behind the us-against-them political personality of her White House years. She kept this persona as secretary of state, establishing personal ties with foreign leaders and reaching out to average citizens in the countries she visited. Still, she retained her obsession with her personal privacy and permitted the Clinton Foundation to create potential conflicts of interest with her government responsibilities. The key question, as she approached the 2016 presidential race, was which Hillary would be the presidential candidatethe person who reaches out to others and seeks collaborators or the Hillary who demonizes the opposition and fiercely protects her privacy and self-image. -- Amazon.com.

In previous works the author has written powerfully about the relationship between personality and politics. This book represents the culmination of this approach to political history. Having written widely on civil rights and women's history, the author brings the themes of all his scholarship together in this book about the Clintons' "co-presidency," two people committed to both sex and race equality. From the beginning, he argues, the personal chemistry between the Clintons shaped definitively their political careers. She was instrumental in his triumphs as Arkansas governor and "saved" his presidential candidacy by standing with him during the Gennifer Flowers sex scandal. He responded by delegating presidential powers to her that no other First Lady had ever exercised. Often tempestuous, their relationship had as many lows as it did highs, but the trajectory of the Clintons' political lives can only be understood through the prism of their personal relationship. Full of insights about health care, Kenneth Starr, and welfare reform, this work gives texture and depth to the Clintons' lives, including the extent to which the Lewinsky scandal finally freed Hillary to become a politician in her own right and return to the consensus reformer she had been in college and law school.