Bill Clinton reflects on post-White House years in the upcoming memoir ‘Citizen’
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton has a memoir coming out this fall about his years since leaving public office in 2001. “Citizen: My Life After the White House” will cover everything from the presidential campaigns of his wife, Hillary Clinton, to his views on events ranging from the Jan. 6 insurrection to the Iraq War.
Alfred A. Knopf, which published Clinton’s million-selling presidential memoir “My Life,” will release the new book Nov. 19.
“I knew as I entered this new chapter of my life that I’d keep score the way I always have: Are people better off when you quit than when you started? Do our children have a brighter future? Are we coming together instead of falling apart?” Clinton said in a statement Thursday.
“‘Citizen’ is the story of my 23-plus years since leaving the White House, told largely through the stories of other people who changed my life as I tried to help change theirs, of those who supported me, including those I loved and lost, and of the mistakes I made along the way,” he said.
Knopf is calling the book “remarkably candid, and richly detailed,” offering “fascinating insight into Clinton’s life — both personal and political.”
Over the past two decades, Clinton has worked on numerous charitable causes, including AIDS treatment and relief for Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Besides “My Life,” his books have included the policy tract “Working” and a pair of bestselling thrillers co-authored by James Patterson: “The President Is Missing” and “The President’s Daughter.”
He has also been involved in various controversies, among them questions over the funding for Haiti’s rebuilding efforts and his association with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein (Clinton, who flew several times on Epstein’s private jet, has denied any awareness that Epstein was involved in sex trafficking). In 2018, the #MeToo movement revived talk of Clinton’s affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
A Knopf spokesperson declined comment on whether Clinton would write about Epstein or other controversies.
Financial terms for “Citizen” were not disclosed. Clinton was represented by Robert Barnett and Michael O’Connor of Williams & Connolly, where other clients include Hillary Clinton, former President George W. Bush and Barbra Streisand.