Living History

1/23/09 - Hillary Clinton is an amazing woman and I'm really sad that I ever doubted her. Now that I've finished the book, I still think she would have made a great POTUS, but Secretary of State is definitely a great position for her. As First Lady she traveled all over the world to further the rights of women and she actually made progress! Toward the end of the book, I feel like she really flew through the last few years of her time at the White House, but it's better than what Bill did in My Life. I would rather a little fast forwarding than going on and on.

To her credit, she actually really discussed the Lewinksy issue. I think it's terrible that the Clinton years are tarnished by such a ridiculous scandal. Should Bill have cheated show more on his wife? No. Should he have lied about? No, but ANYONE would have lied about it. Should he have been impeached? NO! The Lewinsky business was private, it had nothing to do with his job as POTUS. Personally, I think Hillary is an amazing woman because she stayed with him after his indiscretions.

12/26/08 - I really wish I had read this sooner. I'm just a few chapters in, but I already feel better about voting for Clinton in the primary. I had serious voter's remorse because I really wanted to vote for Edwards, but chose Clinton (because Edwards was out of the race by primary time in AZ). It was one of the hardest decisions in my life, but it would have been a lot easier if I had read this book earlier. show less

Whether or not you believe that the Clintons were victims of what Hillary calls a "vast right-wing conspiracy," this memoir has enough information and personality to appeal to people on both sides of the political fence. Most will not be surprised by Clinton's reading style, as it is similar (though not nearly as formal) to the manner in which she has delivered many television addresses. Her Midwestern accent is evenly pitched and pleasant. She easily laughs at herself, and fluctuations in her delivery render her emotions nearly palpable. Indeed, the casual straightforwardness of her delivery will engender a sense of trust and respect in listeners. Though she does not offer much new material, she is adept at disclosing many "backstage" show more details-from the personal, like her inner feelings about the Lewinsky scandal ("the most devastating, shocking and hurtful experience of my life"), to the humorous, like the time a mischievous Boris Yeltsin tried to coax her into sampling moose-lip soup. Her devotion to Chelsea, Bill and to her country feels genuine, as do her hopes for future. All in all, her infectious sense of optimism and unwavering energy shine through in her delivery and will leave listeners with a new respect for the former First Lady. show less

I admire the hell out of Hillary Rodham (Clinton), but this was the most tactfully dull autobiography I ever attempted. It's not so much that I was looking for anything bizarre: she's on the Wonk end of the political spectrum, which gets shit done, but tends to avoid amazing soundbites. What I miss is her sense of humor. Her first job our of school was working to impeach Nixon. Let's revel in that irony.

[If you find a copy nearby, do check out the photographs. There's a really funny one of her on the back of an elephant, where the driver looks freakishly tiny.]

As much as I enjoy reading in general, this business of presidential candidates putting out books doesn't impress me much. Some of them are well written, but the only candidate's show more books I've ever really enjoyed were those of Al Franken, and he was definitely a writer first. By way of contrast, check out [b:Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg|25422234|Notorious RBG The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg|Irin Carmon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1429924065s/25422234.jpg|44611586]The Notorious RBG. Now there's a book that evokes personality and determination and so forth. Two stories about lawyers who focused their professional lives on achieving legal equality and improved conditions for women, children, and men. Only one of those books sets the reader into full-on fandom.

Library copy show less

I wanted to read Mrs. Clinton's first memoir before reading Hard Choices. Years ago, I read a couple biographies of her, which made some controversial claims but included a few more facts and timeline checks than this memoir did.

It's a memoir, so you don't expect it to be soul-divulging, but her account is so whitewashed as to be almost unbelievable. Yes, all the investigations into her family's finances and personal lives by Republicans was unfair, but they also uncovered corruption and Clinton associates like Webb Hubble went to prison. Hillary writes that was "shocked" to find that her former partner was actually guilty of the charges leveled against him. So, while she blasts the entire investigation as a political game she hardly show more acknowledges that it uncovered crimes committed under her nose.

President Clinton told Monica Lewinsky that he'd made a concerted effort to remain faithful to Hillary after he turned 40. This indicates that he was not faithful previously, and we now know that his rendezvous with Ms. Lewinsky was only made possible by the Republican-led government shutdown that caused non-essential handlers to be out of the White House; Mrs. Clinton had made sure staffers knew to deal with Bill's "woman problem." None of that makes it into the memoir, she's shocked to find that Bill cheated on her, and spends little time reflecting on what an abuse of power it is for a boss to start a relationship with an unpaid intern. This whole account is so whitewashed, biographers will have fun with it a century from now.

That said, Clinton has had a remarkable career. She recounts her involvement making policy ranging from healthcare reform, CHIP, welfare reform (which alienated her former friends on the previous two issues), and women's rights. I found her friendship with Jackie Kennedy interesting, and she got to witness plenty firsthand as a quasi-ambassador, from abused women in Africa to dying AIDS patients in Southeast Asia. This comes across well in the book.

However, there is nothing in here about her management or leadership styles. How did she choose and develop her staff? What books influenced her thinking? How would she manage a government agency, let alone a White House? None of that is evident in the book (do only Republicans include such things in their memoirs, it seems to be a trend).

So, this was a good recap of the Clinton White House through the eyes of the First Lady, and a little bit of info about her successful Senate run, but not many details. 2 stars out of 5. show less

Well, the abriged version (still 5 hours of audio) is done.
It was not a bad book, but it didn't interest or touch me nearly as the book by Michelle Obama did.
I can't help comparing the two, 'reading' them one after the other. This book was more politics, meetings, strategy, than the memoirs of a mother, a wife.
This life in public feels much further away from my life than Becoming, although they describe the same things: being a first lady, raising a child in the White House, being married to a president, living in the public eye.
Interesting times were Hillary's years in the White House, but the description of these times felt like as told from a distance, without really tangible passion, awe and a touch of humility.

I own a copy of show more the Dutch edition of this book, but I found the audiobook version of is, so I've switched to that one. Like Michelle Obama read her own book, Hillary Clinton also reads this one.

Seems like I'm into reading from/about former first ladies at the moment :-) show less

Mrs R C, I apologise. Until I read this book, I had thought of you solely as Mrs Bill Clinton. I was wrong.

This book is a tremendously dignified biography. Not unnaturally, it concentrates upon the period of the Bill Clinton presidency but, we learn about the things that made Hillary, Hillary. She is incredibly honest about her feelings when the Monica Lewinski story broke, but does not fall into the trap of turning this book into a swarded collection of soft porn stories.

Hillary comes across as a woman with her own mind; someone who knows what she wants to do, and does it.but, I find it very hard to associate this lady with the pushy, overbearing character portrayed by her political enemies: admittedly, she could bias the book to show more make herself sound good, but I think that somewhere in five hundred and fifty pages, such a deception would have shown.

The best thing about this book is that it gives the human side of the Clinton family, without being too sentimental, or too higher than thou. The Clintons are just an ordinary family, with extraordinary abilities. show less

While this book is not the best written autobiography, it does emphasize Clinton's values and gives a clear perspective on her life, some of the mistakes she and her husband made but also the immense pressure they have been under. There were moments where I thought that she protested too much, but her discussion of life in politics and how to reconcile this with family life appear authentic.