
For Love of Politics
Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $27.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Marc Cashman
About this listen
During their eight years in the White House, Bill and Hillary Clinton worked together more closely than the public ever knew. For Love of Politics is the first book to explain the dynamics of their relationship, showing that it is impossible to understand one Clinton without factoring in the other.
Acclaimed author Sally Bedell Smith offers intimate scenes from the Clinton marriage, with new details and insights into how a passion for politics sustained Bill and Hillary through one crisis after another. Smith examines the origins of an unconventional copresidency, explains the impact of the Clintons’ tensions as well as their talents, and reveals how Hillary shifted from openly exercising power in the first two years to acting as a “hidden hand,” advising her husband on a range of foreign and domestic issues as well as decisions on hiring and firing. Smith describes for the first time the inner workings of a White House with an unprecedented “three forces to be reckoned with” - Bill, Hillary, and Al Gore - and shows how the First Lady’s rivalry with the vice president played out in the West Wing and even more profoundly during the 2000 campaign.
As Hillary seeks to follow in her husband’s footsteps, this riveting audiobook will leave listeners wondering what it would be like to have two presidents, both named Clinton, living in the White House.
©2007 Sally Bedell Smith (P)2007 Books on TapeListeners also enjoyed...
-
George VI and Elizabeth
- The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revelatory account of how the loving marriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy during World War II, and how they raised their daughter to become Queen Elizabeth II, based on exclusive access to the Royal Archives—from the bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen and Prince Charles.
-
-
Great telling of their lives
- By Nancy on 04-15-23
-
Grace and Power
- The Private World of the Kennedy White House
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Lee Adams
- Length: 20 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Grace and Power, New York Times best-selling author Sally Bedell Smith takes us inside the Kennedy White House with unparalleled access and insight. Having interviewed scores of Kennedy intimates, including many who have never spoken before, and drawing on letters and personal papers made available for the first time, Smith paints a richly detailed picture of the personal relationships behind the high purpose and poiltical drama of the 20th century's most storied presidency.
-
-
More detail than I wanted
- By R. Jones on 12-24-05
-
Jackie
- By: J. Randy Taraborrelli
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on hundreds of interviews with friends, family, and lovers over a thirty-year period—as well as previously unreleased material from the JFK Library—Kennedy historian J. Randy Taraborrelli paints an unforgettable new portrait of a woman whose flaws and contradictions only serve to make her even more iconic. “I have three lives,” Jackie told a former lover, “public, private and secret.” In this revealing biography, listeners will become intimately familiar with all three.
-
-
Very thorough!
- By LaurieB. on 06-26-24
-
The Palace Papers
- Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Tina Brown
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevocably change how the world perceives and understands the royal family.
-
-
Audible narration is dreadful
- By M M. on 05-03-22
By: Tina Brown
-
White House by the Sea
- A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port
- By: Kate Storey
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, America’s most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and grieve. It is also the setting of so many events we remember: JFK giving his presidential acceptance speech, Jackie speaking with a Life magazine reporter just days after her husband’s assassination, Senator Edward Kennedy seeking refuge after the Chappaquiddick crash, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger tying the knot—and even Conor Kennedy courting pop star Taylor Swift.
-
-
A personal look at the Kennedys
- By CrezFive on 07-19-23
By: Kate Storey
-
Crisis of Character
- A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate
- By: Gary J. Byrne
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Posted directly outside President Clinton's Oval Office, former Secret Service uniformed officer Gary Byrne reveals what he observed of Hillary Clinton's character and the culture inside the White House while protecting the first family in Crisis of Character, the most anticipated book of the 2016 election.
-
-
Very good collection of Clinton stories!
- By Dana on 06-29-16
By: Gary J. Byrne
-
George VI and Elizabeth
- The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revelatory account of how the loving marriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy during World War II, and how they raised their daughter to become Queen Elizabeth II, based on exclusive access to the Royal Archives—from the bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen and Prince Charles.
-
-
Great telling of their lives
- By Nancy on 04-15-23
-
Grace and Power
- The Private World of the Kennedy White House
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Lee Adams
- Length: 20 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Grace and Power, New York Times best-selling author Sally Bedell Smith takes us inside the Kennedy White House with unparalleled access and insight. Having interviewed scores of Kennedy intimates, including many who have never spoken before, and drawing on letters and personal papers made available for the first time, Smith paints a richly detailed picture of the personal relationships behind the high purpose and poiltical drama of the 20th century's most storied presidency.
-
-
More detail than I wanted
- By R. Jones on 12-24-05
-
Jackie
- By: J. Randy Taraborrelli
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on hundreds of interviews with friends, family, and lovers over a thirty-year period—as well as previously unreleased material from the JFK Library—Kennedy historian J. Randy Taraborrelli paints an unforgettable new portrait of a woman whose flaws and contradictions only serve to make her even more iconic. “I have three lives,” Jackie told a former lover, “public, private and secret.” In this revealing biography, listeners will become intimately familiar with all three.
-
-
Very thorough!
- By LaurieB. on 06-26-24
-
The Palace Papers
- Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Tina Brown
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevocably change how the world perceives and understands the royal family.
-
-
Audible narration is dreadful
- By M M. on 05-03-22
By: Tina Brown
-
White House by the Sea
- A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port
- By: Kate Storey
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, America’s most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and grieve. It is also the setting of so many events we remember: JFK giving his presidential acceptance speech, Jackie speaking with a Life magazine reporter just days after her husband’s assassination, Senator Edward Kennedy seeking refuge after the Chappaquiddick crash, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger tying the knot—and even Conor Kennedy courting pop star Taylor Swift.
-
-
A personal look at the Kennedys
- By CrezFive on 07-19-23
By: Kate Storey
-
Crisis of Character
- A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate
- By: Gary J. Byrne
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Posted directly outside President Clinton's Oval Office, former Secret Service uniformed officer Gary Byrne reveals what he observed of Hillary Clinton's character and the culture inside the White House while protecting the first family in Crisis of Character, the most anticipated book of the 2016 election.
-
-
Very good collection of Clinton stories!
- By Dana on 06-29-16
By: Gary J. Byrne
-
Camilla
- From Outcast to Queen Consort
- By: Angela Levin
- Narrated by: Ana Clements
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For many years, Camilla was portrayed in a poor light, blamed by the public for the break-up of the marriage between Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Initially, Queen Elizabeth refused to see or speak to her, but, since the death of Prince Philip, Camilla had become one of the Queen's closest companions. Her confidence in Camilla and the transformation she had seen in Prince Charles since their wedding resulted in her choosing the first day of her Platinum Jubilee year to tell the world that she wanted Camilla to be Queen Consort, not the demeaning Princess Consort suggested in 2005.
-
-
great and down to earth sorry,
- By Dr. Heather on 04-24-24
By: Angela Levin
-
Shattered
- Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign
- By: Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was never supposed to be this close. And of course she was supposed to win. How Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump is the tragic story of a sure thing gone off the rails. For every Comey revelation or hindsight acknowledgment about the electorate, no explanation of defeat can begin with anything other than the core problem of Hillary's campaign - the candidate herself.
-
-
Hillary was too smart to win: A book of excuses
- By Kevin Tamari on 04-19-17
By: Jonathan Allen, and others
-
George V
- Never a Dull Moment
- By: Jane Ridley
- Narrated by: Joanna David
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, King George V reigned over the British Empire from 1910 to 1936, a period of unprecedented international turbulence. Yet no one could deny that as a young man, George seemed uninspired. As his biographer Harold Nicolson famously put it, "he did nothing at all but kill animals and stick in stamps.” The contrast between him and his flamboyant, hedonistic, playboy father Edward VII could hardly have been greater.
-
-
great but long listen
- By aleks r on 02-23-22
By: Jane Ridley
-
The Diana Chronicles
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Diana Chronicles, you will meet a formidable female cast and understand as never before the society that shaped them: among them, Diana's sexually charged mother, her bad-girl sister-in-law, Fergie, and, most formidable of them all, her mother-in-law, the Queen. Add Camilla Parker-Bowles, the ultimate "other woman" into this combustible mix, and it's no wonder that Diana broke out of her royal cage into celebrity culture, where she found her own power and used it to devastating effect.
-
-
One of the best Diana's
- By J F Whitmore on 08-02-12
By: Tina Brown
-
Bobby Kennedy
- The Making of a Liberal Icon
- By: Larry Tye
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
History remembers Robert F. Kennedy as a racial healer, a tribune for the poor, and the last progressive knight of a bygone era of American politics. But Kennedy's enshrinement in the liberal pantheon was actually the final stage of a journey that had its beginnings in the conservative 1950s. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to paint a complete portrait of this singularly fascinating figure.
-
-
Absorbing
- By Jean on 01-18-17
By: Larry Tye
-
Traitor King
- The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor
- By: Andrew Lownie
- Narrated by: Andrew Lownie
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
December 11, 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after.
-
-
All That is Glamour can be Rotten
- By Joe France on 08-26-22
By: Andrew Lownie
-
Confidence Man
- The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America
- By: Maggie Haberman
- Narrated by: Maggie Haberman
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few journalists working today have covered Donald Trump more extensively than Maggie Haberman. And few understand him and his motivations better. Now, demonstrating her majestic command of this story, Haberman reveals in full the depth of her understanding of the 45th president himself, and of what the Trump phenomenon means.
-
-
This is the only one you have to read
- By Amazon Customer on 10-06-22
By: Maggie Haberman
-
A Woman in Charge
- The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton
- By: Carl Bernstein
- Narrated by: Dick Rodstein
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carl Bernstein's stunning portrait of Hillary Rodham Clinton shows us, as nothing else has, the true trajectory of her life and career, with its zigzag bursts of risks taken and safety sought. Marshaling all the skills and energy that propelled his history-making Pulitzer Prize reporting on Watergate, Bernstein gives us the most detailed, sophisticated, comprehensive, and revealing account of Hilary Rodham Clinton yet.
-
-
in depth and well-written
- By Katherine on 07-20-07
By: Carl Bernstein
-
Game Change
- Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime
- By: John Heilemann, Mark Halperin
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character driven and dialogue rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, this is the occasion-ally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.
-
-
Compelling & frank
- By Michael on 01-15-10
By: John Heilemann, and others
-
Destiny and Power
- The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 25 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on President Bush’s personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the 41st president and his family, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham paints an intimate and surprising portrait of an intensely private man who led the nation through tumultuous times.
-
-
Fair and insightful
- By Jean on 12-02-15
By: Jon Meacham
-
The Presidents Club
- Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity
- By: Nancy Gibbs, Michael Duffy
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Presidents Club was born at Eisenhower’s inauguration when Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover first conceived the idea. Over the years that followed - and to this day - the presidents relied on, misunderstood, sabotaged, and formed alliances with one another that changed history. The world’s most exclusive fraternity is a complicated place: its members are bound forever because they sat in the Oval Office and know its secrets, yet they are immortal rivals for history’s favor.
-
-
Engaging subject, but fact-checking needed
- By loix on 04-25-12
By: Nancy Gibbs, and others
-
Here's the Deal
- A Memoir
- By: Kellyanne Conway
- Narrated by: Kellyanne Conway
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a highly respected pollster for corporate and Republican clients and a frequent television talk show guest, Kellyanne Conway had already established herself as one of the brightest lights on the national political scene when Donald Trump asked her to run his presidential campaign. She agreed, delivering him to the White House, becoming the first woman in American history to manage a winning presidential campaign. Who she is, how she did it, and who tried to stop her is a fascinating story of personal triumph and political intrigue that has never been told…until now.
-
-
Beautify written and narrated memoir
- By Wayne on 06-18-22
By: Kellyanne Conway
What listeners say about For Love of Politics
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 11-22-16
Definitive Narrative On Clinton Years
Sally Bedell Smith, who wrote the best books ever on the Kennedy White House Years, the late Princess of Wales, the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and Pamela Churchill Harriman, has again demonstrated her excellent grasp of history and biography with a finely tuned eye for the smallest details, much of it never before revealed about President Clinton and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Will be considered one of the best sources of research for future historians.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- eesti
- 01-28-08
no title
I am in process of the listening (two thirds through and about to drop it) of this book; and I am very disappointed in it. The author is an obvious Clintons’ basher. She collected all possible and impossible gossips about Clintons and put them all together. I have read somewhere that she spent three years of her life on this book and conducted 160 interviews (I guess, with people who hate Clintons). Just one example: she blames Bill Clinton for being obsessed with politics; she gave example of one couple (the author does not provide names), visiting White house; and later these people complained that all Bill talked about during breakfast, was some current world politics’ issues. Poor guests did not know how to hold on conversation, because they did not know anything about these issues! Oh, maybe they should know something about politics when visiting White House?! After all, shouldn’t you be happy to have President, who is so much in his job that can’t stop thinking and talking about it? Bill Clinton’s era was the best time in my life, to say at least. He was an excellent President; very positive and very active. Young people need to read Wikipedia at least, to know what Bill Clinton has done for this country; all they know is about Lewinski, like no other Presidents in this country had mistresses. Please, give me a break! I feel deep sorry for the author, really. She spent so much time on something she so much hates. That’s probably why this book is so boring. From book it is obvious that she (the author) is a fan of Al Gore. Why, for god sake, doesn’t she write book about him, and have all available pleasure and enjoyment for herself and her readers. In my opinion, for writers books should be like babies, in order to create them you must love them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Clayman
- 10-25-13
No love for the Clintons
What would have made For Love of Politics better?
Some objectivity. Less personal attacks on their character. Seriously the only person inside your head is you.
Would you ever listen to anything by Sally Bedell Smith again?
I was impressed by her biography of Queen Elizabeth, though that was weighed towards a loving tribute. Millions have a visceral opinion of the Clintons, and millions of words have been used to describe their every action in the Whitehouse. It therefore doesn't offer any balance or effort of objectivity to simply find quotes from people that agree with your position that these people are evil.
What does Marc Cashman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He does a great job reading.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Not really. I didn't feel I was learning anything beyond the character attack, so turned it off about half way. And I am not trying to be biased. I have read most modern president bios and enjoyed Clinton and George W Bush. It about understanding the perspective.
Any additional comments?
I think the author did herself a disservice by putting this out in the world.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!