Buddy may have had to find a little extra room in his dog house at the White House a few years back. Still, Hillary claims she isn't bitter.
From all of the hype surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton's new book, Living History, I was expecting a book about nothing but Bill Clinton's infidelity. Instead of another chapter in the Slick Willy files, this book tries to be a more ordinary autobiography. But Hillary can't hide her motivations for writing it: defending Bill, and improving her own image in the process.
I felt a little bit dirty reading this book, like I was sneaking a peek into someone's private diary rather than reading the No. 2 New York Times bestseller. Some moments seem a bit personal, and yet I cannot help but wonder what Hillary's state of mind was when writing the book.
She was, remarkably, beaten in the sales race by the new but still-unreleased Harry Potter book. And this was all in spite of the fact that people were lining up at midnight to purchase Living History and have it signed by Hillary in New York.
Living History details Hillary's life from childhood to her senate race in New York. Along the way, we are privy to all of the important moments: growing up, meeting and marrying Bill, sending Chelsea to college and the impeachment hearings.
Hillary tries her best to weave the impeachment scandal through the book artfully and make it a little less obvious, but it is clear that Bill's cheatin' heart is getting more attention than anything else in Hillary's life. The book comes off as an attempt to defend Bill, and thus justify Hillary's compassion for him and ability to continue being married to him. She says she didn't know at the time, and she did her best to cope since she believed the accusations against her husband were false. She never really goes so far as to say that she was ever "wrong."
The tone of the book is upbeat and positive about Bill for the most part; Hillary lovingly describes Bill's sadness at having to leave Chelsea behind after helping her move into her Stanford dorm. Even when describing Bill's infidelity, Hillary pleads ignorant: She admits that she will never know why Bill did what he did, and says that one day we will all need an explanation from him. Apparently, Buddy was the only one who could stand Bill during a family trip to Camp David. This is as strong as her whip gets, and yet writing such things about her own husband is a very gutsy move. What Bill thinks about this book is a mystery.
Hillary also stresses the fact that in an ideal world, such marriage matters would remain private. Hillary does not seem angry, but rather disappointed, and one wonders if what she is writing is sincere. The rest of the book almost takes a Pollyanna tone, as if everything is OK and Bill can be endlessly forgiven. But who are we to judge? It's her life.
A good deal of the book is spent dwelling on Hillary's concept of politics. She describes trips to China and campaigns for art and public television, and talks about foreign affairs that we heard about on the news from a very different and personal perspective. The book is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at some very historic moments in our nation's past, true to the title of the work.
The entire book is written in a very serious and educated tone, with brief moments of dry wit. Most of these moments are quotations of other, far funnier people. It is clear that Hillary takes herself very seriously. She writes that she is in awe of Mother Theresa and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Still, she maintains that she is not the frigid woman everybody thinks she is, and that she constantly examines herself for signs of denial and forgetting her own emotions.
Hillary defends her conviction that a "vast right-wing conspiracy" wants to undermine progressive political maneuvers, and says that the impeachment of Bill was aimed at trying to get him and his Democratic Party influences out of the White House. She is also careful to point out that Newt Gingrich and other Republicans involved in the impeachment were noted for their own infidelities.
Some will say that this book is really an attempt to begin campaigning for a run at the presidency. After all, Hillary spends a great deal of time describing her political philosophies and trying to put all of the rumors about her married life to rest. One can see that Hillary must have had a reason for writing the book. But Living History is a must-read for anyone fascinated with politics and the media, looking into major world events from a wide-angle lens that sees beyond the limited scope of a television screen. And more importantly, the book is one woman's attempt to tell her own unique story.
How do you feel about the book? Post your opinion in the forum below.
Nicole Saidi is the Content Editor of the Web Devil. Reach her at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.
