(FORTUNE Magazine) – Bill Clinton will be in office another five months, but it's not too early to begin writing his postmortem. As Al Gore or George W. Bush takes office, here's what we will come to understand soon about Clinton: Admire or hate him, he's better at what he does than anyone else, including Gore or Bush. He possesses an ingredient that has all but disappeared from the national scene: passion. He emotes, and people respond. When he makes mistakes, they are large and searing. Yet he never gives up. He is a survivor, and as Americans we revere that trait more than almost any other. No one can be indifferent to Bill Clinton, and that is a remarkable fact.

In Los Angeles during the week of the Democratic convention, he was a rock star. He turned the most heads at Spago and drew the thickest crowd as he walked through the lobby of the St. Regis. Barbra Streisand and Michael Douglas were bait to lure Democratic donors to fund-raising events, but the Man Himself was the most sure-fire draw. Clinton has the star power that the people who are paid to know star power wish they could find in leading men. Hollywood also sees itself in what he does. He's a great actor. "Better than Reagan," says Billy Baldwin.

But Clinton is more than an actor: He is among the smartest people you'd ever meet. Ask him a question, and you can almost see him reaching down into the vast well of his mind. His sense of people also goes beyond acting. When he looks at someone, that person feels as if he's the only one in the room. Yet this ease shouldn't be mistaken for good humor. Clinton can be a tyrant, bursting into what his aides call a purple rage. When faced with defeat, he abandons his friends and his principles. The Clinton years are littered with people and policies that the President has discarded for political expediency. He's not what you'd call a nice guy.

But he is what journalists call a good story. Sometimes watching him is like watching a successful space launch. Other times it's like seeing an accident as it's happening. He is a combustible mixture. When Clinton finished his speech at the Democratic convention, Elvis really did seem to leave the building.

--J.H.B.