Everyone knows that certain aspects of the 90s will be making a comeback in the coming months. 70s disco had its revival in the early 90s, and the long-spanning cultural memories of the 80s are only now beginning to peter out. (We even brought back He-Man in that last round.) Now, at the start of a new decade, one must wonder what, how, and where favorite trends like grunge, denim, Windows and PCs, and video game systems will continue to evolve in retrospective and throwback lights. We all love Kate Winslet, but let’s not keep our hopes up for Titanic 2: From the Bottom of My Ocean Heart.

President Ronald Reagan was a good example of a political figure who got the retrospective makeover during the 80s nostalgia of the 00s. After his death in 2004, amidst the mid-decade war boom, conservatives found new meaning for his legacy, a reinforced relevancy for the governmental economic policies of “Reaganomics.” Moreover, and at a glance, Reagan is held up as an icon of conservative sensibility, and if you haven’t already started watching the “Reaganing” episode of 30 Rock, you’re falling behind.

To that end, we might wonder how perceptions of the President of the 90s, Bill Clinton, will appear and reappear over the next decade. He’s not dead—far from it, given his continued political activity—but we will shortly be ready to talk about his contributions as president in a new way. Biographer Michael Takiff has written the first complete oral history of Clinton’s life, A Complicated Man: The Life of Bill Clinton as Told by Those Who Know Him, derived from over 150 interviews with friends, colleagues, and rivals alike. Rather than casting #42 in either a strictly positive or negative light, Takiff finds that uniform classification and judgment of his actions is most difficult. In anticipation of the 90s nostalgia to come, having this overall impartial account of Clinton’s life will help orient the challenges and questions put to his legacy.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/14983801 w=400&h=225]

Michael Takiff: A Complicated Man from Movable Type Literary Group on Vimeo.