You can almost hear the roar of womankind in Hillary Clinton's new memoir

Hillary Clinton finds a renewed voice as she paves the way ahead for a potential presidential bid
Unfinished business: Clinton may run for President in 2016
Sarah Sands12 June 2014

Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton (Simon & Schuster, £20)

Hard Choices is not WikiLeaks. Clinton is not picking fights or doling out gossip. She is displaying a masterly hand on the tiller and giving a patient exposition of the foreign policy philosophy she developed. Smart power, a term for which she should be credited, is a combination of strategies, “diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural”, to deal with geopolitical problems.

The Clinton-Obama era has been a response to the Manichean regime that went before it. Clinton is quick to compliment the political leaders whom she encountered, shout-outs for William Hague and David Cameron, tender sigh for her favourite, David Miliband. Her trump card is her ability to get along with almost anyone across the political spectrum, apart from raging dictators. But two who come out badly are Vladimir Putin, who declines to succumb to smart power, and George Bush, who is barely and slightingly mentioned.

Hard Choices is not intended as a mea culpa but Clinton does admit that she should have said it was a “mistake” to have given President Bush the benefit of the doubt on military action in Iraq. This need not be a weakness, for her personality pitch in this book is that she is the sum of her extraordinary experience. In fact, she defiantly claims that “mistakes can be a sign of strength and growth for people and nations”.

This is a woman who can slug it out. She repeatedly refers to herself as a willing “punchbag” absorbing any global discontent over American policy. The most used word, however, is “patriot”. She has done her duty, even sacrificing her health and, as she blurted out during a book launch, a fortune.

Clinton’s early animosity towards Barack Obama was said to have been based on his impudent self-belief. She did not accept that this senator-come-lately had earned the right to lead the country. There is no explicit Presidential manifesto in this book but there is nothing lightweight about it or the author. She has travelled a million miles in service of her country.

The book opens with a map of the world, in case we have any doubts. And Clinton is lyrical about swank transport. For instance: “As a rule I am not fond of helicopters. But Marine One is different. The cabin of the iconic green and white Presidential helicopter feels more like a small plane, with white leather seats, blue curtains and space for a dozen passengers. It’s as quiet as riding a car.” It would not be the main reason for voting for a Hillary Clinton presidency, but you realise how much she would appreciate Air Force One.

The book is clearly written with the help of researchers — some descriptions of countries seem to come straight out of the CIA World Fact Book — but Clinton’s voice and world view is authentic. Political journalists have tended to look up their own countries and leaders in the index, but there is a sweep. Clinton shows an early interest in Asia and then Latin America, while keeping an eye on old European allies. She recognises the danger of neglecting regions, of failing to “expect the unexpected”, as Mrs Thatcher once put it, in a rare aphorism. Today, this includes Iraq. In Clinton’s words, America only had “half a strategy”.

Hard Choices is also the story of Clinton’s relationship with Barack Obama, and this is gripping. The book begins with the reconciliation between the two after a bruising campaign: “We stared at each other like two teenagers on an awkward first date, taking a few sips of Chardonnay.” To continue the first-date analogy, she does not give in easily. Hillary demands that his team retract the “preposterous” charges of racism they had made against her husband. She turns down the job of Secretary of State several times, and her reason for finally accepting is stated as patriotism rather than personal loyalty to Obama. She demands her own team, which causes some friction down the line. Once her status is recognised — Hillaryland an equal partner to Obamaworld — she is as good as gold. Her loyalty to President Obama is unbending. His friendship towards her is also warm — at one foreign meeting he drags her aside to whisper that she has something stuck between her teeth.

The message that Obama owes her is clear, but not threatening. This is surely her turn. Her only shamelessly crowdpleasing episode in the book is to take us through the writing of her famous concession speech and the lines which still sound like a feminist anthem. “Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it.”

You can almost hear the roar of womankind. Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

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