The First Gentleman

The First Gentleman is the third collaboration between former US president Bill Clinton and best-selling thriller author James Patterson. Their books weave Clinton’s experience in the White House with Patterson’s experience writing military and spy action thrillers. Their first collaboration, The President is Missing, was published in 2018 and went on to become a bestseller. Their second collaboration, The President’s Daughter, was published in 2021. In the second novel, the president’s daughter is kidnapped by an Islamist terrorist group in collaboration with the Chinese government, and the president has to rescue her using diplomacy and military pressure.

The First Gentleman focuses on the experiences of the husband of the first female president of the United States. It was borne out of President Clinton’s consideration of what his role would have been as First Gentleman had his wife, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, won the presidential election in 2016. As Clinton stated in multiple interviews, “It’s the only job I ever wanted that I didn’t get” (Mulroy, Clare. “Bill Clinton Reveals Key White House Details in Murderous New Political Thriller.” USA Today, 2 June 2025). The eponymous fictional First Gentleman Cole Wright is a self-insert character, as Cole shares many common characteristics with President Clinton, such as a passion for jogging and a love of public speaking and glad-handing.