In 1993, William J. Clinton began his eight year stint as forty-second president of the United States. A key figure of change in the Democratic Party, Clinton's political and personal actions ensured his lasting status as an important if controversial leader at a critical moment in recent American history. In "Bill Clinton: Building a Bridge to the New Millennium," David H. Bennett traces Clinton's life and career from childhood through his two terms in the White House. From childhood to college, state government to the executive branch, Bennett provides a concise and readable biography that places Clinton's achievements, problems, and legacy in historical context.

Situating the former president in the trajectory of 20th century liberalism, Bennett draws on Clinton's life to illuminate the political landscape of America in the 1990s and the role of the U.S. in the global context of the post-Cold War world. Combining keen scholarship with accessible prose, this will be an essential resource for students and all those interested in understanding the recent history of the U.S.

In 1993, William J. Clinton began his eight year stint as forty-second president of the United States. A key figure of change in the Democratic Party, Clinton's political and personal actions ensured his lasting status as an important if controversial leader at a critical moment in recent American history. In Bill Clinton: Building a Bridge to the New Millennium, David H. Bennett traces Clinton's life and career from childhood through his two terms in the White House. From childhood to college, state government to the executive branch, Bennett provides a concise and readable biography that places Clinton's achievements, problems, and legacy in historical context. Situating the former president in the trajectory of 20th century liberalism, Bennett draws on Clinton's life to illuminate the political landscape of America in the 1990s and the role of the U.S. in the global context of the post-Cold War world. Combining keen scholarship with accessible prose, this will be an essential resource for students and all those interested in understanding the recent history of the U.S.

Why, for two hundred years, have some American citizens seen this country as an endangered Eden, to be purged of corrupting peoples or ideas by any means necessary?
To the Know-Nothings of the 1850s, the enemy was Irish immigrants. To the Ku Klux Klan, it was Jews, blacks, and socialists. To groups like the Michigan Militia, the enemy is the government itself -- and some of them are willing to take arms against it. The Party of Fear -- which has now been updated to examine the right-wing resurgence of the 1990s -- is the first book to reveal the common values and anxieties that lie beneath the seeming diversity of the far right. From the anti-Catholic riots that convulsed Philadelphia in 1845 to the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City, it casts a brilliant, cautionary light not only on our political fringes but on the ways in which ordinary Americans define themselves and demonize outsiders.