Reviews
Review by: Iwan Morgan, emeritus professor of US History at University College London, and author of REAGAN: AMERICAN ICON and FDR: TRANSFORMING THE PRESIDENCY AND RENEWING AMERICA - May 24, 2023
"Highly original and exceptionally well researched, this integration of presidential history and sports history makes for a fascinating exploration of baseball's significance as a civil religion in the 1990s. Superbly written and insightful, this book should be equally pleasing to scholarly specialists and general readers--a must read for anyone interested in the Clinton presidency and/or one of baseball's most memorable decades."
Review by: Daniel Kryder, Louis Stulberg Chair in Law and Politics, Brandeis University - May 24, 2023
"The surprising embrace of baseball and its demigods by a fallen yet ambitious president has found the storyteller it deserves. In this gripping and perceptive book, Chris Birkett explains how Bill Clinton sought leverage and redemption by aligning himself with the uniquely American, culturally unassailable, secular church of baseball. This is a bittersweet story of attempts to rebuild fractured American civic life by appropriating baseball’s core narratives: the winning strategy of multicultural teamwork, the glory of running down the American dream and the virtue of uninterrupted hard work. An entertaining and poignant 'coming of age' tale of the intertwined fates of an increasingly commercialized and PED fueled national pastime and increasingly cutthroat national party politics, this book is highly recommended for anyone interested in baseball and political culture, Clintonian leadership, or wonderfully crafted historical narratives of the deepening of our divisions over time."
Review by: Nicholas Sarantakes, author of FAN IN CHIEF: RICHARD NIXON AND AMERICAN SPORTS, 1969-1974 - May 24, 2023
"Like him or not, agree with his policies or not, Bill Clinton was a smart political operator, and this book shows why. Like the man once said, 'Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.' In a fun recounting of the sport and political history of the 1990s, Chris Birkett shows that Clinton understood the ideas behind that quote and used them well in his effort to connect with the American people and govern."