Bill Clinton Praises George Bush's Book

NEW YORK — Critics are mixed about George W. Bush's memoir, but the former president has received a rave from a fellow White House alumnus, Bill Clinton.

"'Decision Points' is well-written, and interesting from start to finish. I think people of all political stripes should read it," Clinton said in a statement released Friday. "George W. Bush also gives readers a good sense of what it's like to be president, to take the responsibilities of the office seriously, do what you think is right, and let history be the judge. The book may not change the minds of those who disagree with decisions President Bush made, but it will help you to understand better the forces that molded him, and the convictions that drove him to make those decisions."

Clinton is friendly with Bush and Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, whom Clinton defeated for re-election in 1992. The bond between Clinton and the elder Bush is noted in "Decision Points," which came out Tuesday.

Clinton never ran against the younger Bush, but he is winning so far in a key ex-presidential competition: Book sales. According to Random House, Inc., which published "Decision Points" and Clinton's "My Life," Bush's memoir had first-day sales of around 220,000 copies. "My Life," released in 2004, debuted with sales of 400,000 copies.

Comments

[goldgoose]

12:28 PM on 11/17/2010

If publishers really wanted to market Bush's autobiography 'Decision Points', they should include a box of crayons with each book sold.

[rivoli]

05:23 AM on 11/17/2010

then let history be the judge of this passionate review, what might have been the forces that moulded it?

[jwmellott]

09:08 PM on 11/15/2010

I prefer Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Carter, Reagan, Ford, and Nixon to 80 percent of the huffpost commenters. They've all made hard decisions while the fools here just complain.

[dorzic]

04:59 PM on 11/15/2010

"well-written," and "interesting" don't sound like words from a rave review. Notice he didn't say Bush writes well.

[naschkatze]

09:35 PM on 11/15/2010

That might be a dig, but did Clinton write his own books?

[katzundjammer]

02:20 PM on 11/15/2010

My father took me (I was 17) to Cinci in 1952 to see Eisenhower speak, at the old
Taft (wooden) music hall and I ended up being an usher to prevent smoking. It was
all for naught, they are all in bed together. You are going to find out
that prez 'village idiot' was not smart enough to write a book. So what if the very rich Clinton likes 'his' book. I want to remind the young people: Clinton made most of his fortune giving speeches to oil producing nations. What, really, did he have to offer in those speeches?

[Gavin Saunders]

10:23 AM on 11/15/2010

Man up Bill and stop putting self-interest before what is honorable. At least don't be telling folks you think they should read it.

[djones1946]

10:14 AM on 11/15/2010

Bush was right when he said, "Bill Clinton is my new brother." He could let Jimmy Carter be his new uncle. When the time comes, in keeping with elder Georg's reference to his mixed race grandchildren, lovingly, as the" Brown Ones". He could bring Barrack Obama on board as his new "Brown Brother". I truly believe, that would be good for our country and good for The Presidency.

[jmengr]

08:52 AM on 11/15/2010

Another example of how Clinton was a very successful republican president.

[emrogers]

08:57 AM on 11/15/2010

Because he suggested you read a book? Boy, that was well thought out...

[naschkatze]

10:57 AM on 11/15/2010

Oh don't act so clueless.

[independentjukebox]

08:33 AM on 11/15/2010

what do you think you would want Clinton to say? make an emotional remark? he is an ex president and he carried himself that way in his remarks about the book. you people at times.... heh.

[Siebenstein]

05:30 AM on 11/15/2010

All the same..........fill-in-the-blank

[AmigaMan]

06:56 AM on 11/15/2010

May I?

S-H-I-T

[ladcrp]

02:03 AM on 11/15/2010

Here's the deal Bill. Wipe that wh)(ite stuff off your mo)(uth & listen. You gave us Robert Rubin. You gave us NAFTA & other trade policy that set up the American worker for total devastation. Rubin dismantled Wall Street regulation and left it for B)(ush to do with it what he wanted. It was like turning Tiger loose for 8 years with an unlimited stream of tatt)(ooed/fa)(ke-bo)(obed ho))((okers. And guess who got phu)(qued?

Then you let Al work on TRADE POLICY!!! Swell. Couldn't you have set him loose on climate a few years early? Ross made the sound, & HE WAS RIGHT. Bye Bye Jobs.

Now you feel compelled that W's ghost-writer wrote a swell fairytale. Spare us. The two of you: Go the phu)(que away and bl)()(ow each other, We have taken it up the a)($)($ for 30 years and we don't want to see the likes of you "people" anymore.

[maigoro]

04:23 AM on 11/15/2010

Fanned!

[ladcrp]

01:59 AM on 11/15/2010

really

[JayRobThom]

01:40 AM on 11/15/2010

Of course the man who helped create the totalitarian corporate media, kept up the bombing of Iraq on a daily basis throughout his term in office & whose Secretary of State said that the murder of a half million Iraqi children was "worth it" would praise his moral equivalent & fellow war criminal, just as his wife Hilary continues the record by urging the US to adopt the same strategy in Mexico as it has in Colombia.

[naschkatze]

10:59 AM on 11/15/2010

The totalitarian corporate media is something many have forgotten about or never knew about in the first place. Thanks for bringing it to their attention.

[wwoody]

12:46 AM on 11/15/2010

I love to read a good book every now and then. I won't read President Bush book,because I'm not really into work of fiction. I only read fairy tales to my grand children where the events in the story always has a happy ending.

[dessertsfirst]

12:42 AM on 11/15/2010

In a sense, being elected POTUS automatically admits the president into a unique club, regardless of their party. So, the comments of Bill Clinton, must be applied in that light. It's interesting when you think about it...

[naschkatze]

11:00 AM on 11/15/2010

The Senate is the same.