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Living History
Hillary Rodham Clinton is known to hundreds of millions of people around the world. Yet few beyond her close friends and family have ever heard her account of her extraordinary journey. She writes with candor, humor and passion about her upbringing in suburban, middle-class America in the 1950s and her transformation from Goldwater Girl to student activist to controversial First Lady. "Living History" is her revealing memoir of life through the White House years. It is also her chronicle of living history with Bill Clinton, a thirty-year adventure in love and politics that survives personal betrayal, relentless partisan investigations and constant public scrutiny. Hillary Rodham Clinton came of age during a time of tumultuous social and political change in America. Like many women of her generation, she grew up with choices and opportunities unknown to her mother or grandmother. She charted her own course through unexplored terrain -- responding to the changing times and her own internal compass -- and became an emblem for some and a lightning rod for others. Wife, mother, lawyer, advocate and international icon, she has lived through America's great political wars, from Watergate to Whitewater.
The only First Lady to play a major role in shaping domestic legislation, Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled tirelessly around the country to champion health care, expand economic and educational opportunity and promote the needs of children and families, and she crisscrossed the globe on behalf of women's rights, human rights and democracy. She redefined the position of First Lady and helped save the presidency from an unconstitutional, politically motivated impeachment. Intimate, powerful and inspiring, "Living History" captures the essence of one of the most remarkable women of our time and the challenging process by which she came to define herself and find her own voice -- as a woman and as a formidable figure in American politics.
The only First Lady to play a major role in shaping domestic legislation, Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled tirelessly around the country to champion health care, expand economic and educational opportunity and promote the needs of children and families, and she crisscrossed the globe on behalf of women's rights, human rights and democracy. She redefined the position of First Lady and helped save the presidency from an unconstitutional, politically motivated impeachment. Intimate, powerful and inspiring, "Living History" captures the essence of one of the most remarkable women of our time and the challenging process by which she came to define herself and find her own voice -- as a woman and as a formidable figure in American politics.
846 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 9, 2003
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About the author
Hillary Rodham Clinton
83 books3,165 followersHillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) was the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the cabinet of President Barack Obama. In 2016, she became the first woman in U.S. history to win a major party's presidential nomination, and the first woman to win the popular vote in a presidential race - despite losing the election.
She was a Senator from the state of New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd, President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton, Hillary served as First Lady from 1993 to 2001. In the 2008 election Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
A native of Illinois, Hillary Rodham attracted national attention in 1969 when she was chosen by her peers to be the first student commencement speaker at Wellesley College. As a graduate of Yale Law School, Class of 1973, she served temporarily as a Congressional legal counsel. Rodham moved to Arkansas in 1974, marrying Bill Clinton a year later. Hillary Rodham Clinton co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families in 1977, and became the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978. Named the first female partner at Rose Law Firm in 1979, she was twice listed as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America. First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992 with husband Bill as Governor, Clinton successfully led a task force to reform Arkansas's education system. She has served on the board of directors of Wal-Mart as well as several other prominent corporations.
In 1994 as First Lady of the United States, her major initiative, the Clinton health care plan, failed to gain approval from the U.S. Congress. However, in 1997 and 1999, Clinton played a role in advocating for the establishment of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act. Her time as First Lady drew a polarized response from the American public. She is the only First Lady to have been subpoenaed, testifying before a federal grand jury in 1996 due to the Whitewater controversy, but was never charged with any wrongdoing in this or any of the other investigations during her husband's administration. The state of her marriage was the subject of considerable speculation following the Lewinsky scandal in 1998 that spurred Articles of Impeachment to be issued against her husband, Bill Clinton.
In January of 2000, Clinton was elected as senator to the State of New York after moving to the small suburban hamlet of Chappaqua in Westchester County. That election marked the first time an American First Lady had run for public office; Clinton was also the first female senator to represent New York. In the Senate, she initially supported the Bush administration on some foreign policy issues, including a vote for the Iraq War Resolution, subsequently opposing the administration on its conduct of the war in Iraq, and most domestic issues. Senator Clinton was re-elected by a wide margin in 2006. In the 2008 presidential nomination race, Hillary Clinton won more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history, but narrowly lost to Senator Barack Obama. As Secretary of State, Clinton became the first former First Lady to serve in a president's cabinet
She was a Senator from the state of New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd, President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton, Hillary served as First Lady from 1993 to 2001. In the 2008 election Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
A native of Illinois, Hillary Rodham attracted national attention in 1969 when she was chosen by her peers to be the first student commencement speaker at Wellesley College. As a graduate of Yale Law School, Class of 1973, she served temporarily as a Congressional legal counsel. Rodham moved to Arkansas in 1974, marrying Bill Clinton a year later. Hillary Rodham Clinton co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families in 1977, and became the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978. Named the first female partner at Rose Law Firm in 1979, she was twice listed as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America. First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992 with husband Bill as Governor, Clinton successfully led a task force to reform Arkansas's education system. She has served on the board of directors of Wal-Mart as well as several other prominent corporations.
In 1994 as First Lady of the United States, her major initiative, the Clinton health care plan, failed to gain approval from the U.S. Congress. However, in 1997 and 1999, Clinton played a role in advocating for the establishment of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act. Her time as First Lady drew a polarized response from the American public. She is the only First Lady to have been subpoenaed, testifying before a federal grand jury in 1996 due to the Whitewater controversy, but was never charged with any wrongdoing in this or any of the other investigations during her husband's administration. The state of her marriage was the subject of considerable speculation following the Lewinsky scandal in 1998 that spurred Articles of Impeachment to be issued against her husband, Bill Clinton.
In January of 2000, Clinton was elected as senator to the State of New York after moving to the small suburban hamlet of Chappaqua in Westchester County. That election marked the first time an American First Lady had run for public office; Clinton was also the first female senator to represent New York. In the Senate, she initially supported the Bush administration on some foreign policy issues, including a vote for the Iraq War Resolution, subsequently opposing the administration on its conduct of the war in Iraq, and most domestic issues. Senator Clinton was re-elected by a wide margin in 2006. In the 2008 presidential nomination race, Hillary Clinton won more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history, but narrowly lost to Senator Barack Obama. As Secretary of State, Clinton became the first former First Lady to serve in a president's cabinet
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,185 reviews
March 10, 2008
Maybe I'm feeling guilty for not supporting an accomplished woman's presidential candidacy. Maybe I'm becoming increasingly aware that the media hasn't treated Hillary Clinton fairly compared to Barack Obama. Whatever the reason, I've been taking a second look at Hillary Clinton and decided to finally read her autobiography--the one in which I stood in line for 3 hours for her book signing. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the book, how readable it was, and how personable Senator Clinton is. And I think she's taken a lot of crap, as First Lady and Senator, that others in her position haven't been subjected to. I've always been mystified as to why she is such a polarizing figure, and this book helps clarify that. I finished the book with a renewed respect for the Senator and all that she has accomplished as an individual, and for women.
August 28, 2017
Enjoyable read! interesting history lesson and life on being a first lady (paperback!)
February 19, 2018
I may be showing my political colors with this choice. Yes, I also eagerly devoured both of Barack Obama’s books in 2006–7. However, in my defense, I have also read memoirs by Laura Bush and Sarah Palin, both of which, like this, are rumored to have been ghostwritten. (In her acknowledgments Clinton mentions Lissa Muscatine as “Responsible for many of the words in my speeches as First Lady and in this book”.)
The first few chapters, about Clinton’s early years and college days, are rather plodding, but once she meets Bill at Yale Law School in 1971 things pick up, and I found the whole informative and diverting. By this point she’d switched allegiances, having grown up with a conservative father and been active in the Young Republicans in high school. I hadn’t realized that Clinton was an accomplished lawyer in her own right, focusing on women’s and children’s rights and family law. She also got early tastes of life in Washington, D.C., interning there in 1968 and then being hired as a researcher on the impeachment case against Richard Nixon – an experience that, ironically, came in handy three decades later.
Even before Bill was elected governor of Arkansas, Clinton felt the usual working woman’s dilemma between supporting her husband and having her own independent career. She kept the name “Rodham” for the first years of their marriage but eventually, under pressure from advisors in Arkansas, agreed to add Bill’s last name. She is honest and self-deprecating about image issues she had throughout Bill’s governorship and presidency: times she put her foot in her mouth (“You know, I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life,” she said in a presidential campaign interview in Chicago), hairstyles gone wrong, ways she was misunderstood, how she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t.
Inevitably, a good chunk of the book is devoted to the investigations that plagued the Clinton administration, starting with Whitewater. There’s no doubt about it: Kenneth Starr is the villain of this book. Clinton regrets consenting to the independent counsel in the first place, but also believes partisan voices used investigation as “a weapon of political destruction.” She is also able to separate her personal hurt from the legality of the impeachment hearing, and asserts that impeachment charges should never have been brought in Bill’s case.
Clinton was a whole new breed of First Lady. For one thing, she chaired the committee for Bill’s health care bill, which flopped due to partisan politics; it could be argued that we’re still suffering from the fallout today. She also made state visits on Bill’s behalf to South Asia and Central Europe (her staff joked that she was sent to the small, poor and dangerous places). Her speech on behalf of women’s rights in Beijing is still a touchstone for international feminism. It was part of what she called the “humanization of politics.”
Writing in 2003, Clinton pinpointed trends that have only become more evident in the years since: a widening gap between the Left and Right in America, with conservatives becoming more entrenched in anti-intellectualism and seemingly trying to turn the clock back on social progress; and unwillingness to compromise on cross-party initiatives. She also felt that Bill suffered from personal attacks on his legitimacy, something that also happened to Obama.
There aren’t a whole lot of funny moments in the book, but a couple anecdotes I particularly enjoyed were Clinton desperately trying to avoid meeting Fidel Castro at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration party, and Bill being packed in dry ice so he could fly to Helsinki to meet with Boris Yeltsin even though he had a torn quadriceps. I was also surprised to learn that missile strikes against Osama bin Laden’s Afghanistan training camps began as early as August 1998, and missed taking him out by just a few hours. Imagine how different the future would have been had he been killed then.
The eight years of Bill’s presidency are very much the focus of the book, which ends with her and Bill saying a final farewell to the White House. By this point, though, Clinton had fought a successful campaign to be New York’s newest senator, so she left with a new mission in hand. I picked up a secondhand copy of Hard Choices the other week and look forward to learning more about her time as a senator and then as Obama’s Secretary of State.
Favorite lines:
(after her speech at her Wellesley graduation) “The accolades and attacks turned out to be a preview of things to come: I have never been as good as or as bad as my most fervid supporters and opponents claimed.”
“It seemed that people could perceive me only as one thing or the other—either a hardworking professional woman or a conscientious and caring hostess.”
“I struggled to understand how I had become such a lightning rod for people’s anger.”
The first few chapters, about Clinton’s early years and college days, are rather plodding, but once she meets Bill at Yale Law School in 1971 things pick up, and I found the whole informative and diverting. By this point she’d switched allegiances, having grown up with a conservative father and been active in the Young Republicans in high school. I hadn’t realized that Clinton was an accomplished lawyer in her own right, focusing on women’s and children’s rights and family law. She also got early tastes of life in Washington, D.C., interning there in 1968 and then being hired as a researcher on the impeachment case against Richard Nixon – an experience that, ironically, came in handy three decades later.
Even before Bill was elected governor of Arkansas, Clinton felt the usual working woman’s dilemma between supporting her husband and having her own independent career. She kept the name “Rodham” for the first years of their marriage but eventually, under pressure from advisors in Arkansas, agreed to add Bill’s last name. She is honest and self-deprecating about image issues she had throughout Bill’s governorship and presidency: times she put her foot in her mouth (“You know, I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life,” she said in a presidential campaign interview in Chicago), hairstyles gone wrong, ways she was misunderstood, how she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t.
Inevitably, a good chunk of the book is devoted to the investigations that plagued the Clinton administration, starting with Whitewater. There’s no doubt about it: Kenneth Starr is the villain of this book. Clinton regrets consenting to the independent counsel in the first place, but also believes partisan voices used investigation as “a weapon of political destruction.” She is also able to separate her personal hurt from the legality of the impeachment hearing, and asserts that impeachment charges should never have been brought in Bill’s case.
Clinton was a whole new breed of First Lady. For one thing, she chaired the committee for Bill’s health care bill, which flopped due to partisan politics; it could be argued that we’re still suffering from the fallout today. She also made state visits on Bill’s behalf to South Asia and Central Europe (her staff joked that she was sent to the small, poor and dangerous places). Her speech on behalf of women’s rights in Beijing is still a touchstone for international feminism. It was part of what she called the “humanization of politics.”
Writing in 2003, Clinton pinpointed trends that have only become more evident in the years since: a widening gap between the Left and Right in America, with conservatives becoming more entrenched in anti-intellectualism and seemingly trying to turn the clock back on social progress; and unwillingness to compromise on cross-party initiatives. She also felt that Bill suffered from personal attacks on his legitimacy, something that also happened to Obama.
There aren’t a whole lot of funny moments in the book, but a couple anecdotes I particularly enjoyed were Clinton desperately trying to avoid meeting Fidel Castro at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration party, and Bill being packed in dry ice so he could fly to Helsinki to meet with Boris Yeltsin even though he had a torn quadriceps. I was also surprised to learn that missile strikes against Osama bin Laden’s Afghanistan training camps began as early as August 1998, and missed taking him out by just a few hours. Imagine how different the future would have been had he been killed then.
The eight years of Bill’s presidency are very much the focus of the book, which ends with her and Bill saying a final farewell to the White House. By this point, though, Clinton had fought a successful campaign to be New York’s newest senator, so she left with a new mission in hand. I picked up a secondhand copy of Hard Choices the other week and look forward to learning more about her time as a senator and then as Obama’s Secretary of State.
Favorite lines:
(after her speech at her Wellesley graduation) “The accolades and attacks turned out to be a preview of things to come: I have never been as good as or as bad as my most fervid supporters and opponents claimed.”
“It seemed that people could perceive me only as one thing or the other—either a hardworking professional woman or a conscientious and caring hostess.”
“I struggled to understand how I had become such a lightning rod for people’s anger.”
January 30, 2008
I LOVE bios and I did enjoy this one. You just have to take it for what it is...an Autobiography written by someone with future political aspirations. I do feel that it was honest and I found it very interesting. Hillary was doing amazing, selfless things at a very young age and I was very inspired! The thing that I didn't like about the book was that it was sort of a "who's who" list at times. I appreciate that she remembers everyone who has ever helped her, but it seemed fake. Here's who I know...here's who I appreciate...blah, blah. I'm on the fence about Hillary as a politician. But as a person, I like her and I very much admire her strength.
August 19, 2020
Both husband and wife,it seems were trying to do outdo each other,when it came to writing boring books about their years in the White House.
The one redeeming feature Hillary's book has,is that it's not as long as Bill's book,My Life,which stretched on forever,over two volumes.
But that apart,it's as dull,dry and boring, as a book can be. The only chapter that interested me,was about her foreign trips as First Lady,and her interactions with world leaders.
The one redeeming feature Hillary's book has,is that it's not as long as Bill's book,My Life,which stretched on forever,over two volumes.
But that apart,it's as dull,dry and boring, as a book can be. The only chapter that interested me,was about her foreign trips as First Lady,and her interactions with world leaders.
November 3, 2012
I have to start by confessing the Clintons are my favorite politicians and I love them dearly. I miss Bill being in the White House and I think Hillary should have been. Now that that's out of the way, I finally, finally got a copy of this book and I just couldn't put it down. (I am biased, remember?) I thought it was enthralling. I think it really showed the human side of Hillary, whereas in the media she's often portrayed in a very negative light, or like she's a robot or something. I loved this book! And I learned a lot too. For instance, I didn't know she grew up a staunch Republican and was both a Goldwater girl and the president of her college's Republican club. That was interesting. I got a feel throughout the book that she really was truly in love with Bill and that his betrayal of her with Monica hurt her deeply, but it was her love of him that ultimately kept them together. She doesn't mince words with her hurt and despair over his affair. She also spends a lot of time on their eight years in the White House together (which obviously makes sense). She defends Bill and the Democrats and while trying to be reasonably fair, she does take the Republicans to task at times, especially Newt, Bob Dole, and Bush. She was appalled at the 2000 election results where the Supreme Court stole the popular vote from Gore and gave the presidency to Bush. I am too, still. I didn't know, however, that Hillary was such an amazing advocate for women and children throughout the world. She made the rounds, got a lot accomplished, and was heavily honored for her efforts. This book was written in 2004, after she had become a New York senator. I wish there could be a 2010-2012 update with her role as Secretary of State under Obama. I'd be interested in what she would have to say about current Republican obstructionism. She also made Chelsea come alive for me. I hadn't known that much about her, and she details the trips they took together, and the campaigning Chelsea did for them, etc., et al, and I have a greater appreciation for their daughter now. Bill wasn't a perfect person, man, or president, but he did preside over the greatest period of prosperity in our country's history, along with numerous other achievements, all the while with Ken Starr trying to put him in jail -- talk about a stupid, wicked witch hunt! -- and I admire him even more after reading this book. Hillary talks about her health care reform efforts and how those were blunted by the Republicans, although she did get more accomplished there than I had realized. All in all, if you're a Clinton fan, you'll probably enjoy the book. If you're not, you'll probably hate it. A lot of people on Goodreads complain about the name dropping in this book, but I viewed it as legitimate. Hillary DID have a lot of people to talk about and thank. What's wrong with that. It wasn't a distraction for me. I'm so happy I finally bought this book and read it. Now I have to read Bill's books....
February 11, 2008
I won't take this review as an unbridled opportunity to defend Clinton in the wake of her current demon-ization by the press (both liberal and conservative.) Suffice to say that I don't see how one can not finish this book and not gather that she is HANDS DOWN the most QUALIFIED Democratic candidate for the U.S. Presidency. This is worth the read for an appreciation of her role in breaking new ground for the first lady as ambassador and foreign policy consultant. Very interesting in light of popular indictment of her role in the failed (more like doomed) push for healthcare reform during the Clinton admin.
Also interesting to get her perspective on Whitewater, although of course, the reader must consider the source.
Oh, and the Lewinsky stuff? Handled with grace, candor and aplomb.
Also interesting to get her perspective on Whitewater, although of course, the reader must consider the source.
Oh, and the Lewinsky stuff? Handled with grace, candor and aplomb.
October 26, 2008
The book can be tedious to read. She shows a serious lack of humor. There is speculation that it was ghost-written. I suppose one should read it to find out details. It was only ok. And I like Hillary.
November 22, 2010
Hillary Clinton is one intriguing person. She has drawn strong opinions, both good and bad, over her politics and serious personality, but the lady deserves some respect. An outspoken advocate for children, health care and especially women's rights, she has waded through some pretty thick political muck to get where she is. Her struggle with finding her own voice in the shadow of a President as well as the many connections made with foreign leaders are serving her well as our current Secretary of State. Her autobiography is written in a straightforward manner, at times dry and crowded with name-dropping, but the details of Clinton's life and what she learned in her eight years as First Lady are often poignant. She does light briefly on her feelings during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but much of the book's depth is geared toward her hard work on certain issues as well as her frustration at the aggressive Republican offensive targeting President Clinton's administration. In all, a stimulating look into the life of an intelligent, accomplished woman who continues to shape political history.
February 7, 2017
I did not realize how badly I wanted to see a woman president until I listened to this book on audio and listened to her voice and fell in love with Hillary Clinton and started crying (lots of times throughout). It's really interesting to hear about all of the scandals during the Clinton presidency from the other side and then to compare them to what's happening now. Things like Whitewater are infinitesimal compared to Halliburton, but the amount of attention they are paid are totally out of whack because Bush also put us at war. I'm off my soapbox. Listen to the audio version of this book instead of reading it, I think. It's nice to hear Hillary's clear voice. (Audio for rent at Women and CHildren FIrst)
February 11, 2014
[This was written in 2005. Don't take it too seriously. And I don't even regret Hillary didn't make it to president.:]
Warning: This text isn't as much about the book as it is inspired by the book!
Living History, Hillary Clinton's autobiography, that focuses on her years in the White House. I have always admired Hillary Clinton, and thought she is "good". Right now I'm actually not so sure about what I knew about her before I read this book. Probably something about her being in the Senate and staying with her husband regardless of the scandals. The reason why I wanted to read this book was that I wanted an insight into the White House. What is it like living there, being part of these US politics. Hillary was an obvious choice.
The book was both interesting and boring, which is quite paradoxal. It was interesting to read about life as the First Lady in the White House, and about who Hillary Clinton actually was. The chapters about her travels abound the world were also interesting. But some parts were quite boring (probably because of the hard words I didn't understand and the issues I wasn't interested in). Some parts I just eyed through... Long accounts of political issues I wasn't that inserted in, and explanations of the Whitewater scandal (which I never really got what it actually was about).
Yes the scandals. Okay, one reason why I wanted to read the book was that I wanted to know what Hillary had to say about Bill and the Monika Levinsky scandal. I mean, all those scandals abound the Clintons. That's what I knew them for. What I did basically think about the US presidents: Bill Clinton, the scandal president, the president who betrayed his wife, and George W Bush, the Iraq war president, (or just The Idiot). The thing is that I didn't really know what Bill Clinton actually had done (expect betrayed his wife). Stupid. But still I always thought that Bill Clinton was a good president. He didn't do anything stupid, and he was a democrat... Actually he did a lot of good things I just didn't know about. Bill Clinton is really the only US president I feel positive about (expect Kennedy, after all he must have been good since he was killed. After all only good people are killed, aren't they.) As for the scandals: they are stupid, they have nothing with Clinton’s presidency to do. After all even presidents are only humans, and there are millions of other people who have committed adultery. Adultery is morally wrong, but such things should stay between those who are concerted (mainly husband and wife). The media clearly shouldn't have taken up the issue. The president should be a good role model, yes, but even the American people have nothing to do with his private life. [Note 2014: I don't quite agree with this anymore. Clinton shouldn't have done it, period.]
But back to Hillary. I think she definitely did the right thing staying with her husband. I always did. Actually that is one of the admirable things about her. The ability to forgive those you love... That everybody don't have (and I'm not saying they all should). Anyway. Hillary was a very great First Lady, and a very different First Lady. I really appreciate that she run for the Senate. That was brave. And I really do think that Hillary is a good politician. After all she has good experience. I really do hope Hillary will run for president too in 2008 or whenever it is. I think she would be the best president the US could get right now. They need a woman, they need a democrat. Who could be better that Hillary Clinton? After all she is bound to "know what it is about" after those 8 years in the White House. She has experience. And she ISN'T just Bill Clinton's wife. I do totally support her.
I really wish I had a vote in the elections in the US. I'm not sure if it was my history teacher or some newspaper that said that everybody in the whole world should have a vote in the election of the president of the USA. I think I would gladly change my Finnish vote for an US one even thou I live here and not there. The US politics are a lot more interesting. I don't understand how the voting percent can be low in the US...
Well, now I just hope Hillary Clinton isn't an other princes Diana. Ever since Diana died and documentaries of her and her work were shown on the tv that very day, I have admired her too. I was only 11 then, but the pictures of her and mother Teresa together convinced me of that she was a hero. Later I learned that there was an other side of her too. She was a selfish rich bitch..., but I do still think that she would have turned out good it she hadn't died. I really hope that Hillary Clinton won't turn out to be something else than what I thought she was. But I don't think so. But I do also know that this book is an autobiography, and it presents things like Hillary Clinton wants me to see them. I know, I know. But I want to believe this was the truth.
Well, now I just can't stop writing, even thou I'm constantly making end paragraphs. I must just say that I "love" America (the USA). And not because of this book. Hillary Clinton is of course an awful patriot, but I had this feeling already before I read the book. I read the book because of this feeling. What I mean is that I kind of admire the USA. (This is a dangerous thing to say, 'cos it's hard to get the choice of words right.) They have archived some good things in the US. A lot of very different people live together as a nation. A lot of very different regions form a nation. Oh no..., I take back most of what I just wrote in this paragraph. The right choice of words is that I have a special feeling for the USA. I am interested in this nation and how it works. That' more like it, 'cos there are A LOT of negative things about the US. A lot of things I don't approve of. They have too much power. Really I don't even think there should be a USA. There should be a New York, a Wisconsin, a Maryland, a Texas and a California and so on. Then there would be no nation for Hillary Clinton to be president of, but so what.
And 'til the USA is split up: Hillary Clinton, run for president! You are great!
Warning: This text isn't as much about the book as it is inspired by the book!
Living History, Hillary Clinton's autobiography, that focuses on her years in the White House. I have always admired Hillary Clinton, and thought she is "good". Right now I'm actually not so sure about what I knew about her before I read this book. Probably something about her being in the Senate and staying with her husband regardless of the scandals. The reason why I wanted to read this book was that I wanted an insight into the White House. What is it like living there, being part of these US politics. Hillary was an obvious choice.
The book was both interesting and boring, which is quite paradoxal. It was interesting to read about life as the First Lady in the White House, and about who Hillary Clinton actually was. The chapters about her travels abound the world were also interesting. But some parts were quite boring (probably because of the hard words I didn't understand and the issues I wasn't interested in). Some parts I just eyed through... Long accounts of political issues I wasn't that inserted in, and explanations of the Whitewater scandal (which I never really got what it actually was about).
Yes the scandals. Okay, one reason why I wanted to read the book was that I wanted to know what Hillary had to say about Bill and the Monika Levinsky scandal. I mean, all those scandals abound the Clintons. That's what I knew them for. What I did basically think about the US presidents: Bill Clinton, the scandal president, the president who betrayed his wife, and George W Bush, the Iraq war president, (or just The Idiot). The thing is that I didn't really know what Bill Clinton actually had done (expect betrayed his wife). Stupid. But still I always thought that Bill Clinton was a good president. He didn't do anything stupid, and he was a democrat... Actually he did a lot of good things I just didn't know about. Bill Clinton is really the only US president I feel positive about (expect Kennedy, after all he must have been good since he was killed. After all only good people are killed, aren't they.) As for the scandals: they are stupid, they have nothing with Clinton’s presidency to do. After all even presidents are only humans, and there are millions of other people who have committed adultery. Adultery is morally wrong, but such things should stay between those who are concerted (mainly husband and wife). The media clearly shouldn't have taken up the issue. The president should be a good role model, yes, but even the American people have nothing to do with his private life. [Note 2014: I don't quite agree with this anymore. Clinton shouldn't have done it, period.]
But back to Hillary. I think she definitely did the right thing staying with her husband. I always did. Actually that is one of the admirable things about her. The ability to forgive those you love... That everybody don't have (and I'm not saying they all should). Anyway. Hillary was a very great First Lady, and a very different First Lady. I really appreciate that she run for the Senate. That was brave. And I really do think that Hillary is a good politician. After all she has good experience. I really do hope Hillary will run for president too in 2008 or whenever it is. I think she would be the best president the US could get right now. They need a woman, they need a democrat. Who could be better that Hillary Clinton? After all she is bound to "know what it is about" after those 8 years in the White House. She has experience. And she ISN'T just Bill Clinton's wife. I do totally support her.
I really wish I had a vote in the elections in the US. I'm not sure if it was my history teacher or some newspaper that said that everybody in the whole world should have a vote in the election of the president of the USA. I think I would gladly change my Finnish vote for an US one even thou I live here and not there. The US politics are a lot more interesting. I don't understand how the voting percent can be low in the US...
Well, now I just hope Hillary Clinton isn't an other princes Diana. Ever since Diana died and documentaries of her and her work were shown on the tv that very day, I have admired her too. I was only 11 then, but the pictures of her and mother Teresa together convinced me of that she was a hero. Later I learned that there was an other side of her too. She was a selfish rich bitch..., but I do still think that she would have turned out good it she hadn't died. I really hope that Hillary Clinton won't turn out to be something else than what I thought she was. But I don't think so. But I do also know that this book is an autobiography, and it presents things like Hillary Clinton wants me to see them. I know, I know. But I want to believe this was the truth.
Well, now I just can't stop writing, even thou I'm constantly making end paragraphs. I must just say that I "love" America (the USA). And not because of this book. Hillary Clinton is of course an awful patriot, but I had this feeling already before I read the book. I read the book because of this feeling. What I mean is that I kind of admire the USA. (This is a dangerous thing to say, 'cos it's hard to get the choice of words right.) They have archived some good things in the US. A lot of very different people live together as a nation. A lot of very different regions form a nation. Oh no..., I take back most of what I just wrote in this paragraph. The right choice of words is that I have a special feeling for the USA. I am interested in this nation and how it works. That' more like it, 'cos there are A LOT of negative things about the US. A lot of things I don't approve of. They have too much power. Really I don't even think there should be a USA. There should be a New York, a Wisconsin, a Maryland, a Texas and a California and so on. Then there would be no nation for Hillary Clinton to be president of, but so what.
And 'til the USA is split up: Hillary Clinton, run for president! You are great!
November 21, 2009
This book was really eye-opening for me. With all the media attention Clinton gets, it's hard to imagine her as a real person. Her autobiography had a lot of surprises for me. I never imagined Hillary Clinton, one of the most controversial figures in American politics, to have such a "normal" upbringing. Even more surprising was reading about her conservative family and her own participation in the Young Republicans as a teen!
This book is a really interesting account of our country's history during the time of the Clinton presidency, even as Hillary's own opinions shine through. It makes it all the more interesting to know the background and reasons behind her own choices and convictions, as well as Bill's.
It was also really fun to read about her interactions with other historical figures, such as Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, and Stevie Wonder.
It was nice to get to know Hillary as a real person and not just a political figure. For anyone who wants to better understand her as a person and a politician, I would highly recommend this book.
This book is a really interesting account of our country's history during the time of the Clinton presidency, even as Hillary's own opinions shine through. It makes it all the more interesting to know the background and reasons behind her own choices and convictions, as well as Bill's.
It was also really fun to read about her interactions with other historical figures, such as Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, and Stevie Wonder.
It was nice to get to know Hillary as a real person and not just a political figure. For anyone who wants to better understand her as a person and a politician, I would highly recommend this book.
November 4, 2009
My mistake to pick up a memoir written by a politician who was still trying to climb up the ladder of power. In addition to telling life stories, a good memoir author should be able to honestly face the ultimate question from herself: who am I. In this book, however, there is only the person whom she wanted the public to think to be - credible, steady, intelligent and very devoted to family. I wonder if her PR has filtered the contents for better polls. But while she was busy justifying herself, I also see someone who didn’t forgive easily (hatred towards the investigations on the whitewater case), bent to pressures (failed to push the healthcare reform) and was lack of sensitivity (always seemed very surprised when close friends and even her husband did something wrong). There is nothing wrong with pursuing more power, especially if the purpose is to “prepare the nation for the future”. I am also not trying to judge her as a person as I hold a very neutral opinion here. It’s just not the memoir I appreciate, as there is too much self-justification and too little introspection. Maybe next time if she writes again while facing the last judgment, I will buy one.
July 8, 2016
My wife and I listened to this book on our 2,000 mile trip to the east coast. My guess is that Hillary Clinton is a introvert and Bill is an extrovert. Bill is energized by people and Hillary is drained. For me, this is only explanation as to why so many people hate her. She has learned to overcome some of her shyness, but people don't seem to warm up to her easily. After listening to this book, I find Hillary to be a warm, caring individual committed to helping others.
Hillary tells the story of her mother and father and how her mother was raised by her grandmother. Her father was raised in Scranton, PA but escaped to Chicago as fast as he could. Hillary came of age when women had more opportunities to go to college. She tells the stories of her college years, meeting Bill and her time in Little Rock, AK. Much of the book is her experiences in the White House and her campaign to be the New York senator.
I think everyone should read this book with an open mind before they vote in the 2016 election.
Hillary tells the story of her mother and father and how her mother was raised by her grandmother. Her father was raised in Scranton, PA but escaped to Chicago as fast as he could. Hillary came of age when women had more opportunities to go to college. She tells the stories of her college years, meeting Bill and her time in Little Rock, AK. Much of the book is her experiences in the White House and her campaign to be the New York senator.
I think everyone should read this book with an open mind before they vote in the 2016 election.
February 3, 2014
This book has been on my shelf forever (right next to all of the other books about the Clinton Presidency that I read a long time ago) so, in light of her possible second run for President and the amount of press her potential candidacy has generated as of late, I decided to pick it up and stick with it to the end. A quick disclaimer: I like Hillary Clinton. I liked her as a First Lady; I supported her bid for the Democratic nomination in 2008; and, most importantly, I think she is an incredible role model for women. So clearly, I was already predisposed to like her autobiography.
During the first 50 pages, I honestly thought it would result in a 5-star rating; however, the momentum of the first third of the book really slowed down by the midpoint and it never really regained the speed of the first few chapters. Even the section about the Lewinsky affair--which you might think would just fly---dragged on and on. In fact, that part just made my heart hurt for her (Clinton NOT Lewinsky) and I wanted it to be over. (Of course it didn't help that that section was immediately followed by the ridiculous partisan impeachment process, which brought up a lot of bad memories and ticked me off all over again!)
At any rate, despite the slow parts, the book in its entirety is very good and well worth reading. I would have liked to have read more details about her childhood and high school and college years because I found those sections very interesting and too short. The majority of it is dedicated to the eight years of Bill Clinton's presidency--the ways in which she participated in historical events and the ways in which those events impacted her. Some of this was fascinating and some of it was just downright monotonous in its painstaking minutia. Unlike her husband's compelling storytelling, Clinton's rendering of details can often seem frivolous. Where Bill Clinton gets away with listing names of people while recounting interesting tidbits about each of them, his wife's listing of names just seems gratuitous and uninteresting.
The saving grace of Clinton's narrative is that these dry, arid patches of storytelling are sandwiched between interesting, beautiful descriptions of her travels as First Lady. Her obvious delight in her experiences (especially when Chelsea accompanied her) seem authentic and make her seem much more ordinary than at any other time. In all honesty, I really liked her depictions of motherhood and her efforts to balance her public responsibilities with the personal ones of raising her daughter. In these sections, she reminded me of me and every other mother I know---all of us trying hard to raise good, moral, smart, well-balanced, productive members of society without smothering them or losing sight of our own individuality. Clearly, here Clinton was successful. She obviously has had an incredible career and Chelsea, by all accounts, seems to be a very healthy, positive young woman in her own right.
It was interesting reading Clinton's perspective on the 1990s, especially her explanations of her various faux pas through the years (the Tammy Wynette "Stand by Your Man" thing still tickles me even after all these years!) Most importantly, reading this book really made me excited for the possibility of a Clinton Presidency.
During the first 50 pages, I honestly thought it would result in a 5-star rating; however, the momentum of the first third of the book really slowed down by the midpoint and it never really regained the speed of the first few chapters. Even the section about the Lewinsky affair--which you might think would just fly---dragged on and on. In fact, that part just made my heart hurt for her (Clinton NOT Lewinsky) and I wanted it to be over. (Of course it didn't help that that section was immediately followed by the ridiculous partisan impeachment process, which brought up a lot of bad memories and ticked me off all over again!)
At any rate, despite the slow parts, the book in its entirety is very good and well worth reading. I would have liked to have read more details about her childhood and high school and college years because I found those sections very interesting and too short. The majority of it is dedicated to the eight years of Bill Clinton's presidency--the ways in which she participated in historical events and the ways in which those events impacted her. Some of this was fascinating and some of it was just downright monotonous in its painstaking minutia. Unlike her husband's compelling storytelling, Clinton's rendering of details can often seem frivolous. Where Bill Clinton gets away with listing names of people while recounting interesting tidbits about each of them, his wife's listing of names just seems gratuitous and uninteresting.
The saving grace of Clinton's narrative is that these dry, arid patches of storytelling are sandwiched between interesting, beautiful descriptions of her travels as First Lady. Her obvious delight in her experiences (especially when Chelsea accompanied her) seem authentic and make her seem much more ordinary than at any other time. In all honesty, I really liked her depictions of motherhood and her efforts to balance her public responsibilities with the personal ones of raising her daughter. In these sections, she reminded me of me and every other mother I know---all of us trying hard to raise good, moral, smart, well-balanced, productive members of society without smothering them or losing sight of our own individuality. Clearly, here Clinton was successful. She obviously has had an incredible career and Chelsea, by all accounts, seems to be a very healthy, positive young woman in her own right.
It was interesting reading Clinton's perspective on the 1990s, especially her explanations of her various faux pas through the years (the Tammy Wynette "Stand by Your Man" thing still tickles me even after all these years!) Most importantly, reading this book really made me excited for the possibility of a Clinton Presidency.
July 6, 2015
Living History is the first auto-biography written by Hillary Clinton. She is known to hundreds of millions of people around the world. Yet few beyond her close friends and family have ever heard her account of her extraordinary journey. This memoir of United States Senator from New York and former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Living History was published in 2003 in the wake of those leaked revelations about Bill Clinton's last-minute confession of his affair with Monica Lewinsky, but that only takes up two or three pages of the book. Clinton's claim that she had no suspicion of her husband's infidelity strikes some as preposterous and she barely mentions Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones, although she does note Bill's public admission during the first campaign that he had "caused pain in our marriage". After the Lewinsky crisis, she writes, she and the president had marital-counselling sessions which forced them to discuss difficult topics. The book is about as revealing as a flannelette nightgown. Nevertheless, curiosity about the way a first lady betrayed in front of the country feels, responds, and recovers compelled thousands to stand in line at bookstores.
Clinton's avoidance of details has resulted in many accusing her of being dishonest and politically calculating in the way she presents her marriage. They are convinced that the marriage is a cynical façade, and that Clinton is recycling pious platitudes with an eye to the sympathy vote in her next campaign.
Hillary Clinton grew up with fierce political beliefs and an easily ridiculed faith in making a difference, in making the world a better place and the title Living History suggests both that she has been a public figure, living through history; and that her life in the past decade has been a form of history, a representative and symbolic life. Indeed, the central theme in Living History is Clinton's journey through the role of first lady, a role she came to understand as both surrogate and symbolic. Her analysis of this role has been criticised as being self-aggrandising and self-regarding; but I found it interesting that Hillary Clinton seems often to seek to avoid responsibility by discussing abstractions of identity or celebrity. Her gradual understanding of the vicariousness of her life, despite its visibility, is the true importance of her memoir.
That discovery makes the book a valuable feminist document.
The failure of health-care reform was a great disappointment to Hillary Clinton and after the disastrous midterm elections that followed, Clinton was disheartened and unsure of what she should do. She acknowledges that the power of a first lady is "derivative, not independent"; adjusting to becoming "a full-time surrogate" was hard for her. At the same time, she came to understand that "the role of First Lady is deeply symbolic and that I had better figure out how to make the best of it at home and on the world stage".
Living History is a long book. 562 pages long, and I think it could have been abbreviated without adversely affecting the content. However, its length give the reader an insight into how Hillary Clinton thinks. It is a most interesting book by an important world figure.
Living History was published in 2003 in the wake of those leaked revelations about Bill Clinton's last-minute confession of his affair with Monica Lewinsky, but that only takes up two or three pages of the book. Clinton's claim that she had no suspicion of her husband's infidelity strikes some as preposterous and she barely mentions Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones, although she does note Bill's public admission during the first campaign that he had "caused pain in our marriage". After the Lewinsky crisis, she writes, she and the president had marital-counselling sessions which forced them to discuss difficult topics. The book is about as revealing as a flannelette nightgown. Nevertheless, curiosity about the way a first lady betrayed in front of the country feels, responds, and recovers compelled thousands to stand in line at bookstores.
Clinton's avoidance of details has resulted in many accusing her of being dishonest and politically calculating in the way she presents her marriage. They are convinced that the marriage is a cynical façade, and that Clinton is recycling pious platitudes with an eye to the sympathy vote in her next campaign.
Hillary Clinton grew up with fierce political beliefs and an easily ridiculed faith in making a difference, in making the world a better place and the title Living History suggests both that she has been a public figure, living through history; and that her life in the past decade has been a form of history, a representative and symbolic life. Indeed, the central theme in Living History is Clinton's journey through the role of first lady, a role she came to understand as both surrogate and symbolic. Her analysis of this role has been criticised as being self-aggrandising and self-regarding; but I found it interesting that Hillary Clinton seems often to seek to avoid responsibility by discussing abstractions of identity or celebrity. Her gradual understanding of the vicariousness of her life, despite its visibility, is the true importance of her memoir.
That discovery makes the book a valuable feminist document.
The failure of health-care reform was a great disappointment to Hillary Clinton and after the disastrous midterm elections that followed, Clinton was disheartened and unsure of what she should do. She acknowledges that the power of a first lady is "derivative, not independent"; adjusting to becoming "a full-time surrogate" was hard for her. At the same time, she came to understand that "the role of First Lady is deeply symbolic and that I had better figure out how to make the best of it at home and on the world stage".
Living History is a long book. 562 pages long, and I think it could have been abbreviated without adversely affecting the content. However, its length give the reader an insight into how Hillary Clinton thinks. It is a most interesting book by an important world figure.
January 1, 2015
The book was very historically interesting. I didn't know how much she fought for women's rights and for children's welfare (welfare reform period). She went through a lot and stayed strong. I admire her.
February 18, 2016
I don't have much use for unrepentant scabs. In this book, Hillary recollects:
"We both had wanted to see a Mark Rothko exhibit at the Yale Art Gallery but, because of a labor dispute, some of the university's buildings, including the museum, were closed. As Bill and I walked by, he decided he could get us in if we offered to pick up the litter that had accumulated in the gallery's courtyard. Watching him talk our way in was the first time I saw his persuasiveness in action. We had the entire museum to ourselves. We wandered through the galleries talking about Rothko and twentieth-century art. I admit to being surprised at his interest in and knowledge of subjects that seemed, at first, unusual for a Viking from Arkansas. We ended up in the museum's courtyard, where I sat in the large lap of Henry Moore's sculpture Drape Seated Woman while we talked until dark."
As Zach Schwartz-Weinstein observed:
"Yale Law School students Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton were both members, alongside future Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal and Bill Clinton’s eventual Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor Robert Reich, of the Yale Law School Students Committee for Local 35, the university's blue-collar worker union, and signatories, during the week before the union went on strike, to a statement asserting “WE BELIEVE THE UNION DESERVES THE SUPPORT OF YALE STUDENTS AND FACULTY." Bill Clinton was even, former UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm would note decades later in his eulogy for Vincent Sirabella, the Voter Registration Chairman of the Sirabella for Mayor Campaign."
Yet a week later they cross Local 35's picket line.
Schwartz-Weinstein continues:
"When Rodham and Clinton picked up the garbage strewn about the art gallery courtyard (if, indeed, they ever did so), they were doing exactly what everyone from Vincent Sirabella to the Black Student Alliance at Yale had asked students not to do: they were performing—or at the very least offering to perform—the work that members of Local 35’s Grounds Maintenance division, had refused.
Rodham and Clinton were offering themselves as replacement labor, blunting, if only temporarily, the effects of the strike on the university. The two law students then bartered their litter pickup, which was, in essence, scab labor (or maybe just the promise thereof) into access to a struck building. "
"We both had wanted to see a Mark Rothko exhibit at the Yale Art Gallery but, because of a labor dispute, some of the university's buildings, including the museum, were closed. As Bill and I walked by, he decided he could get us in if we offered to pick up the litter that had accumulated in the gallery's courtyard. Watching him talk our way in was the first time I saw his persuasiveness in action. We had the entire museum to ourselves. We wandered through the galleries talking about Rothko and twentieth-century art. I admit to being surprised at his interest in and knowledge of subjects that seemed, at first, unusual for a Viking from Arkansas. We ended up in the museum's courtyard, where I sat in the large lap of Henry Moore's sculpture Drape Seated Woman while we talked until dark."
As Zach Schwartz-Weinstein observed:
"Yale Law School students Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton were both members, alongside future Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal and Bill Clinton’s eventual Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor Robert Reich, of the Yale Law School Students Committee for Local 35, the university's blue-collar worker union, and signatories, during the week before the union went on strike, to a statement asserting “WE BELIEVE THE UNION DESERVES THE SUPPORT OF YALE STUDENTS AND FACULTY." Bill Clinton was even, former UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm would note decades later in his eulogy for Vincent Sirabella, the Voter Registration Chairman of the Sirabella for Mayor Campaign."
Yet a week later they cross Local 35's picket line.
Schwartz-Weinstein continues:
"When Rodham and Clinton picked up the garbage strewn about the art gallery courtyard (if, indeed, they ever did so), they were doing exactly what everyone from Vincent Sirabella to the Black Student Alliance at Yale had asked students not to do: they were performing—or at the very least offering to perform—the work that members of Local 35’s Grounds Maintenance division, had refused.
Rodham and Clinton were offering themselves as replacement labor, blunting, if only temporarily, the effects of the strike on the university. The two law students then bartered their litter pickup, which was, in essence, scab labor (or maybe just the promise thereof) into access to a struck building. "
June 27, 2013
When her future mother in law meet her for the first time she did not know why her son who is well looking and a lawyer will marry such an ugly girl(after you read the book you will know why smart men marry Hillary and Jacqueline Kennedy and they do not marry Marline Monroe!)
I have never ever loved Hillary Clinton but after reading her biography i just realized that she is someone who deserve to be respected even if you did not like/agree with her.
she is definitely a woman of steel with a good career and solid Values.
The book starts with her birth and how she was raised then school years , joining law school and meeting her future husband Bill Clinton.
after reading the book you will notice that not only she is a strong woman but she is someone with a life plan,who knows exactly what she is looking for and how to get it.
i had always wondered why she did not divorce her husband specially after his famous sex scandals and take half of what he have but when i read how she talks about her husband and his political life,it was obvious that their relationship based on sharing ,she sees herself as a partner not just a wife,she sees herself as a part of all his achievements and even political dreams it was more like if i can not be a president then my husband can be, saw her dreams through him.
specially when you read how newspapers were commenting about her behavior when her husband when was in office and rumors about that she is the real president of the States or even she is ruling with him.
I remembered queens of ancient times who used to rule with their husbands.
she is defiantly an ultra feminist,inspiring character and a strong woman who can set a model and idol to a lot of women around the world,if i have a daughter i will defiantly make her read Hilary's bio!
I have never ever loved Hillary Clinton but after reading her biography i just realized that she is someone who deserve to be respected even if you did not like/agree with her.
she is definitely a woman of steel with a good career and solid Values.
The book starts with her birth and how she was raised then school years , joining law school and meeting her future husband Bill Clinton.
after reading the book you will notice that not only she is a strong woman but she is someone with a life plan,who knows exactly what she is looking for and how to get it.
i had always wondered why she did not divorce her husband specially after his famous sex scandals and take half of what he have but when i read how she talks about her husband and his political life,it was obvious that their relationship based on sharing ,she sees herself as a partner not just a wife,she sees herself as a part of all his achievements and even political dreams it was more like if i can not be a president then my husband can be, saw her dreams through him.
specially when you read how newspapers were commenting about her behavior when her husband when was in office and rumors about that she is the real president of the States or even she is ruling with him.
I remembered queens of ancient times who used to rule with their husbands.
she is defiantly an ultra feminist,inspiring character and a strong woman who can set a model and idol to a lot of women around the world,if i have a daughter i will defiantly make her read Hilary's bio!
September 2, 2016
Welcome to another of my misguided attempts at a book review. A declaration: I’m not a Democrat, a Republican, or a Let’s Have More Guns Party. I’m an Aussie...but don’t hold that against me.
When this is only my second biography (Prof. Julius Sumner Miller was first) you might ask, why Hillary?
I have a vague interest in politics, but unfortunately, the Australian political scene is like a Punch and Judy show (apologies to P and J), Pommy (UK) politics is painfully boring, European politics is too complicated and they speak weird – and eat funny stuff. So that just leaves the USA. And why not? Ever since those lovable Yanks saved our arses in WW2, we’ve been best buds. So much so that Hillary and Billy came to visit us in 1996. I remember watching them wiggle their toes in the sand up there in Port Douglas while they said g’day to the locals, and thinking, “these guys are OK”. So when I saw Hillo’s book, I thought I’d give it a go.
It was nothing like I expected. She has incredible strength of character and while she undoubtedly had a privileged upbringing, managed to be quite “normal”. I admire her for standing by Bill while he buggered things up in the White House. (He did some good things too.) I applaud her conviction over women’s rights and her mothering ability – little Chelsea turned out OK. She seems to be level headed and about 2,000% better than any politician we have. I did get the strong impression she wants to leave the world a better place. Of course, being in politics means that you will always have haters, which is a shame.
Her writing style is impressive and engaging, and I applaud her literary skills. It was an enjoyable read. Go Hilly!
Listen you Americans – if you don’t want her, can we have her?
When this is only my second biography (Prof. Julius Sumner Miller was first) you might ask, why Hillary?
I have a vague interest in politics, but unfortunately, the Australian political scene is like a Punch and Judy show (apologies to P and J), Pommy (UK) politics is painfully boring, European politics is too complicated and they speak weird – and eat funny stuff. So that just leaves the USA. And why not? Ever since those lovable Yanks saved our arses in WW2, we’ve been best buds. So much so that Hillary and Billy came to visit us in 1996. I remember watching them wiggle their toes in the sand up there in Port Douglas while they said g’day to the locals, and thinking, “these guys are OK”. So when I saw Hillo’s book, I thought I’d give it a go.
It was nothing like I expected. She has incredible strength of character and while she undoubtedly had a privileged upbringing, managed to be quite “normal”. I admire her for standing by Bill while he buggered things up in the White House. (He did some good things too.) I applaud her conviction over women’s rights and her mothering ability – little Chelsea turned out OK. She seems to be level headed and about 2,000% better than any politician we have. I did get the strong impression she wants to leave the world a better place. Of course, being in politics means that you will always have haters, which is a shame.
Her writing style is impressive and engaging, and I applaud her literary skills. It was an enjoyable read. Go Hilly!
Listen you Americans – if you don’t want her, can we have her?
September 14, 2016
So this took forever, but it was an enjoyable companion. I decided to listen to it in Spanish, because I'll need to use my Spanish for the new job I'm starting in a month, and I never read (or listen) to something in Spanish whose plot I don't already vaguely know. Hillary's pre-Senate life was less known to me than I had anticipated, but the bones were there and my Spanish compensated where something about which I knew very little (like Whitewater) came up. I must say, Spanish really humanized Hillary (and certainly made the revelation of Bill's perfidious cheating that much more dramatic!).
I liked the book overall, and Hillary is much more of a badass than I knew. Like me, she started off as a conservative/Republican and gradually but deliberately developed more liberal positions when she left her little bubble. I can see why people don't trust her--my god, the Clinton scandals never cease!--because for every scandal, instead of contrition there was just a bunch of "total ignorance," "just a big misunderstanding," or calumny of some sort, and this starts to wear a bit thin after 600ish pages. But despite these troubles with each "page" I also grew less and less tolerant of the visceral hatred of Hillary in this country. There are plenty of reasons to hate Hillary or wish for a better candidate, but I feel like the vast majority of the reasons animating the general public's dislike and distrust of her are the illegitimate, misogynistic ones.
I had hoped that this book would touch on her Senate and Secretary of State stints, but unfortunately I think those come in subsequent memoirs, memoirs which the Brooklyn Public Library does not have in Spanish audiobook. Might just have to Wikipedia the rest!
I liked the book overall, and Hillary is much more of a badass than I knew. Like me, she started off as a conservative/Republican and gradually but deliberately developed more liberal positions when she left her little bubble. I can see why people don't trust her--my god, the Clinton scandals never cease!--because for every scandal, instead of contrition there was just a bunch of "total ignorance," "just a big misunderstanding," or calumny of some sort, and this starts to wear a bit thin after 600ish pages. But despite these troubles with each "page" I also grew less and less tolerant of the visceral hatred of Hillary in this country. There are plenty of reasons to hate Hillary or wish for a better candidate, but I feel like the vast majority of the reasons animating the general public's dislike and distrust of her are the illegitimate, misogynistic ones.
I had hoped that this book would touch on her Senate and Secretary of State stints, but unfortunately I think those come in subsequent memoirs, memoirs which the Brooklyn Public Library does not have in Spanish audiobook. Might just have to Wikipedia the rest!
November 7, 2019
There's a lot in this memoir. Clinton discusses her childhood, her time as the Governor's wife in Arkansas, her time as Frist Lady, and her run for New York Senate. She discusses controversial policy issues such as the Clinton-era welfare reforms and her attempt to introduce health insurance reform. She discusses foreign policy challenges during her husband's administration. She also gives her perspective of the numerous scandals that dogged the White House during her husband's administration including Whitewater and the Monica Lewinsky scandal. It was definitely an interesting and a good reminder of all the history we lived through ourselves.
December 17, 2017
Finished my first ever biography! And I'm thankful that I have chosen one of Clinton's! A beautifully written biography! Hillary's writing is simple and very easy to understand, her life is sure a hell of a ride! Can't wait to read more of her books 😊 I love how she supports women rights which are equal to human rights, in this biography it shows feminism and more.
July 14, 2019
بعد از خواندن دو کتاب باراک اوباما و میشل اوباما به سراغ این کتاب رفتم
هیلاری کلینتون...در مسیری مشابه...
نکته ای که بسیار جالب می نمود و در بین هر سه این افراد(با احتساب بیل کلینتون هر4نفر) سطحی از دغدغه اجتماعی ست که در ذهن این افراد جریان دارد..این تلاش مداومی که هر یک سال ها قبل از اقدام برای ریاست جمهوری تمام زندگی و کار خود را بر ان قرار داده تا به وسیله قانون گذاری و سازماندهی اجتماعی زندگی را برای مردم وطن خود بهتر کنند..این تلاش هم در مراحل بالا,قانون گذاری ها,کنگره,مجلس و غیره بوده و هم در ابتدایی ترین سطوح که ارتباط چهره به چهره با مردم در زمینه مشکلات و حقوق انها در جامعه..
چنین افرادی زمانی که به قدرت میرسند دقیقا میدانند که نیاز ها کجاست و چه باید کرد..برعکس اما افرادی که خارج از این رویه به قدرت میرسند تنها نمایشی را به ارث میبرند که صرفا بخاطر داشتن این قدرت قادر به خود نمایی در ان هستندمثل مردانی کوچک در صحنه نمایشی بسیار بزرگ..
هیلاری کلینتون...در مسیری مشابه...
نکته ای که بسیار جالب می نمود و در بین هر سه این افراد(با احتساب بیل کلینتون هر4نفر) سطحی از دغدغه اجتماعی ست که در ذهن این افراد جریان دارد..این تلاش مداومی که هر یک سال ها قبل از اقدام برای ریاست جمهوری تمام زندگی و کار خود را بر ان قرار داده تا به وسیله قانون گذاری و سازماندهی اجتماعی زندگی را برای مردم وطن خود بهتر کنند..این تلاش هم در مراحل بالا,قانون گذاری ها,کنگره,مجلس و غیره بوده و هم در ابتدایی ترین سطوح که ارتباط چهره به چهره با مردم در زمینه مشکلات و حقوق انها در جامعه..
چنین افرادی زمانی که به قدرت میرسند دقیقا میدانند که نیاز ها کجاست و چه باید کرد..برعکس اما افرادی که خارج از این رویه به قدرت میرسند تنها نمایشی را به ارث میبرند که صرفا بخاطر داشتن این قدرت قادر به خود نمایی در ان هستندمثل مردانی کوچک در صحنه نمایشی بسیار بزرگ..
December 17, 2016
Before Hillary Rodham Clinton became Secretary of State for the United States of America in 2009 I picked up this volume for 50¢ from our local library while it was purging itself of rarely read books – a practice all too common these days. It was as if the library had decided that she was, indeed, history. Nothing could have been further from the truth. History does not tend to remember presidential contenders who were unsuccessful in their bid for the White House but she will be remembered for ever as the most influential First Lady, Senator from New York during 9/11, the first woman candidate for a major political party and one of the two principals in the most highly contentious election in the history of the country.
Yet, she is someone who is mistrusted, even by many of those who supported her, and vehemently reviled by those who oppose her. Why? Is it justified? And, if not, who is this woman who has impacted so much on the American political scene?
This book is her story and it gives an insight into the way that Hillary sees herself. What comes across is a portrait of someone who is keenly intelligent, dedicated to social issues – especially around women, children and family – who has worked consistently through the course of her career to serve the American people with the highest degree of consciousness and integrity. What is also evident is that her personal privacy, and that of her family, has been assailed constantly from the first time she came into the public life. “I am not the sort of person who routinely pours out her deepest feelings, even to my closest friends.” she writes, “We have a tendency to keep our own counsel and that trait only deepened when I began living my life in the public eye.” She developed a professional distance to shield her, and those she loves – especially her daughter, Chelsea – and it is this that is often perceived by the outside world as being cold and calculating in her character.
The book is filled with extraordinary material, for example, her grandfather taught her to shoot as a child – not what you expect from a candidate who advocates gun control. Like her small-businessman father, she supported the Republican Party in her youth even to the point of becoming a “Goldwater Girl” complete with cowgirl outfit. As First Lady she met a dizzying array of notables. On one extraordinary page alone she mentions Nelson Mandala coming for a visit and the Dalai Lama dropping by to gift her a prayer scarf! She is exceptionally candid about her husband’s sexual transgression, the devastating impact it had on her and the road she took towards her decision to remain with him.
In light of her recent presidential bid I thought it was interesting that she wrote thirteen years ago, “I do believe there was, and still is, an interlocking network of groups and individuals who want to turn the clock back on many of the advances our country has made, from civil rights and women’s rights to consumer and environmental regulation, and they use all the tools at their disposal – money, power, influence, media and politics – to achieve their ends.” Even more poignantly, she wrote of Al Gore’s presidential loss to George W Bush although he won the popular vote by 500,000 ballots, “Bill and I were dismayed by the outcome of the election and concerned about what a return to the failed Republican policies of the past might mean for our nation.”
Living History is competently written but as my daughter, India (who also read this book at the same time) pointed out to me, Hillary thoughtfully acknowledges everyone in her life. This is a positive trait, and charming, but it does mildly slow down the narrative rhythm of the book. None-the-less, it is a good read for anyone interested in this complex and enigmatic earth shaker.
Yet, she is someone who is mistrusted, even by many of those who supported her, and vehemently reviled by those who oppose her. Why? Is it justified? And, if not, who is this woman who has impacted so much on the American political scene?
This book is her story and it gives an insight into the way that Hillary sees herself. What comes across is a portrait of someone who is keenly intelligent, dedicated to social issues – especially around women, children and family – who has worked consistently through the course of her career to serve the American people with the highest degree of consciousness and integrity. What is also evident is that her personal privacy, and that of her family, has been assailed constantly from the first time she came into the public life. “I am not the sort of person who routinely pours out her deepest feelings, even to my closest friends.” she writes, “We have a tendency to keep our own counsel and that trait only deepened when I began living my life in the public eye.” She developed a professional distance to shield her, and those she loves – especially her daughter, Chelsea – and it is this that is often perceived by the outside world as being cold and calculating in her character.
The book is filled with extraordinary material, for example, her grandfather taught her to shoot as a child – not what you expect from a candidate who advocates gun control. Like her small-businessman father, she supported the Republican Party in her youth even to the point of becoming a “Goldwater Girl” complete with cowgirl outfit. As First Lady she met a dizzying array of notables. On one extraordinary page alone she mentions Nelson Mandala coming for a visit and the Dalai Lama dropping by to gift her a prayer scarf! She is exceptionally candid about her husband’s sexual transgression, the devastating impact it had on her and the road she took towards her decision to remain with him.
In light of her recent presidential bid I thought it was interesting that she wrote thirteen years ago, “I do believe there was, and still is, an interlocking network of groups and individuals who want to turn the clock back on many of the advances our country has made, from civil rights and women’s rights to consumer and environmental regulation, and they use all the tools at their disposal – money, power, influence, media and politics – to achieve their ends.” Even more poignantly, she wrote of Al Gore’s presidential loss to George W Bush although he won the popular vote by 500,000 ballots, “Bill and I were dismayed by the outcome of the election and concerned about what a return to the failed Republican policies of the past might mean for our nation.”
Living History is competently written but as my daughter, India (who also read this book at the same time) pointed out to me, Hillary thoughtfully acknowledges everyone in her life. This is a positive trait, and charming, but it does mildly slow down the narrative rhythm of the book. None-the-less, it is a good read for anyone interested in this complex and enigmatic earth shaker.
January 25, 2009
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 By Bill Clinton. 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 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.
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 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.
July 16, 2014
When I think of Hillary's historical analogue, the person that comes to mind is no less than Elizabeth I. Hillary is strongly opinionated and polarizing, a trailblazer and a role model for feminists. She is an uncommon woman and she is living a historic life.
This is not a perfect book by any means. Hillary doesn't manage as personable a tone as Bill does in his. (But that's a high bar. Bill Clinton is, by all accounts, a tremendously charismatic person and any ghostwriter worth his salt should have been able to translate some of that.) It's also clear that she's writing it in the middle of a political career instead of at the end of it. There were particular moments of over-explaining, rationalizing and soapboxing that really brought that home. The Whitewater stuff seemed endless.
Still, it's a worthwhile read. I hadn't realized how much diplomatic travel she did in the Clinton administration - her Secretary of State appointment makes so much sense in light of it. I somehow also forgot that she was running her Senate campaign while she was still First Lady. I can only imagine the lawyers they had chewing on that one.
I think Laura Bush was a reaction against Hillary and Michelle Obama has had an easier ride because Hillary came first and, to a certain extent, showed how *not* to do it. Hillary's story could have ended in 2001 with the end of Bill's presidency, but somehow she picked up the pen and wrote herself an independent destiny.
Will Hillary run in 2016? Would she win? I don't know, but I think she'd make a great president.
(Postscript: And I love that Hillary and I share a favorite movie quote from "A League of Their Own"!)
This is not a perfect book by any means. Hillary doesn't manage as personable a tone as Bill does in his. (But that's a high bar. Bill Clinton is, by all accounts, a tremendously charismatic person and any ghostwriter worth his salt should have been able to translate some of that.) It's also clear that she's writing it in the middle of a political career instead of at the end of it. There were particular moments of over-explaining, rationalizing and soapboxing that really brought that home. The Whitewater stuff seemed endless.
Still, it's a worthwhile read. I hadn't realized how much diplomatic travel she did in the Clinton administration - her Secretary of State appointment makes so much sense in light of it. I somehow also forgot that she was running her Senate campaign while she was still First Lady. I can only imagine the lawyers they had chewing on that one.
I think Laura Bush was a reaction against Hillary and Michelle Obama has had an easier ride because Hillary came first and, to a certain extent, showed how *not* to do it. Hillary's story could have ended in 2001 with the end of Bill's presidency, but somehow she picked up the pen and wrote herself an independent destiny.
Will Hillary run in 2016? Would she win? I don't know, but I think she'd make a great president.
(Postscript: And I love that Hillary and I share a favorite movie quote from "A League of Their Own"!)
March 17, 2008
I listened to this unabridged book as an audiobook.
It is read by Hill, herself.
I have to say honestly it was pretty uninspiring - until the end. There is a lot of name-dropping and place-dropping going on. This type of writing makes me cringe and always ask 'so what?'.
It does give her point of view nicely of all the scandals of her administration, and for that reason it's worth reading. It also essentially depicts herself as the second coming of Mother Theresa and Jackie Kennedy. Ummm, I just don't think so. The most inspiring part is her speeches about 'womens rights' being no different than 'human rights' and for that I have to totally agree with her. Hillary should continue to be the champion for women's rights around the globe. I'm just not sure that translates into being the next President though. Bill was a great president, despite the ridiculous scandals - both real and imagined - that ravaged his 8 years in office. The best part of the book is the last 2 (of 9) discs that describe the Lowinski affair and impeachment. Can you imagine the hell she went throught then? Hillary's point of view makes her more human to me. She still loves Bill with all his faults, and he can still make her laugh.
It is read by Hill, herself.
I have to say honestly it was pretty uninspiring - until the end. There is a lot of name-dropping and place-dropping going on. This type of writing makes me cringe and always ask 'so what?'.
It does give her point of view nicely of all the scandals of her administration, and for that reason it's worth reading. It also essentially depicts herself as the second coming of Mother Theresa and Jackie Kennedy. Ummm, I just don't think so. The most inspiring part is her speeches about 'womens rights' being no different than 'human rights' and for that I have to totally agree with her. Hillary should continue to be the champion for women's rights around the globe. I'm just not sure that translates into being the next President though. Bill was a great president, despite the ridiculous scandals - both real and imagined - that ravaged his 8 years in office. The best part of the book is the last 2 (of 9) discs that describe the Lowinski affair and impeachment. Can you imagine the hell she went throught then? Hillary's point of view makes her more human to me. She still loves Bill with all his faults, and he can still make her laugh.
October 9, 2010
This woman has had an amazing life, experiencing the entirety of the world--literally every good and bad thing humanity has done in her lifetime! If she had only kept her presidential campaign focused with the wisdom of her life and invited Americans into the intimacy of that knowledge with the world stage, she would have won hands down. She certainly knew exactly what the nation was facing during the race because it mirrored Clinton's eight years in the White House! Why all of this was not the foundation of her campaign, I have no clue. It would have been an awesome experience if she had done so. I also understand why she stuck with her husband. He is so much more than a mere sexual creature. She forgave him his trespasses in lieu of the light he shines in the world--albeit a self-centered one--he turns his weaknesses into strengths that benefits all of humanity as an individual. One cannot ask more of any single human being than that. Turn your weaknesses into strengths to benefit all.
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