Clinton Says New Book Outlines His Philosophy

A campaign book published under the name of President Clinton will be released next week outlining Clinton’s vision of a hoped-for second term and the United States’ future.

Random House Inc. will print a very large initial run of 400,000 copies of the 192-page hardcover volume, entitled “Between Hope and History: Meeting America’s Challenges for the 21st Century.”

Publication of the work was announced simultaneously by White House officials here in Wyoming, where the first family is vacationing, and by Random House in New York.

The project, which has been a tightly guarded secret in the White House and the publishing industry for months, ties together a number of themes that have been familiar in Clinton’s speeches for years - economic opportunity, personal responsibility and limited government.

At a brief photo opportunity late Wednesday, Clinton described the book not as a laundry list of re-election promises but an overview of his philosophy of governing.

However, he also indicated that the book is intended to make the political case for his re-election. “It makes the argument about why I think the direction we’re going in is right, why we are better off than we were, and what I hope to do,” Clinton said while seated astride a horse at the Jackson ranch where he is staying.

“It’s just something I wanted to say,” he added.

Aides insisted that the timing of the announcement was dictated by Random House, not timed for release during the Republican National Convention under way in San Diego this week. They also asserted that Clinton finished his final revisions to the manuscript only last weekend.

Clinton describes the book in the introduction as a “conversation … with the American people about our destiny as a nation.” He repeats his assertions from this year’s State of the Union address that “the era of big government is over” and the nation is entering an unprecedented “age of possibility,” according to a news release from the publisher.

Although Clinton’s name appears on the cover as author, the text was stitched together by professional ghostwriter William Nothdurft of Seattle, assisted by White House speech writer Don Baer and senior policy adviser Bruce Reed. Aides said Baer and Reed worked on the project in their off hours and will not be paid.

Clinton will not accept any royalties from the book, following advice of government and private lawyers.