Blood Sport: The President and His Adversaries

I read this book in 1997 when the paperback came out. I approached this book as a moderate GOP much in love with Reagan and Bush 41. I never voted for Clinton, but was intrigued by him for several reasons: 1) He was executing wonderfully in '97 (see Morris' "Behind the Oval Office" for this period), even though the GOP-dominated house had elevated partisan politics to the art form it is today. 2) The Press was crucifying him over Whitewater and I did not understand why, it all seemed so trivial. My conclusions: There is a case to be that Hillary Clinton may have evaded taxes and obstructed justice - while criminal and deserving of law enforcement investigation, no reason for an investigation against the President instigated by the DoJ. Stewart confirms that the investigation of Whitewater was pure politics of personal destruction. Bill Clinton did nothing wrong, certainly nothing that demanded any sort of investigation and obstructed his ability to preside over our nation. There were trivial matters that make President Clinton less than perfect, but you can find dirt on any ambituous person. The question is, did his actions have a negative impact on our country? This book presents no evidence of that, the only negativity emanating out of this was the ammunition it provided to the GOP and the media to divert our attention from matters of State. One somewhat comic note was the number of idiots that were part of the Clinton circle. While Clinton was a master at bringing together extremely bright and powerful moderates and attempting to pull the Dems out of the socialistic FDR era, the people he associated with more regularly are a hoot!

James B. Stewart is fabulous writer! I read this book only because I loved his Wall Street work on "Den of Thieves"... and he didn't let me down. This book will become one of the most valuable tools to historians decades down the road when they try to re-examine the 1990's presidency, and the events that led up to it. It's a middle of the road examination, in the form a riveting page turning, great story; all well documented & meticulously researched about the loosly managed events in Clinton's personal affairs that spun out of control when they intersected with his public life. I now understand WHY & HOW the events took place. The surprising context of the story is very eye opening. The book will put its readers in the 99 Percentile as far relative understanding to everyone else out there that continues to scratch their heads when they try to understand & explain Whitewater, Travelgate, Troopergate, Paula Jones, Vince Foster's suicide, Jim & Susan McDougal, Madison S & L, Hillary's $1,000 to $100,000 commodities trading success, the independent counsel switch to Ken Starr. The so called "conspiracy" to get Clinton is now in its proper context. James Stewart did a masterful job on this one! Read "Den of Thieves" after this one.

This books gives a complete picture through 1997 of the Clinton scandals & is factual & unbiased. As a lawyer, I have seen similar things to what he describes in the real estate dealings & the innerworkings of the Rose law firm. Sometimes I felt that he was giving the Clintons the benefit of the doubt. If you want to double check his facts, get on the internet & read some of the newspaper & magazine articles that substantiate the facts.

BLOOD SPORT is an extremely well written book that turns a compicated subject and series of events into an easily understandable history. The book is clearly non-biased and points to the real reasons for the Clinton Scandals

Given all the uncertainty, rumor and political positioning swirling around Clinton and the Arkansas contingent who went to Washington with him, Stewart's book cuts through the fog with well-researched and unbiased reporting. The book reads like a good page-turning novel. Stewart writes about an oft-repeated morass when he covers Whitewater. It was a story that was repeated again and again as a result of the tax reform act of 1986, when all the real estate rules changed. Stewart solves the Vince Foster "murder mystery" too. It's all a classic story of embarrassment, leading to cover-up, leading to fraud and misrepresentation spawned by naivete and stupidity. Conspiracy? Phooey! Stewart deserves a medal for clarity