Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton

by Bay Buchanan, Pam Ward

Buchanan, former U.S. treasurer and sister of former presidential nominee Pat Buchanan, takes Hillary Clinton to task in this unapologetically partisan biography. Buchanan outlines how Clinton's personality and character changed after she was elected to the Senate, casting mock sympathy as she goes: "It must be a terrible thing to be as deeply insecure as Hillary. It has made her so incredibly susceptible to the ideas of others." Subsequent chapters criticize the senator's positions on hot-button issues, including healthcare, same-sex partnerships and the war in Iraq. Though Buchanan backs up many of her points with outside scholarship and Clinton's own interviews and records (both as senator and student), claims that Clinton "accepts no responsibility" and disregards "even the most basic standards of behavior" make this a sermon for the choir.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Don Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very helpful to my understanding of what makes Mrs. Clinton tick. It focuses more on her psychology than her behavior in public life. It claims that her overriding character trait is insecurity. It's especially strong in explaining how her mind works. According to it, she is a memorizer and regurgitator of information; she has an unchanging "consummate student" mindset, always eager to learn facts; and she tends to automatically make herself an expert on any subject she needs to understand (such as healthcare, in 1993). (From other reading, I know that this is exactly how Jimmy Carter worked. he was compulsive about memorization and preparation.)
But the book goes on to say that this habit is Hillary's compensation for her weakness: she is not an original thinker, not a visionary (Bill is the opposite). Also, all her life she has been extremely impressionable; this is why, when in the White House, she was always taking advice from political advisors, New Age gurus, psychics, etc.

The author of Extreme Makeover, Bay Buchanan, is conservative upfront (she is Pat Buchanan's younger sister), but is fair-minded and polite. It's not like reading an Ann Coulter book. Ms. Buchanan uses a folksy tone that gets slightly annoying at times, but it's not hard to ignore.

I recommend this book, along with the late Barbara Olson's book *Hell to Pay*, if you seek to better understand Mrs. Clinton.

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hard, cutting and critical portrait of Hilary Clinton by arch conservative, Bay Buchanan, sister of Pat Buchanan.

Her thesis is that Hilary’s trip to the Senate was only a cover up for her extreme makeover from an arch left liberal to a “centrist” so that she could position herself for a run at the Whitehouse. Buchanan uses evidence to support this idea including voting records and quotes from Clinton’s numerous speeches and books. Buchanan also portrays Clinton as very bright, a great student but unable to create policy or have a vision of the future. Instead, she relies heavily on hundreds of consultants to tell her what to do.

What I found really amazing was reading some of the "gobly gook" Clinton has written—it is completely unintelligible and not even good English, which in many ways was scary!

[Moses · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it hard to believe some of the author's wilder claims about Hillary, but there can be no doubt that she reivented herself as a moderate to be more palatable to the electorate. Thankfully, she is a highly polarizing figure.

[Wendy]

Just started will let you all know about it.

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was an extremely bias book and I do not enjoy reading propaganda. If I had thought about who the author was I would not have read it.