Intro
In her memoir Hard Choices, Hilary Rodham Clinton discusses the aftermath of her 2008 presidential run, her adjustment to the subsequent presidency of Barack Obama and her unexpected appointment as Secretary of State. Clinton frankly discusses the challenges and experiences of her position and uses the memoir as an introduction to her potential presidential run in 2016.
The major themes in this memoir are sacrifice, success, regret and exceptionalism (Clinton). Clinton repeatedly discusses the sacrifices and hard choices that she had to make throughout her life, both personally and professionally, in order to get where she is today. Specifically, discussing the chain recreation of events that led to her most recent accomplishment, her appointment to the position of Secretary of State. Clinton highlights her sacrifice when she speaks of giving up a promising law career to move to Arkansas, marry Bill Clinton, start a family and support her husband’s political aspirations as he became the Governor of Arkansas. These sacrifices eventually led Clinton to the title of First Lady during her husband’s presidency, immediately after which Clinton embraced the world of politics herself through her election onto the United States Senate as a senator from the state of New York. Clinton emphasizes that a lot of her sacrifices and choices had been due to her gravitation toward public service (Clinton). Since this memoir is often considered by the media and the public as a means to promote a possible, eventually real, run for president in 2016. Clinton also discusses her successes at length in order to establish herself as a strong candidate. Highlighting her accomplishments during her time as Secretary of State, such as the success of the bin Laden raids which represented a triumphant moment in American foreign affairs. Going as far as recalling the exact moments the raids unfolded, during which she heavily favored going in after bin Laden. As for regrets, Clinton discusses these as well, although briefly, some of her failures are described in the pages of her memoir, contributing to the overall theme to self-reflection. Lastly, Clinton uses exceptionalism as a way to reassure the public and the rest of the world, that although the United States is often facing criticism when it comes to foreign affairs, it is still an exceptional nation and that Clinton is the leader that this country needs.
The central message of the novel, although not explicit, is that Clinton, through all of her accomplishments, failures, and struggles has persevered to reach a greater goal of public service and of making the United States a better place. A goal that she is emphasizing in anticipation of her bid for presidency in 2016.
Some of the most interesting chapters of the book were at the very beginning of the memoir where Hilary Clinton discusses her transition from presidential hopeful to embracing the Obama administration, to even accepting the unexpected appointment to the position of Secretary of State. Particularly interesting was the part of the memoir where Clinton discussed, at length, the mending of fences that had to happen between the Clinton and Obama campaigns after Barack Obama’s selection as the Democratic candidate. It provides an interesting look inside the political process, going from rivals on the political stage to forming a united front on behalf of the Untied States.
Another particularly enjoyable part of the memoir was Clinton’s discussion of her daughter Chelsea’s wedding. In that section of the memoir, Clinton discussed how she was able to find common ground with senior Chinese officials through a discussion of their families. This is a very humanizing part of the memoir where Clinton also brags on her daughter, the pride and joy of her life, and the happiness that her daughter’s wedding day had brought their family. It makes the well-known political figure appear very personable and even approachable to the general public.
This book is not written objectively as it is a memoir, written from the memories and experiences of a single individual, Hilary Clinton. Clinton wrote this memoir as something that would potentially aid her campaign therefore, she does well at not taking any solid stances in her memoir. A broad overview of American foreign policy and constant name dropping of a variety of foreign leaders takes up the majority of the memoir (Clinton). Often ignoring the actual issue at hand or even avoiding controversial topics entirely.
Hilary Clinton is well qualified to write a memoir about her own life and experiences, as she lived them herself. She is also very well qualified to write about foreign policy and the American political system as a whole. She has extensive experience in the political arena, from her start as a Yale-educated attorney to her eight years as the First Lady of the United States, to her time as a Senator from New York, and finally her four years as the 67th Secretary of State.
Works Cited
Clinton, Hillary Rodham. Hard Choices. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014. Print.
