Loading...# Hardcover: 562 pages
# Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June, 2003)
Attractive, astute, confident, compassionate, forgiving ambitious, schemer, icy, strong-willed, bitch, feminist, commie and even the Anti Christ. These are terms used to describe Hillary Rodham Clinton, one of the most colorful First Ladies of our lifetime. Like her or hate her, one must admit that this is the most intriguing women to inhabit the White House since Jackie Kennedy.
Living History is a chronicle of Hillary Rodham Clinton from her humble but stable home in Chicago, her years at Wellesley and Yale, her years as first lady of Arkansas and then of the United States and finally ends with the beginning of her career in the Senate. It is more than an autobiography of Mrs. Clinton. Living History is a memoir of some of the most important events in the final decade of the last century.
Born to a conservative father and a democratic mother, young Hillary moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts, where we first see glimpses of her leadership qualities that would make her one of the most powerful women in the world. As she moves to Yale to study law and encounters a handsome young Bill, her life is thrown into a roller coaster ride of politics, disaster and triumph. As a young attorney, she watches President Nixon step down in disgrace amid the Watergate scandal. Little did she know that fate would almost thrust her husband in a similar situation.
Her marriage to Bill Clinton would soon land her into the Governor’s mansion in Arkansas. Bill would subsequently loose the next election only to win again the following term. It is at this point that the Clintons become proud parents of young Chelsea. From Arkansas, Bill Clinton would make a play for the highest office of the land.
Bill’s winning the Presidency and the role Hillary would play would test her resolve for years to come. As a young President serving his first term, ambitious Bill would loose his first major battle in the senate in his efforts to pass a Healthcare reform Bill. Ever the glib lawyer, Mrs. Clinton argues convincingly for this bill, proposing that it would make quality healthcare affordable for every American.
Hillary is not made to take a backseat for anyone. As first lady she would fight untiringly and passionately for her causes of child welfare and women’s rights. Traveling around the world, she examines first hand, the plight of women all over the world. Hillary cites the plight of women in Pakistan where Benazir Butto, a woman, could be elected to the office of Prime Minister while most other unlucky women were not allowed the ’luxuries’ of an education or a career. She cites with feminine pride how some Indian women break their family’s tradition by starting a business by themselves and become financially independent.
Unafraid to express her opinion, she argues for her stand on ‘pro choice’ saying that it is not for the government to decide what a woman must do with her body. Two examples of unacceptable practices she cites are China where the state may terminate a pregnancy and Romania where the state monitors the terms of its pregnant women.
Scandals enveloped William Jefferson Clinton’s Presidency from beginning to end. WhiteWater, ‘FileGate’, several ‘Bimbo’ attacks and of course good old Monica. Hillary addresses each one of these fearlessly and hits back hard at her and her husband’s critics. She lashes out particularly on Newt Gingrich and of course the ‘independent investigator’ Ken Star.
About the Monia Lewinsky scandal, she makes no attempt to hide her anger towards Bill’s deceit. However she does believe that Bill’s perjury in a civil suit does not constitute grounds for impeachment.
There is one final challenge Mrs. Clinton must take on towards the end of her husband’s Presidency. This is Senator Monahan’s New York Senate seat. As her emotional wounds are healing, Mrs. Clinton makes a bid for position, facing challenging odds against her. She may have to contest mayor Guilinani. She has never been a New York resident and of course she must step out of the shadow of her husband’s personality. After a short spell of soul searching Hillary decides to run for the New York Senate and finally wins. Sure enough we have not seen the end of the political line for Mrs. Clinton
There were some parts of the book that must indeed be taken with a pinch of salt. For instance, Hillary claims that the Oklahoma bombing was a case of right wing thinking taken to an extreme. There were also a few neglected issues. One that comes to mind is that there is no mention of Clinton’s arms deals with North Korea. Personally I would like to know Hillary’s take on this issue.
This book is also a who’s who on several great personalities and leaders of our time like Mother Teresa, Tony Blair, Mandeline Albright, Kofi Anan, Jackie Kennedy King Hussain Queen Noor, Prime Minister Rabin, PLO Chief Arafat and numerous others. It covers several great Historic events of the Clinton era like the signing of the Middle Eastern Peace treaty, the Economic boom never ever seen before and of course, the impeachment of Bill Clinton. I would recommend this book for anyone. It is insightful, informative, educational, entertaining and inspiring. It successfully softens Hillary’s icy image and offers a perspective of the world that could be seen only through her eyes.
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