A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, by Carl Bernstein: on Principles & Values

Hillary Clinton: As Goldwater Girl in 1960s, canvassed Chicago slums

Hillary Clinton: Childhood of parsimonious parents; favored equal opportunity

Hillary Clinton: Has a Jewish step-grandfather

Hillary Clinton: Father a rock-ribbed Republican but ran for office as Dem

Hillary Clinton: Tolerating Bill’s foibles echoes mom’s Methodist forgiveness

As she later did with her husband, Hillary took an almost biblical view in her forgiveness of her father’s actions: “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” The lesson came directly from Hugh Rodham: “He used to say all the time, ‘I will always love you but I won’t always like what you do,’” said Hillary.

Hillary Clinton: A mind conservative and a heart liberal

The event that galvanized Hillary’s more militant instincts was King’s assassination. She had met him in 1962, shaken his hand, sat spellbound as he preached.

Wellesley students threatened to go on a hunger strike if the college did not recruit more black faculty and students. Hillary proposed a solution that avoided a clash: she would work as a go-between to find a compromise. Indeed, the college began to recruit minority faculty and students. Hillary’s response had been in character.

Hillary Clinton: Staff attorney on Watergate/Nixon impeachment investigation

Hillary was one of three women on the staff of 44 lawyers. Like her colleagues, she worked 12 to 18-hour days. The rules forbade staff from making personal notes or keeping diaries or talking outside the office to any nonstaff about the inquiry.

Hillary Clinton: Taught at AR Law School using “all business” style

Bill was regarded as the easiest grader in the law school. Hillary’s exams were tough, & her grading commensurate with what she expected serious law students to know. There was little doubt she was the better teacher. But his was the more interesting class, because of the passion & knowledge with which he addressed legal questions that related to everyday events.

Bill Clinton: Despite critics, fervent believer in policy solutions

Over the next two years, Clinton would find himself walking a thin line between implementing policies that could dramatically contribute to the lives of his fellow Arkansans, and attempting not to rattle of the establishment and the good ol’ boys who ran the legislature.

Bill Clinton: Founded “New Democrat” message in 1980 Convention speech

Bill Clinton: 1982 theme: “My daddy never had to whip me twice”

The 1982 campaign became the model for their political future, with Hillary assuming a far more direct, hands-on role in terms of policy, strategy, and staff. Hillary was never bashful about telling you when she thought you made a mistake. Bill Clinton would never tell you that, though he might think it. He was the good guy. Hillary was the one that laid the law down.

Bill Clinton: Monica affair was “inappropriate” but not sex in legal terms

Clinton read from a prepared statement in which he admitted ”inappropriate intimate contact“ with Lewinsky, which ”did not consist of sexual intercourse,“ and did not ”constitute sexual relations“ as defined in a long list of terms he had read at his deposition. He said, ”I’ll bet the jurors, if they were talking about a sexual relationship, they meant they were sleeping together; they meant they were having intercourse“--not oral sex.

Bill Clinton: $52M Whitewater investigation began on real estate; not sex

After 6 years of investigation, $52 million, and a Senate trial, the special prosecutor was forced to acknowledge that there had been no violation of law by either Hillary or Bill surrounding the land transaction. The allegation that stuck was that Bill Clinton lied about sex.

Bill Clinton: Promise of ethical reform invited harsh unceasing scrutiny

Yet there can be no question that the Clintons had invited unusual scrutiny by their impassioned promises of probity to voters in the campaign of 1992, and an unwavering inaugural theme that stressed the ethical reform they said they were bringing to Washington. There was something of an implicit challenge in their manner.

Hillary Clinton: 1978: “Name issue” of Rodham raised in Bill’s first race

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 issues of the campaign.

[After the election], Hillary usually introduced herself as “Hillary--Governor Clinton’s wife,” but formal invitations were in the name of “Gov. Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham.”

Hillary Clinton: Despite critics, fervent believer in public service

Hillary Clinton: Suffers from endometriosis; Chelsea’s conception difficult

Just before they were to [visit the fertility specialist], Hillary learned she was pregnant. Hillary and Bill radiated excitement, and relief.

Hillary Clinton: 1980: Synthesized basic principles into “New Dem” concept

Hillary Clinton: 1982 campaign: served as Bill’s de facto campaign director

The 1982 campaign became the model for their political future, with Hillary assuming a far more direct, hands-on role in terms of policy, strategy, scheduling, and hiring staff for the campaign. She wasn’t the campaign chairman in name, but she was the campaign director in fact.

Hillary was never bashful about telling you when she thought you made a mistake. Bill Clinton would never tell you that. He was the good guy. Hillary was the one that laid the law down.

Hillary Clinton: Whitewater deal: maybe conflict-of-interest; but not illegal

After 6 years of investigation, $52 million, and the Senate trial of a president, the special prosecutor was forced to acknowledge that there had been no violation of law by either Hillary or Bill surrounding the land transaction (or in the Travel Office affair for that matter). The allegation that stuck was that Bill Clinton lied about sex.

Hillary Clinton: In Arkansas and Washington, subject to unprecedented vitriol

Hillary & Bill had had plenty of foretastes--in their years in Arkansas and during the presidential campaign, of the vitriol and determination of their enemies. And who should have known better than the new president’s wife that Nixon’s excesses and resignation had incubated a new investigative era? The 1992 presidential campaign had made clear that Hillary, as much as her husband, was a moving target for legions who wished them ill.

Bill Clinton: 1987: Declined chance to run; some say due to affairs

Bill would later say of the decision, “Finally I felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I was free to be a father, husband, and governor and to work and speak on national issues unencumbered by immediate ambitions.”

Bill Clinton: Monica & impeachment propelled him to highest approval

The impeachment locomotive was gathering steam. Hyde would have doubts about the wisdom of continuing down the impeachment track, especially because Bill’s popularity remained high, but Gingrich had no hesitancy.

Bill Clinton: When he set the agenda, he won; but scandals interfered

From its outset until Clinton’s acquittal in the Senate trial, the terms of the national debate were more often set by the press, the Clintons’ enemies, the Republican opposition, and the special prosecutor. The best efforts of the Clintons, their aides and lawyers were spent in response to investigations. The Clinton presidency was sapped of its almost limitless potential.

Bill Clinton: From mother Virginia came stamina & gregariousness

Clinton’s gregariousness, his fun-loving nature, his glad-handing, his hugging, his empathy, his ability to focus on whomever he was talking to, all those were traits he shared with his mother.

Hillary believed that Bill and Virginia shared great optimism, along with a tendency to repress unpleasant thoughts. He had nearly photographic recall, yet for decades had blocked out painful scenes involving his abusive stepfather.

George Bush Sr.: Pardoned 6 officials in Iran-Contra scandal

Hillary Clinton: 1992: Attacks as radical feminist backfired into sympathy

Hillary Clinton: Turned to prayer when father dying, & anytime under duress

Hillary would later be accused of cynically becoming more religious for the purpose of political advancement after her election to the Senate. That is hard to imagine given that knowledge of her affiliation with the prayer group during the White House years was kept to a few in her inner circle.

Hillary Clinton: Vince Foster suicide due to public bashing in editorial

It was increasingly hard for Foster to fight for Hillary. When he left Arkansas, he expected the relationship with Hillary to be as deep as ever. The last thing he expected is that it would turn upside down.

The Journal tied Foster & Hillary to the Travel Office firings in yet another editorial on July 19. On July 20, police found Foster dead.

Hillary Clinton: 1992: Keep press on the issues, not on personal destruction

The big story of the campaign, she feared, would was going to be Bill’s private life and hers, and a grotesque distortion of the Arkansas years. It is apparent in interview after interview that the guiding premise was: Keep them away from us and our private lives.

Hillary Clinton: Travelgate: Office WAS sloppy; firings looked like cronyism

“Travelgate” rolled on. Bill ordered an investigation. Throughout, all downplayed Hillary’s role. Hillary was protected by preventing disclosure that she’d suggested cleaning house to get “our people” in the travel office.

Hillary Clinton: Could have weakened right wing conspiracy by honest answers

But however accurate Hillary’s perception of an organized threat against the Clintons, she seemed unable or unwilling to grasp the desire of less antagonistic citizens, members of Congress, and the press to be given straightforward, timely responses to legitimate questions being raised by the stories, whatever the origins of the information & the motivations of those promoting them.

Hillary Clinton: Like Eleanor Roosevelt, pushed boundaries of First Lady role

It would have been unthinkable in the first half of the 20th century that a first lady select members of the president’s staff and cabinet, occupy an office in the White House west wing, participate in her husband’s policy meetings, or take charge of the planning of the most costly domestic policy initiative in history. She would become an icon to millions and a hated target for millions of others because of it.

New Testament: Love the sinner, hate the sin

Hillary and Bill's difficult but enduring marriage is perhaps explained in the context of the marriage of her parents, dominated by the humiliating, withholding figure of her father, whom she managed to idealize, while rationalizing his cruelty and indifference to the pain he caused. Hillary somehow found a way to focus on what her father was able to give, not what was denied.

As she later did with her husband, Hillary took an almost biblical view in her forgiveness of her father's actions: "Love the sinner, hate the sin." The lesson came directly from Hugh Rodham: "He used to say all the time, `I will always love you but I won't always like what you do,'" said Hillary.