Bill Clinton Reveals 12 Simple Rules for Surviving Politics (Exclusive)

President Bill Clinton has released a new book about his life after leaving the White House, and PEOPLE has an exclusive excerpt.

Citizen: My life after the White Houseout Nov. 19 from Alfred A. Knopf, is the former president’s first-person account of his years after he became a private citizen on Jan. 20, 2001, after nearly 30 years in politics and eight years as president. “Over the next two decades, he would create a lasting legacy of public service and advocacy, from Indonesia to Louisiana, Northern Ireland to South Africa, and in the process reinvent philanthropy and redefine the impact a former president could have on the world,” explains the book’s official synopsis.

The book includes Clinton’s account of significant events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War, the Haiti earthquake, the Great Recession, the January 6 uprising, and issues facing our country and society, including “the unprecedented challenges posed by a global pandemic, persistent income inequality, a steadily warming planet and authoritarian forces dedicated to weakening democracy,” according to a press release shared with PEOPLE.

Never miss a story – sign up PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to keep you updated on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In addition to political issues, Citizen also lets readers into his life as a father, grandfather and husband. He talks about his support for wife Hillary Clinton during her time as senator, secretary of state and presidential candidate and shares the “frustration and pain” of the 2016 election.

A follow-up to his previous memoir My lifethis book is a “sincere reflection on the past and thus a fearless embrace of our future” and “a testament to one man’s unwavering commitment to family and nation.”

PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How fast can you solve it? Play now!

Ahead of the release, read an exclusive excerpt from Citizen describes his humorous “rules of politics” and listen to Clinton read it below.

Hear Bill Clinton read from his new book ‘The Citizen’

For years, dating back to my days in Arkansas, I kept a list of “Clinton’s Rules of Politics” that I used to explain, enlighten, and facilitate political conversations:

1. Never tell someone to go to hell unless you can make them go (Sam Rayburn told LBJ so).
2. Never drink in public – you might act like yourself.
3. Every time you hear, “It’s nothing personal,” get ready.
4. When someone can shift the heat from themselves to you, prepare to be grilled.
5. Everyone is for change in general, but often against it in particular – it depends on whose ox is being slaughtered.
6. When people say, “It’s not a money problem,” they’re always talking about someone else’s problem.
7. If you see a turtle on a fence post, it didn’t get there by accident.
8. When you start feeling good, you need to be somewhere else.
9. You are always most vulnerable when you feel invulnerable or when you are angry and exhausted.
10. Take criticism seriously, but not personally (one I got from Hillary and well explained by Don Miguel Ruiz in The four agreements).
11. If you want to bring your emotions to work, go into another industry.
12. Don’t give up on people – if you dig long enough, there’s almost always someone still down there somewhere.

The 2016 election forced me to go to a baker’s dozen with a new rule: “If you’re ever in the room with someone who says … but you win anyway,” smile, thank them for their time, and get over it room as fast as you can.” They may want you to win, but they don’t want to speak up for you for fear of criticism or punishment. “Anyway” is the tell-tale. When you hear that, get ready to move .

Excerpted from CITIZEN: My Life After the White House by Bill Clinton, published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Group, and Penguin Random House Audio, both divisions of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2024 by Bill Clinton. All rights reserved. No part of this extract may be reproduced or reprinted without written permission from the publisher.

Citizen: My life after the White House by Bill Clinton is out November 19 from Alfred A. Knopf and is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold.