Bill Clinton’s Memoir “Citizen” Centers Our Common Humanity: ‘Live in the Present, for the Future’ (Exclusive)
The book focuses on the years after the former president left the White House as he shares stories from his post-politics career
Kevin Mazur/Getty, Knopf
Bill Clinton and his new book 'Citizen'President Bill Clinton left the White House on Jan. 20, 2001, and stepped into a new phase of his life and career — as a private citizen.
His new book, Citizen: My Life After the White House, out Nov. 19 from Alfred A. Knopf, is the former president's first-person account of the subsequent years. Those years saw him embark on public service and advocacy, coming to the aid of people in India and Haiti, Indonesia and Louisiana, Northern Ireland and South Africa and just about everywhere in between, all while supporting wife Hillary Clinton on her career as senator, secretary of state and presidential candidate.
Related: Bill Clinton Reveals 12 Simple Rules for Surviving Politics: Read Them Here (Exclusive)
In reflecting on the decades since he left office, Clinton, 78, jokes he initially "felt lost whenever I walked into a room because no one played a song to mark my arrival." But in reality, he tells PEOPLE the change was a welcome one because it allowed him to turn his attention toward what matters most: the human element. In the book, he sets out the maxim: "live in the present, for the future."
Knopf
'Citizen' by Bill Clinton"You need to be thinking about what you're gonna do today that will help tomorrow. I just decided that's the way I would think all the time: What can I do today? How can I move the law forward on something I care about?" he says, of the principle that has dictated his life, ever since.
Peppered with stories from people he's met along the way — from his former teachers to Haitian artists to fellow public figures — Citizen keeps that focus front and center, too. And he urges his readers to do the same, regardless of their sphere of influence.
"It's so easy, especially when you're in politics, but it's also easy if you're overwhelmed with raising kids or if you're overwhelmed with whatever else is going on in your life to forget that at the base of all your interactions, there are people involved," Clinton explains. "And that human nature tends to repeat itself down through the centuries in the millennia. We just get shiny new toys to do what we have been pre-mortally predisposed to do."
Related: See Every Time Former U.S. Presidents Have Gotten Together
The importance of taking human nature into account isn't lost on the former president, whose book also addresses the concept of "two Americas" and political divisions that have existed since before the country did.
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Bill Clinton attends the annual Charity Day hosted by Cantor Fitzgerald and The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund on Sept. 11, 2023 in New York City."There are other people who believe that all that matters is politics," he acknowledges. "And whoever you are, you're only worth anything depending on whose side you're on ... Our differences make life more interesting, but they're only possible to have a positive impact when our common humanity matters more."
His advice for moving forward? "I think the trick is gonna be how do you keep showing up for what you believe, but do it with an outstretched hand rather than a clenched fist," Clinton advises. "Down deep, most people want the same thing ... It's mostly a war that we all fight within."
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Citizen: My Life After the White House by Bill Clinton is available now, wherever books are sold.
