Oral histories are an invaluable source of primary material for presidential scholars. They have the benefit of providing insight from people who had direct access to the President without having to suffer from delays caused by either the processing of key documents by presidential libraries or the publication of critical autobiographies. As cochair of the excellent Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, Russell L. Riley now seeks to bring the vibrancy of oral history to a wider readership by highlighting parts of these interviews in a review of the Clinton White House. This enables the reader to access through the interviewees a level of detail that is not often available in a single biography, albeit without approaching that genre's breadth of analysis. In addition, Riley seeks to develop a thematic context to the Clinton presidency that the Miller Center interviews cannot provide. The Clinton White House, with its turbulent narrative and often chaotic organization, provides an excellent subject for this approach. The views of a range of actors on diverse subjects from Clinton's leadership style to his relationships with the press and Congress provide a revealing insight into the man and his administration.

However, to be effective this approach depends upon a number of factors. First, the author needs to be able both to introduce and to link the themes of the book to present a coherent picture. In this Riley does a very good job of providing a strong narrative context for each of the chapters, thus setting the scene for the oral material to follow. In addition, in the epilogue (413) he provides a thoughtful summary of Clinton's legacy. Second, any attempt to pull these interviews together into coherent themes is dependent upon the availability of sources and the selection of the material. For this reason, even though Riley does a good job of identifying the main themes of the Clinton presidency, a book of this nature cannot provide a comprehensive picture on any topic without the most influential players’ views being available. At this early stage in the development of the Clinton historiography the unavailability of the Clintons and Gore is not surprising, but the absence of important players such as Clinton's communications director George Stephanopoulos or the erudite Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is much more so. This omission of substantive figures naturally creates gaps in the narrative but also results in a reliance upon an eclectic group of contributors who were not so directly involved in the subjects being discussed. The 1993 Budget and Stimulus Package (111) and discussion of Hillary Clinton are good examples of where key actors in the drama are absent. This is not so much a criticism as a recognition of the limitations of this approach. The strength of this book, however, is the contribution not from the big names like Tony Blair (added in this revised version) but in the views of “lesser players” whose experiences of dealing with the President and working in his White House deliver real insight into Clinton's character and approach to the presidency. The sections on the 1994 midterm defeat (284), on his operating style (347), on Clinton's personal side (358) and on Gore (375) provide fascinating insights into both Clinton and his administration. These are just some examples of why this book is such a stimulating work.

Inside the Clinton White House is well set out and covers the main issues of the Clinton administration, and, with any book based on Miller Center interviews, is going to provide an important addition to the historiography. This is particularly the case with the Clinton presidency as the political ambitions of his wife and, possibly in the future, his daughter have continued to delay the release of documents and further primary material. But, as discussed, the nature of its limitations will make it more a supplementary choice for scholars as they are more likely to seek enlightenment directly with the full Miller Center interviews. But this book does provide a gateway to a wider audience. Whilst this might not be the traditional first choice for the general reader, it does provide an excellent overview painting an anecdotal picture of Bill Clinton and his White House.