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A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton

Carl Bernstein,

محسن مصحفی (Goodreads Author) (translator)

3.93 · Rating details · 3,319 ratings · 260 reviews

Drawing from hundreds of interviews with colleagues, friends and with unique access to campaign records, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Carl Bernstein offers a complex and nuanced portrait of one of the most controversial figures of our time: Hillary Clinton. He has given us a book that enables us, at last, to address the questions Americans are insistently—e ...more

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Hardcover, 640 pages

Published June 5th 2007 by Knopf Publishing Group (first published January 1st 2007)

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Start your review of A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton

Nov 05, 2016 Delee rated it really liked it

I am going to make a promise- and that is, that this will be my last angry political review for at least 3 months.... There are so many reviews that I have fallen behind on- and after I cool down- I hope to get back to doing what I do.

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...but after the political shenanigans in the last little while- I want to tick this review off the list and move along.

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I adore Carl Bernstein for the most part. When I was a little tot- his coverage on Watergate was one of the first memories I have of journalistic ...more

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Sep 21, 2016 Joe Valdez rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biographies

A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Carl Bernstein is considered by many to be the definitive biography on the ~~celebrated~~ ~~despised~~ captivating Yale Law School graduate, former First Lady/ U.S. Senator of New York/ Secretary of State and per recent and reliable polling, soon to be the 45th President of the United States, the first woman in American history to hold the highest of executive offices. Published in 2007, I came to this book already knowing which candidate I'd be v A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Carl Bernstein is considered by many to be the definitive biography on the ~~celebrated~~ ~~despised~~ captivating Yale Law School graduate, former First Lady/ U.S. Senator of New York/ Secretary of State and per recent and reliable polling, soon to be the 45th President of the United States, the first woman in American history to hold the highest of executive offices. Published in 2007, I came to this book already knowing which candidate I'd be voting for on November 8, but with so much innuendo, half-truth and lies circulating about Clinton, I was searching for facts.

Who remembers facts? Everyone who raised their hand is free leave their desks and come with me!

I was enthralled by the book, which focuses--rain and shine--on Clinton's undergrad and graduate career at Wellesley and Yale, her relationship with Bill Clinton, her role as First Lady of Arkansas and of the United States, and in the view of the author, co-president of the United States from 1992-1994. With that much historical record to examine, Bernstein glosses over her terms as senator and finishes the narrative with the announcement of Clinton's first presidential campaign in 2007. The detailed portrait he offers, in my estimation, is of an exceptionally bright policy worker and political centrist who's been exalted unduly and pillorized unjustly.

There are a lot of Americans who "feel" like they know who Clinton is and what she's done. Bernstein challenges that with precision in his team's research and eloquence in his writing. These are the top ten most compelling paragraphs in the book, illuminating Clinton's life, career and character:

1. At Hillary's insistence, a summer Upward Bound program for inner-city children was initiated on campus, antiwar activities were conducted in college facilities, the skirt rule had been rescinded, grades were given on a pass-fail basis, parietal rules were a thing of the past, interdisciplinary majors were permitted for the first time. One of Hillary's strengths as a leader, still evident today, was her willingness to participate in the drudgery of government rather than simply direct policy from Olympian heights. She attended committee meetings, became involved in the minutiae (of finding a better system for the return of library books, for instance), and studied every aspect of the Wellesley curriculum in developing a successful plan to reduce the number of required courses.

2. On the last day of the spring term, while walking from a politics and civil rights class, Bill asked Hillary where she was headed. She said she was on her way to register for the next semester's classes. They arrived together at the office of the registrar, who asked Bill why he was there since he had already registered. Hillary laughed when he confessed it was a ploy to be with her, and they "went for a long walk that turned into our first date," Hillary wrote. Bill suggested they walk to a Mark Rothko exhibit at the Yale Art Gallery, but they found the museum closed because of a campus-wide strike by unionized employees. He talked his way in by volunteering to remove the garbage that had piled up. Hillary was impressed. She was impressed by his range of interests, everything "from African politics to country and western music." Hillary knew that he "was much more complex than first impressions might suggest." They soon became a couple.

Side note: If alternate realities exist where Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham never met, or their first date ended disastrously, I doubt that either of them would be elected president in those worlds.

3. In San Antonio, she lived and worked with Sara Ehrman, who was fifteen years older. Hillary, recalled Ehrman, "came into campaign headquarters a kid--in brown corduroy pants, brown shirt, brown glasses, no makeup, brown shoes. Her Coke-bottle glasses. Long hair. She looked like the campus intellectual that she was. She totally disregarded her appearance." Sara said Hillary was a compulsive reader: contemporary fiction, religious tomes, the Bible, academic materials about child psychology. Hillary seemed to have everything in balance--the gift of seriousness leavened by the ability to have a good time. She was witty, genuinely funny; there was nothing stuffy about her, Sara thought.

4. Hillary taught criminal law and trial advocacy the first semester and criminal procedures the second semester. When Bill had decided to run for Congress, he had obtained permission from the dean to keep teaching through the campaign. He taught agency and partnership law, as well as trade regulation. Many students had both as professors. Hillary's style was confident, aggressive, take-charge, and much more structured than Bill's. "If you were unprepared, she would rip you pretty good, but not in an unfair way," recalled Woody Bassett, who became good friends with both, and worked in many Clinton campaigns. "She made you think, she challenged you. If she asked you a question about a case and you gave an answer, well then--here comes another question. Whereas in Bill Clinton's classes, it was much more laid-back." He was regarded as the easiest grader in the law school. Hillary's exams were tough, and her grading commensurate with what she expected serious law students to know. There was little doubt that she was the better teacher, possessed with "unusual ability to absorb a huge amount of facts and boil them down to the bottom line," Bassett thought. Clinton was more likely to go at a subject in a circular way, looking at it from every angle and sometimes never coming to a conclusion. But usually, his was the more interesting class, because of the passion and knowledge with which he addressed legal questions that related to everyday events.

Side note: I wonder how many University of Arkansas School of Law students claim to have had Bill and Hillary as their professors and how many were actually doing anything but attending class.

5. As would increasingly become the case over the next twenty years, Hillary was seen by many as a polarizing figure. For the first time, she became the object of intense dislike and verbal abuse. Clinton's opponents criticized him for having a wife with a career--a lawyer to boot--who was so independent-minded that she wouldn't take her husband's name. The "name issue" would become one of the most talked about of the campaign. Men and women around the state argued publicly and privately about it. "People thought even his wife didn't like him enough to take his name," said an acerbic political columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Meredith Oakley, who would make a name for herself writing about the Clintons. Within the campaign itself and among supporters, there were a number who urged Hillary to change her mind.

6. The most vocal opponent of putting Hillary in charge of health care was Donna Shalala, who (like Vernon Jordan) knew Hillary far better than most new members of the president's team, and so felt freer about speaking out. Shalala, four feet eleven inches tall, of Lebanese descent, an ardent feminist with both academic experience and sharp political skills, had known Hillary almost twenty years, since they'd first served together on the board of the Children's Defense Fund. And though she and the new first lady were friends, Shalala was certain that Hillary was ill-prepared for the job. There was too much mythology about Hillary that stretched the facts, she felt. Shalala had always been uncomfortable by hyperbolic statements from friends and acolytes of Hillary, as well as leaders in the women's movement who didn't know her personally, who put forth the notion that had she pursued her own political career and not deferred to Bill Clinton's, she would have been a governor or senator in her own right by 1992. "They assume that being smart is enough," Shalala said. "And it's not enough. It's judgment. It's experience. It's being strategic at the right points."

Sidenote: Donna Shalala served as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1993-2001 and is currently president of the Clinton Foundation. She gives Bernstein the most candid quotes in the book. Clearly, she's not worried about her next job.

7. Hillary was not wrong that old enemies in Arkansas, in conjunction with organized right-wing groups and the mega-wattage of talk radio, were hard at work. The unprecedented campaign against a sitting president and first lady, well organized and increasingly effective, continued. Across the Potomac, in northern Virginia, David Bossie and Floyd Brown (he had produced the Willie Horton ad during the 1988 presidential campaign of George Bush) had set up shop as Citizens United. They issued a constant stream of lies, half-truths, devilish gospels, and conspiratorial epistles that told a tale of perdition and evil, and were peddled to mainstream news organizations, Republican offices on Capitol Hill, and right-wing talk show hosts especially. The distance from Citizens United to Rush Limbaugh and televangelist Jerry Falwell could sometimes be measured in milliseconds.

8. For a night at least, tens of millions of Americans thought that the country was finally going to get universal health care. That it never happened was largely Hillary's doing, though it is impossible to separate that failure from the siege of the Clinton White House enabled by Whitewater. Still, she was largely to blame for the political failure. "I find her to be among the most self-righteous people I've ever known in my life," declared Bob Boorstin, a former reporter for the New York Times who joined the Clinton campaign as a writer and became Hillary's deputy for media relations on the task force. "And, it's her great flaw, it's what killed health care, in addition to their joint stupid decision to give it to Ira Magaziner, and to keep it within their friends, and timing, and all sorts of other things, but generally speaking I think you can say at the core of it was her self-righteousness."

Sidenote: Bernstein gets surprising candor from former members of the Clinton administration or others close to their inner circle who can speak from a positions of knowledge. He wastes no time seeking "fair and balanced" coverage by those on the periphery peanut gallery.

9. The judgment early in the presidency, by Stephanopoulos, Shalala, and others, of her difficulty conceptualizing original programs and promulgating breakthrough ideas (such as Bill seemed to do with ease) had been acute. Perhaps without articulating it to herself, she began to recognize it in her post-health care ambitions. She worked well with existing structures, building on them, finding their weaknesses if called for, studying the mechanics of a program, whether foster care (as she did through 1997 and 1998, leading to the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999) or women's health programs. She was good at it, and very, very bright. She was a powerful, effective advocate, as she was discovering in her expanding campaign for human rights. The Senate was a perfect place for such a mind, and until her presidential ambitions collided with this vision of herself, she excelled without the need for a lot of tutelage or advice, whether from Bill or her policy aides. This attitude and ability had been manifest in her younger years, but dormant later, notably in the first term of the Clinton presidency.

10. She learned the ways of the Senate. She identified who her enemies were, or those of her husband, and waged a campaign to win them over, or at least neutralize them. That was the internal institutional strategy. The external strategy was to show her constituents that she wouldn't let them down. She worked particularly hard for those who didn't support her, as if to prove to them that she wasn't who they thought she was. Her small-steps policy in the Senate reflected what she had learned: she would not forget the day-to-day needs of her constituents while promoting her larger ambitions. Her representation on behalf of New Yorkers was effective, smart, and bold. Her initial committee assignments were Labor, Health Education, and Pensions; Environment and Policy Works; and Budget, all of which enabled her to direct funds to her home state.

Sidenote: No inaugural president will have had as much experience inside the White House as Clinton. The jury is still out on how much she's learned from her mistakes and how much she's changed. Stonewalling over her State Department email server--where again, no laws were broken, but the public grew suspicious of her concealment--suggests Clinton is human and not the Second Coming some of her followers would hope her to be. A Woman in Charge is a riveting read for anyone in search of a filter for all the misinformation surrounding Clinton, or who has more than a passing interest in feminism, politics or the law. ...more

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Feb 17, 2008 Margaret added it

As someone who at this point is still undecided, I thought that I'd pick up both this book and one of Obama's to read.

Let me tell you - HRC is a completely kick-ass woman, much more so than I'd ever thought. She's not an easy person to get behind, and this book make an unintentional argument against the cult of personality that seems to be sweeping the political arena right now.

Reading this book confirmed the things I didn't necessarily like about her, but it also gave me much more insight into ...more

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Sep 21, 2007 Charlotte Apgood rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: all informed voters

Carl Bernstein obviously has done a prodigious job of research on a woman who has stirred strong emotions among Americans for many years. Despite copious media coverage and intense scrutiny, she has remained somewhat of an enigma. Bernstein has written a book that smoothly presents a remarkable human being whose intellect and political savvy are impossible to ignore.

Collectively, the author's presentation of Hillary has defined a human being who, her tribulations notwithstanding, has stayed on Carl Bernstein obviously has done a prodigious job of research on a woman who has stirred strong emotions among Americans for many years. Despite copious media coverage and intense scrutiny, she has remained somewhat of an enigma. Bernstein has written a book that smoothly presents a remarkable human being whose intellect and political savvy are impossible to ignore.

Collectively, the author's presentation of Hillary has defined a human being who, her tribulations notwithstanding, has stayed on target to values that evolved at a young age, and has consistently been true to her convictions. Her grasp of politics and her ability to clearly see the big picture are uncanny. It's difficult for this reader not to feel that, had she been a male, she could have leap-frogged into a position of power that might have ranked her among outstanding leaders in the eyes of history.

Not least among her strengths are her spiritual and religious beliefs and practice, dating back to her formative years in college. And the non-public display of her ongoing religiosity led me to re-evaluate my agnosticism. In retrospect,the overriding irony of her treatment (mistreatment?) by the zealous Christian right still causes me to chuckle.

And bizarre as it might seem to many others, her unquestionable love for her husband must be acknowledged and respected. President Clinton's undeniable philandering, whatever its origins, must be acknowledged less as a moral lapse and more as a pathological illness. And how can we overlook Republican icons such as General Eisenhower, Newt Gingrich, and a growing number of righteous congressmen? Did they not take the same marriage vows?

Overridingly, her ability to want to save her marriage is sheer bravery and proof of her basic decency and commitment.

I am midway through my eighth decade and cast my first presidential vote in 1952. I've seen this country, warts and all, as flawed but worth the collective efforts of its citizens to keep working to solve problems, to uphold constitutional law and to strive to view our weaknesses realistically. I've watched the current administration, powered by greed, ignorance and lust for power, bulldoze through a remarkable economic boon left by the Clinton administration, leaving us drastically in debt. The Bush cadre has slashed our constitutional rights, the aftereffects of which we might never overcome. And in seven short years, Bush & Company have driven a frighteningly unknown number of world citizens to view us as dangerous and unworthy of their respect.

Hillary Clinton has been through the political wars - her judgement, her clear vision and her humor and energy intact. No small accomplishment.

Bernstein is demonstrably a diligent researcher and talented writer. But his closing comments in the book strike me as misogynic, in that he appears to have reduced her to a distilled figurehead whose story is "a woman's story." What exactly does he mean by that? Even a simple mind grasps that this a story about a woman named Hillary. But to label it "a woman's story" can't escape being connated as an insult, rather than a mere statement of fact. ...more

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Dec 05, 2016 Shaun rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2016, non-fiction

5 stars despite the fact that this was long...way too long. It was comprehensive and seemed honest in its portrayal of our almost first Madam President.

I really don't have the time to review this book properly so I will only say that Hillary Clinton is a fascinating woman who has lived a very public life but still remains somewhat of a mystery to most of us.

I voted for her in this election, however, I've never been a huge fan and this book seemed to provide some justification for my reservations ...more

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Nov 25, 2015 Kogiopsis rated it it was ok

This is a difficult book to review, because my feelings on how it was constructed are competing with my feelings on its content.

So, let's get this out of the way: Bernstein seems to have done an excellent and thorough job of researching this biography, directly interviewing many people involved in the Clintons' lives as well as consulting primary sources and news accounts. I do feel like there's a slant to this book, and that Bernstein came off as pessimistic about Hillary Clinton's life path to ...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Richard rated it it was amazing

This book came out in the early stages of the 2008 Presidential campaign. It added to the already growing interest and debate surrounding Hillary Clinton, since she was a front-runner in the Democratic Party. Some critics have accused Carl Bernstein of deliberately releasing the book to enhance Hillary's campaign, since it paints a mostly favorable image of her. The book is not, however, a political tract, in the context, as Bernstein points out, that her books ("It Takes a Village" and "Living This book came out in the early stages of the 2008 Presidential campaign. It added to the already growing interest and debate surrounding Hillary Clinton, since she was a front-runner in the Democratic Party. Some critics have accused Carl Bernstein of deliberately releasing the book to enhance Hillary's campaign, since it paints a mostly favorable image of her. The book is not, however, a political tract, in the context, as Bernstein points out, that her books ("It Takes a Village" and "Living History") were. It is an excellent biography of one of the most well-known figures of that campaign. It represented eight years of research, and drew upon all available records of the then-Senator's speeches and writings, in addition to interviews with over two hundred friends and adversaries. The most important personal source in this regard was the late Diane Blair, Hillary's closest friend and confidante since Bill Clinton began his political career in Fayetteville, Arkansas in the 1970's.

If Hillary Clinton was one of the highest recognized candidates in 2008, she was also one of the most polarizing politicians to run in the primaries. Peoples' reactions to her were based on the aspects of her personality which were revealed during her husband's terms as Arkansas' governor and as president. She had left a promising career as attorney and operative in liberal politics to marry her law school sweetheart and live in a state which was the emotional epicenter of his life, but which she had never visited. She and her husband maintained a relationship where her considerable energies and intelligence were invaluable to his eventually successful attempt to win the governorship of Arkansas. Her attempts to establish her own identity were met with scorn in Little Rock society, and she was forced to reconsider her earlier use of her maiden name while married, and to appear as the cheerful chief executive's wife at quaint ladies' lunches which she hated.

It was her strength which kept Bill's career on track, however, during his dejection of being defeated in his bid for reelection after his first term as governor; it was also her stoicism, which some would say was learned from witnessing the quiet suffering of her mother in a difficult marital relationship, which kept her own marriage on track when Bill was tempted to throw his career and marriage away to be with another woman (this last revelation was provided to Bernstein by Betsey Wright, Bill's Chief of Staff. See p. 184-185). This incident would be followed by numerous other extra-marital escapades of Bill's which would be covered in detail by the media over the ensuing years. She would remain married and work through the marital humiliations.

When Bill went to the White House, Hillary would assume the same insider role as she had in Arkansas, eventually being awarded the unprecedented power as First Lady of being given control of the the administration's most important domestic program, involving the overhaul of the nation's health care system. The heavy handedness and secrecy she exhibited in that role wasted huge amounts of the administration's political capital and, with other policy blunders, including Travelgate, facilitated the ending of the Democrats' 40-year congressional dominance. Her health care program would be sacrificed to the overriding need to balance the budget in Bill's second term.

Unfortunately for Hillary, more strength would need to be summoned during the second term, in the wake of the Lewinsky affair, Bill's impeachment and the ever-distracting Whitewater investigation. After Bill left office, Hillary surprised all who thought the Clinton's would fade into the woodwork, by running for, and winning a Senate seat in New York. Her tenure there, prior to the 2008 Presidential campaign, established her as an effective representative of the people with an identity not dependent on Bill. The previous uncompromising Hillary personality was jettisoned while she established her own personal power base. So, late in 2007, supporters and admirers were cheering-on Hillary's upcoming presidential bid while her detractors were complaining of their perception of the continuation of the Clintons' soap opera.

The personal identity that came out in 2007-08 was no surprise to those who knew Hilary Clinton's accomplishments. She was involved as a volunteer in political contests since high school, when she, believe it or not, campaigned for Barry Goldwater's Presidential campaign in 1964. This reflected the conservative political leanings of her family. She would pull away from that orientation while in college, first by supporting moderate Republicans (remember when there was such a thing?), such as Nelson Rockefeller, John Lindsey and Edward Brooke. The Civil Rights Movement and the growing outcries against the Vietnam war would push her allegiances further to the left during college, and she would support Eugene McCarthy's antiwar presidential campaign.

Hillary would become the first student commencement speaker at Wellesley College in 1969. She continued to show academic brilliance at Yale Law School, and would work on the Yale Review of Law. She volunteered for the Yale Child Study Center and became an advocate for the new childrens' rights movement with her article, "Children Under the Law" after graduation. In the early seventies, she worked as a staff attorney for Marian Wright Edelman's Childrens' Defense Fund in Cambridge. After moving to Arkansas with Bill Clinton, Hillary cofounded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and taught Criminal Law classes at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, School of Law.

Bernstein has followed the threads which have wound from her father Hugh's start in the lace business in Scranton, PA to Hillary Clinton's pursuit of the highest office in the land. He offers the insight that Hillary is neither the demon of the right's fears and hates, nor is she a feminist saint. Her story is characterized by strength and vulnerability; as Bernstein says, it is a woman's story. He summarizes her as an intelligent woman endowed with energy, enthusiasm, humor, tempestuousness, inner strength, spontaneity in private, near-lethal powers of retribution, real-life lines that come from deep wounds, and the language facility of a sailor (or a minister), all attesting to her "passion." (p. 553-554).

He is not immune to her weaknesses, of falling to the temptation of misrepresenting not just facts but "often her essential self" (p. 554). He ultimately praises her for standing for good things, while showing consistency of her core beliefs and strength of character in adversity while lamenting the disconnect between her words and convictions, and her actions. Her story is still being played out. More will certainly be written as her career progresses, but the best starting point for assessing its meaning is this biography from Carl Bernstein. The events of Volume Two may take a long time to unfold but that promises some compelling future reading.

...more

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Aug 10, 2015 Robert rated it really liked it

A political junkie friend of mine gave me this thick biography of Hillary Clinton published in 2007, telling me it was a good book. I was skeptical, but he was right. It's well-written, well-researched, balanced and yet painful to read because of its detailed account of Hillary Clinton's grim experiences married to Bill Clinton.

Hillary Rodham was a smart, take-charge girl who grew up under the heavy thumb of a brutish boor of a father and seemed determined--was determined, I should say--to prove ...more

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Jul 08, 2007 Nancy Vincent rated it really liked it

I'm no less conflicted about her being president than I was before I picked this up.

I found the section on her childhood illuminating, and as an amateur armchair headshrinker I thought it makes her attraction to Bill (and his to her) make perfect sense. I found the section on the White House years illuminating as well, in terms of the dynamics that culminated in Bill doing that utterly stupid thing he did.

While this isn't the hatchet job I thought it might be after hearing Carl on the talk circu ...more

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Oct 05, 2013 Zack rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, biography

Seemed to be a balanced account.

Hillary is such an INTJ, so it was interesting hearing about her personality since I'm one too. It's interesting how bad she was politically early on--due to some typical INTJ traits and being unable to play the social-political game in Washignton.

I like her and Bills relationship-matching too; two smart strong people who can argue and sharpen each others minds while also supporting and sticking with each other.

Going into this book, I didn't realize how religious ...more

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Jun 14, 2016 Bryan Cebulski rated it really liked it

Read this to learn more about the candidate and wound up with more questions than answers. I consider Bernstein a pretty trustworthy source given his input in exposing the Watergate scandal--dude kind of watches out for government corruption. My basic conclusion is that the Clintons were screwed over a lot during their time in the White House, but equally their critical flaws managed to marr both their public image and effectiveness of office. HRC has a good track record with certain issues (chi ...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Baden rated it really liked it

I read this a year or two ago. I learned a ton about the Clintons.

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Jun 15, 2016 Gina rated it really liked it

Shelves: women, biography, political

A comprehensive, easy-to-digest bio of our future president.

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Aug 09, 2016 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, library, biography, audio

If this book is one thing, it's comprehensive. Almost 26 hours of audio was a daunting task to get through.

I didn't know much about Hillary Clinton's early life, college years, and religious conviction - what I learned impressed me and made me like her more. I had no idea that before Bill Clinton even met Hillary she was a rising political star who'd been president of Wellesley College and featured in Life magazine.

Being only 8 years old when Bill was elected president, I also knew little about ...more

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Sep 30, 2007 Julie marked it as books-i-gave-up-on

Shelves: women, journalism

Maybe it's that I write about people for a living too (I'm not a journalist) but I couldn't stand the style of this book. I know journalists are allowed to have unnamed sources but when I make a statement about somebody that's damaging I always name it's source so the reader can evaluate the context. Every nasty remark in this one was from an unnamed source. It just grated on me. I couldn't take it and I put it down. Perhaps I'll come back to it some day. ...more

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Oct 28, 2017 Sheryl rated it really liked it

Really good, objective look into the Clintons up to the point of Hillary running for the Senate.

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Jul 18, 2016 Don rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography

Carl Bernstein's A Woman in Charge is a painstaking and I think honest biography of Hillary Clinton. It dispelled me of some myths I'd grown up hearing from my Republican family. I'd been taught, for instance, that Hillary was an opportunist who latched onto Bill because she knew he was going places. But Bernstein shows that Hillary was "on her way to becoming a political meteor" long before meeting Bill. She become a prominent antiwar leader in college, got elected student body president her s ...more

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May 30, 2016 Travis Bow rated it liked it

A pretty objective (clearly left-leaning but not necessarily pro-Hillary), detailed account of Hillary's life and political career up to her time in the New York senate, with a lot of focus on her early political life (on the cover of Life magazine in college for speaking against the war at her graduation), her decision to marry Bill (which she and many friends feared would destroy her opportunity for a career of her own), her failure as health care Czar, her image management during the the many A pretty objective (clearly left-leaning but not necessarily pro-Hillary), detailed account of Hillary's life and political career up to her time in the New York senate, with a lot of focus on her early political life (on the cover of Life magazine in college for speaking against the war at her graduation), her decision to marry Bill (which she and many friends feared would destroy her opportunity for a career of her own), her failure as health care Czar, her image management during the the many scandals in Bill's presidency (the Travel Office, Whitewater, Vince Foster, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky), and a tiny amount about her time as a Senator.

My basic takeaway is that Hillary grew up conservative, leaned left during college but tried to be a moderate with Bill for a long time, and now has pretty much standard liberal views. She's generally been especially concerned about advocacy for women and children (including government-provided healthcare etc.).

As far as armchair psychoanalysis, she seems to be extremely ambitious and achievement-driven; her desire to be The One That Fixed Healthcare drove her to reject all compromise and ultimately fail in implementing Hillary-Care (which, from the brief description, sounded similar to Obama-Care). She is fairly religious in a self-help/coping mechanism way, very meticulous in preparing her public appearances, and has a tenuous relationship with the truth, particularly when trying to protect herself. I think the author sums things up well at the end of the book:

"Since her Arkansas years, Hillary Rodham Clinton has always had a difficult relationship with the truth... it is an understatement by now that she has been known to apprehend truths about herself and the events of her life that others do not exactly share... In her artfully crafted public utterances and written sentences, there has almost always been an effort at baseline truthfulness, yet almost always, something holds her back from telling the whole story...

"As a girl, and then as a woman, Hillary has almost always been desperate to be a passionate participant and at the center of events... call it ambition, call it the the desire to make the world a better place, she has been driven...

"Hillary is neither the demon of the Right's perception, nor a feminist saint, nor is she particularly emblematic of her time, perhaps more old-fashioned than modern... Great politicians have always been marked by the consistency of their core beliefs, their strength of character in advocacy, and the self knowledge that informs bold leadership. Almost always, Hillary has stood for good things. Yet there is often a disconnect between her convictions and words and her actions. This is where Hillary disappoints." ...more

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Sep 17, 2016 Theresaharris rated it really liked it

If you take your time and really absorb the information, this is not an easy read. There is much information. I had to renew my book at the library twice!

The author, Carl Bernstein, is one of the best journalist of our time. Reading this book has given me even more respect for his work; and I will go on to read his biography of his Holiness.

Even though this book was published almost a decade ago, I found it relevant today especially for providing background to some of the stories from the Clint If you take your time and really absorb the information, this is not an easy read. There is much information. I had to renew my book at the library twice!

The author, Carl Bernstein, is one of the best journalist of our time. Reading this book has given me even more respect for his work; and I will go on to read his biography of his Holiness.

Even though this book was published almost a decade ago, I found it relevant today especially for providing background to some of the stories from the Clintons' past, resurfacing now, as the United States prepares to elect their next president.

Hillary's long history of activism and interest in women's rights and children's issues is evident in this narrative. We get some insight to her upbringing and family of origin. It is easy to see that she is a person who tries to do good. She is interested in righting wrongs, and she is tenacious. It is also easy to see that sometimes she gets in the way of herself.

It is ironic that, as she entered public life as First Lady, she was seen as nontraditional & an outsider to Washington politics. People don't like what they don't understand and a thinking woman in a power position was so new to this country, that the opposition actively worked against the Clintons. This is not to say that the Clintons did not provide fodder for comment. Yet, each day she would have to wake up and begin the day defensively. I can only imagine what she might have accomplished had she not been forced to play the political game!

This book also provides information about the sex scandals of Bill Clinton. I cannot imagine how Hillary could go through such a public humiliation and continue. I think this speaks to her resiliency and her commitment to marriage. The love between Bill and Hillary is also apparent in the materials presented within the book.

When I think about how much time and money has been spent investigating the Clintons over the years, I feel like we have purchased her presidency. (And the time and money never substantiates the politicized talk of "criminal charges.")

Lastly, what else is evident in this book is how much Hillary has learned over the years. Show me someone who makes no mistakes and I will show you someone who does nothing. It bothers me that she gets very little credit for the work that she has done.

In conclusion, reading this book is a good use of your time, especially if you are voting in the upcoming presidential election. ...more

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Dec 26, 2017 Bookskilledbovary rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, 2017

A clearheaded and fair biography of a much maligned woman demonstrating all that is inspiring and vexing about a complicated person who has been both unfairly treated and is over protective and, at times, self defeating. Hard to recommend in 2018 as re-litigating the last 2 years is pointless, but still a very good portrait of a person who is often unfairly projected upon.

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Feb 11, 2008 Stephanie rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: women who deal with a lot of crap

Shelves: badgirls, goodgirls

I was inspired to read this book after hearing an interview with Carl Bernstein on NPR. I must say, he couldn't have picked a more fascinating subject for a biography. Somehow, Hillary Clinton has managed to keep her private life under wraps for all these years, which is strange, given how much of it has been devoted to good works.

The single thing that most surprised me about HRC is her deep and profound faith. After reading this book, I'm extremely impressed that she doesn't trot it out for pub ...more

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Jul 28, 2016 Wendy rated it really liked it

This was a long, dense book but I'm glad I made my way through it. I grew up in an anti-Clinton household and adopted that mentality. It was only recently I realized that, as an adult, I could not articulate a reason to not like Hillary. Then, because I will not vote for Donald Trump and thus knew I would be voting for Hillary come November, I realized I also couldn't articulate a reason to support Hillary (other than Donald Trump). So I have embarked on a journey to learn about Hillary Clinton, ...more

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Oct 11, 2007 Gail rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: anyone who wants to better understand the Clinton presidency

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

OMG - I feel like I deserve to be president after finishing this book!

Sarcasm aside, I picked a bad time of year (with the holidays upon us) to read a 550-page tome focused on politics. 'Nuff said.

But for what it's worth, this book is captivating in its own way. I was fascinated by Bernstein's retelling of Hillary's youth, her years in college, first meeting Bill, their early years in Arkansas, and so on ... It's when I hit around Page 300 that I started to lose a bit of interest with the book ...more

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Aug 11, 2015 Amanda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history, non-fiction, biography

Whew - wow, what a mammoth read! This long extraordinarily well-researched book is almost as incessant and relentless as the campaign against Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Bernstein offers a dense, warts-and-all read that covers more aspects and interviews than any biography I have read before in his efforts to uncover this complex and quite enigmatic woman. Despite the fact that she lived in the gold-fish bowl of the White House for 8 years, she is intensely private, making it difficult to get prope ...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Sara rated it really liked it

Let's be honest, I was going to like this book no matter what. I love me some Hills. But, I really do think Bernstein does a good job portraying an accurate picture of HRC. He is especially critical of her own biography, Living History, which I also thought was pretty much crap. The portrait he paints is much more realistic, and super-detailed, and still positive overall. The one thing I disliked is that he focuses ALOT on the Clinton presidency, which I suppose is to be expected, but it almost ...more

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Oct 18, 2016 Nancy rated it it was amazing

Bernstein has done a good job of explaining America's response to Hillary Clinton--her plusses, her minuses, and also how politics in Little Rock vary so much from those in Washington, DC and how that was not helpful for the Clintons when they moved into the White House. It is also a look at how "boomer" women have been perceived in our country for a long time--including this quote:

"Richard Nixon, meanwhile, had been asked to comment about the Clinton campaign (Bill's) in an interview during a r ...more

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Nov 24, 2016 Lezley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: other-books

I have never read a biography that was a page turner. This book, once I started, I couldn't put down. After the election, I just couldn't figure out how Hillary Clinton could possibly have lost. I had to find answers and Bernstein's fair portrayal of this complex woman helped me understand. She just seemed to carry too much baggage. In spite of errors she made along the way, I feel that, had she been elected President, she would always have put America first. And probably, America would be bette ...more

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Dec 24, 2007 Jane rated it liked it

Recommends it for: voters

Hillary is complex, and in her heart of hearts I think wanted to do good for others, but she has been plasticized and frozen to an unrecognizable shell. In the end, if she was unable to pull herself away from Bill as he deserved, what other reason could there be but a political one? And if you sell your heart and soul, you sell. I wish I could believe in her, but after Bernstein's analysis, I feel she has lost her ability to know herself well enough to govern. Glad I read this, even though it wa ...more

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Apr 05, 2008 Katey rated it really liked it

I was wanting to understand more about Hillary and respect this author's books. At the time, I was sorting out which Democratic candidate to support and was reading Barak Obama's books, as well. This particular book I found balanced, informative, and interesting. Her story, and her inclinations (that I read about in a different book as well by her)and her current actions led me to support Obama, although I respect her running for the highest office. I think Bernstein writes well (second book I'v ...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Diane rated it liked it

Bernstein has certainly been thorough in his research. I gained some more insight into the Clintons compared to Hillary's own book "Living History". Bernstein actually refers to her book rather frequently to offer what her position was vs. the people close to her that he's interviewed. I was surprised at the number of people he actually got to speak on the record ie: close family friends and former high level employees from both the Clinton's Governor and Presidential days. The book covers from ...more

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About Carl Bernstein

Carl Bernstein

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Carl Bernstein is an American journalist who, as a reporter for The Washington Post along with Bob Woodward, broke the story of the Watergate break-in and consequently helped bring about the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon. For his role in breaking the scandal, Bernstein received many awards; his work helped earn the Post a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1973.