photo: Mou-ikkai (flickr)
Top books to read according to one of the most influential politicians in the USA of the 21st century
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ” by Stephen Covey
– Bill Clinton
Covey’s business classic has been making CEO one of top books to read since its publication in 1989 – it has sold around 15 million copies. Getting rid of the urgent, and expanding the list of important but non-urgent tasks, should be on every busy leader’s mind. Covey’s emphasis on making lists and creating new lasting habits isn’t new, but the illustrations and emphasis on cultivating inner character traits (such as personal responsibility rather than a winning personality) tend to be remembered long after reading time is over. While critics claim that the book is too simplistic in outlook, applying the principles of First Things First, listening before speaking, and teaming with other leaders can take a lifetime to fully implement.
“Lincoln”by David Herbert Donald
Bill Clinton listed this book as one of his top choices in “Today” show on NBC.
The most asked question about President Lincoln comes down to this – how did he rise from grinding poverty to world-influencing power? Using personal letters and a winning style, David Herbert Donald deserves a spot on any history student’s book list by emphasizing Lincoln’s decision-making ability while underlining his humanity and many oversights in judgment. Personal matters such as Lincoln’s family and marital relationships are woven in, though they aren’t the focus so much as the background. The history, tendencies, and outcome of Lincoln’s decisions surrounding the Civil War are examined with a careful eye to detail, along with little-known facts about Lincoln’s leadership of the Illinois bar.
“The Emperor’s Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations” by MarcusAurelius
– Bill Clinton
Called a “must-read” by Steve Forbes, and praised for its manly tone of translation by Jacques Barzun, this book may become as much of a business classic as Sun Tzu’s “Art of War”. The emphasis on personal virtue despite others’ inclinations or pressures, reality versus fantasy thinking, and viewing obstacles as the road to improvement, are just as applicable now as in the second century A.D. Other readers who added this Aurelius work to their reading lists include the former leader of the US Ethics office (Stephen Potts), a former director of the CIA (Admiral Turner), and a Yale history professor. Hillsdale Academy included this book in its recommended summer reading list for students.
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Bill Clinton listed this book as one of his top choices in “Today” show on NBC.
Also mentioned in 6 Books That Everyone Must Read. Paulo Coelho Recommends
This winner of a spot on the Oprah reading list is focused on time and family. The small town of Macondo, begun by Jose and Ursula Buendia, is affected if insulated from the rest of Colombia and the world. Marquez explores human issues, from solitude to politics and poverty, from the perspective of five generations of the founding family – while the dangers from without become the dangers from within. Written in a vivid poetic style, English professor Kiely of the New York Times called this book an overwhelming mix between idealism and practicality. This may also be an accurate description of the author’s childhood in a small Colombian coastal town, fed fantastical stories of ghosts and soldiers by his grandparents.
“LifeIs What You Make It” by Peter Buffett
– Bill Clinton
Also recommended by Bill Gates, Jamie Dimon
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Though the author bears such famous last name, Buffet, he claims that he hasn´t inherited much from his parents, concerning materialistic issues. He was gifted with a family philosophy: “Everybody must find his own way in this life”. This warm, mind broadening, and inspirational book asks every reader, what will he choose: the way of least resistance or the way greatest satisfaction? In some sense this is the life story of Peter Buffet himself.
“TheImitation of Christ” by Thomas à Kempis
Bill Clinton has put this book on a list of the books that have been the most influential in his life (the list made by Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company).
Five hundred years after writing his mystical meditations, Kempis’ work is still included on modern reading lists of philosophy professors (such as Dallas Willard) and non-profit organizations alike (such as Joshua’s Way). Classic Christian living themes are explored, from the knowledge of truth to the dangers of temptation, along with the necessity of a proper perspective on death and judgment. Despite the heavy-sounding topics, the Christian Classics Ethereal Library promotes this work on its books list as “gentle”, with an emphasis on the lovingkindness of the Almighty.
“KingLeopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa”by Adam Hochschild
Bill Clinton listed this book as one of his top choices in “Today” show on NBC.
Hochschild’s book may shed equally shed light on a forgotten historical figure (King Leopold II) as well as an English teacher’s favorite on high school reading lists: Heart of Darkness. The late 19th century monarch of Belgium cleverly built up a political reputation for altruistic works, while creating an economic stranglehold on the Congo. Natural resources of ivory and rubber were taken at gunpoint, along with forced labor from terrified villagers. Meanwhile, help was extracted via clever lobbying of the United States government for the abolition of the slave trade. Hoschild points out the freedom fighters who contributed to bringing the truth about Leopold’s reign to the world, from missionaries to shipping agents.
The Denial of Death” by Ernest Becker
Bill Clinton has put this book on a list of the books that have been the most influential in his life (the list made by Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company).
Describing the earth as an immense burial mound or wasteland of fertilizer, Becker points out man’s desire and inability to rise above the knowledge that he is mortal. Animals only have this knowledge momentarily, while humans must struggle with their abilities and inabilities along the road to the grave. Becker’s favorite reading list includes authors such as Søren Kierkegaard and Otto Rank, whose ideas crop up frequently in Becker’s assertion that the overwhelming reality of man’s terror of death is often overcome by the fiction of religion, or the temporary distractions of life.
TheWay of the World: From the Dawn of Civilizations to the Eve of the Twenty-first Century” by David Fromkin
Bill Clinton listed this book as one of his top choices in “Today” show on NBC.
The role of leaders pushing unremittingly for progress is one of the themes of Fromkin’s work, which seeks to explore one of man’s fundamental questions: where did we come from to get here? High school and college students needing to expand their reading lists may be attracted to the small size of the book, and those with an extensive book list of favorites may be attracted by the author’s Pulitzer Prize nomination. In under 300 pages, Fromkin moves through the biggest highlights of the ancient and modern world, from Socrates to Copernicus to Thomas Edison, from an agricultural to an industrial society.
“Nonzero:The Logic of Human Destiny” by Robert Wright
Bill Clinton has put this book on a list of the books that have been the most influential in his life (the list made by Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company).
In the gaming world, having one winner that necessitates one loser is a zero-sum game. Wright asserts that life on Earth is more complex, with some combinations resulting in a win on multiple fronts, or losing in many categories. Using historical examples beyond the Crusades, Wright brings out the idea that history is truly moving toward a destination point beyond mere orderly chaos developed at random – that nearly limitless information and the global era are ahead. Readers whose favorites list include “Guns, Germs and Steel” may see intriguing similarities, but devotees of Stephen J. Gould may not appreciate Wright as an addition to their reading list.
