From the Center to the Edge: The Politics and Policies of the Clinton Presidency - Softcover

William C. Berman taught for nearly thirty years at the University of Toronto where he is now professor emeritus of history.

A CliffsNotes guide to the Clinton era. (Brownstein, Ronald The American Prospect)

William Berman transcends the familiar mass of gossip, punditry, and political trivia to examine Bill Clinton's administration in the broad context of recent American political history and structural economic change. This is the wisest book on the Clinton era.... (Leo P. Ribuffo)

William Berman has established the framework and agenda for serious historical consideration of the Clinton presidency. This is a thoughtful work, that properly measures seismic shifts in economic and cultural life, as well as the evolving nature of the presidency, and takes us far beyond the momentary obsession with trivia and gossip. We are in his debt. (Stanley Kutler)

Berman concisely chronicles Clinton's presidency, with its wild swings between policy success and personal and political crisis. (Choice)

The 'edge' of the book's title refers to the humiliating Capitol Hill inquiry arising from Clinton's Oval Office dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. Yet Berman, author of three previous volumes on contemporary U.S. politics, has mostly managed to avoid that abyss. Instead he offers a concise, balanced recounting of the cascade of political maneuvers that occurred in an almost manically busy, explosively reactive period of Washington politics. His focus, like Clinton's, mostly dwells on domestic affairs. (Gavin Scott National Post)

William Berman's history of the Clinton administration is remarkably clear and complete. I am especially impressed by the even-handedness of Berman's judgments. His book will set a standard for later histories. (Patterson, James T.)

William Berman transcends the familiar mass of gossip, punditry, and political trivia to examine Bill Clinton's administration in the broad context of recent American political history and structural economic change. This is the wisest book on the Clinton era. (Leo P. Ribuffo)

From the Center to the Edge is a brief and readable political history of the Clinton presidency. . . . William Berman's account of the Clinton years is packed with information about many issues, both domestic and foreign. (Presidential Studies Quarterly)

A clearly written and judicious interpretation of the politics of the Clinton era. An achievement that this concise volume, published so soon after Clinton left office, avoids the over-heated rhetoric of the 1990s and presents a balanced view of its subject. This book is a valuable addition to the U.S. presidency literature. It is a good selection for serious students of the presidency who want a concise, straightforward, single source review of the Clinton years. (Political Studies)

Following his well-regarded America's Right Turn, Berman provides us with a neat summary of the Clinton presidency. He delivers a concise exposition of the increasingly accepted view that Clinton slew between his desire to reform and his instinct for political survival. Demonstrating admirable sensitivity to the context within which Clinton worked, Berman presents a president caught in a power struggle between warring parties. A good preliminary guide to the domestic policies of the Clinton years. (Jon Herbert American Politics Review)