Title: What Happened
Author: Hillary Rodham Clinton
# of Pages: 512 (eBook ver.)
Genre: Nonfiction, Politics, Autobiography
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. This is her most personal memoir yet.
In these pages, she describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterward. With humor and candor, she tells readers what it took to get back on her feet—the rituals, relationships, and reading that got her through, and what the experience has taught her about life. She speaks about the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye, the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance, and the double standard confronting women in politics.
Review: I read the last hundred pages across the past month or so, so it is difficult to collect my thoughts on the book as a whole. Although I have no interest in “leftist propaganda” (for lack of a better phrase), this book was exactly as I excepted it to be, and for that I cannot blame it.
Below are my notes from when I was reading the beginning-middle of the book:
I am not reading this book as a Democrat nor a Republican but rather as someone curious of the story of the election from someone directly involved. And who better to provide me with that narrative than Clinton herself who was a candidate? There will be some people who read her book because they strongly support her. Others will give this book a bad review, perhaps without even reading it, because they abhor her. Although this book is political, I have no intention to portray my political beliefs in this review. Like I said before, I just want to understand different perspectives; if Trump wrote a book about the election, I would read his too.
I was pleased hear Clinton’s voice so clearly through her writing (although with this comes her cringey attempts to be “hip”). I read this book to learn more about her perspective on the election and that’s exactly what this book gave me.
“I prayed that my worst fears about Donald Trump wouldn’t be realized, and that people’s lives and America’s future would be made better, not worse, during his presidency. I’m still praying on that one, and I can use all the backup you can muster.”
What surprised me was how pessimistic she is during and after the inauguration. Having recently listened to Barack Obama’s interview with Prince Harry for BBC Radio 4, I couldn’t help but compare Obama’s calm and optimistic take the future to Clinton’s ominous one. However, this is simply Clinton’s perspective; it hasn’t been long since she lost the election, a campaign where she derogated the very man who is being sworn into the presidency she fought for. It’s only natural for her opinions to be a bit skewed and morose.
Even with this in mind, it’s still uncomfortable for me to read Clinton’s snarky description of some of the people she runs into post-inauguration, regardless of my opinion on their character. Clinton is a lot more open with her opinions than I expected her to be while at the same time sounding as if she is still running her campaign for presidency.
Side note: I liked this little nod to programming humor; if you can’t fix a bug, call it a feature.
“For [GOP leaders], dysfunction wasn’t a bug, it was a feature”
Relevant links (events involving Hillary that were mentioned throughout the book):
“On Sunday, when I got to the memorial, the sun was beaming down. My head ached. You know the rest.” -A Day in the Life
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/hillary-clinton-falls-ill-at-the-911-memorial-ceremony/2016/09/11/995139d8-7843-11e6-8064-c1ddc8a724bb_video.html?utm_term=.1eab699ca8e3
“SNL asked me to play a character named Val the Bartender, who would pour drinks for Kate McKinnon, who played me. “Would you sing ‘Lean On Me’ together?” they asked. I said yes, even though I have a terrible singing voice.” -A Day in the Life
https://youtu.be/6Jh2n5ki0KE
“On Between Two Ferns, when Zach Galifianakis asked me, “I’m going to sneak up on you in a gorilla mask, is that cool?” I said sure. Why not? You only live once.” -A Day in the Life
https://youtu.be/xrkPe-9rM1Q
“Philippe had raised the issue that, unlike two men debating who just meet in the middle and shake hands, there was a question of whether Trump would try to hug or—dare I say it—kiss me. Fair enough, I said, let’s practice. Philippe came at me with his arms outstretched. I tried to stiff-arm him and get away. It ended with him literally chasing me across the room, putting me in a bear hug, and kissing the back of my head.” -A Day in the Life
https://twitter.com/philippereines/status/865578947076997120
Links to misc. referenced events
Trump’s Access Hollywood Tape (mentioned in A Day in the Life): https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html?utm_term=.808322efabb8
Bill losing Governor’s race because of Hillary’s maiden name (mentioned in On Being a Woman in Politics): http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/12/16/in-1979-interview-hillary-rodham-explains-why-she-didnt-use-bill-clintons-last-name/
Chelsea being called the “White House dog” when she was 13 years old: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2124301/Chelsea-Clinton-tells-Rush-Limbaugh-fun-looks-13-comparing-dog.html
