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Hillary's Choice, written by Gail Sheehy, has to be one of the most intriguing books I have recently read. Most literary works have the tendency to start off slow, wind up to a climax and finally produce a strong finish. It is not the case you find when you read Hillary's Choice. From the very beginning you are introduced to the scandals that the Clintons have had to endure throughout their lives. That is why the first chapter is labeled as, Into the Flames.
You are being taken straight into the heart of the hell you might say, this will later become the climactic point of the book, the biggest and most painful scandal to occur to former President Bill Clinton, his extramarital relation with intern Monica Lewinsky. Gail Sheehy, in this first chapter alone provides you with juicy details to keep the reader interested, fascinated and to provide an insight of what awaits the reader within the book. As you read further, into the flames (of hell), the story begins to take a turn into revealing the childhood of both Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton himself. The conversion from scandals to childhood is accomplished in-order for the reader to acquire an understanding of why and how the Clintons came to be the way they are. As you proceed in reading you will be fascinated with some of the stories you encounter. Some of them have been portrayed by the media and other stories have definitely been kept in the closet, until now.
From the title of the book being Hillary's Choice you would think that the book would solely depict Hillary Rodham's life and the choices she has made throughout her career, but its quite the contrary. You as the reader are introduced to both aspects of childhood, Hillary and Bill Clintons, and you might make a conclusion of how the both turned out the way they are. As you learn about Hillary's childhood you become well informed of how she has come to be the woman she is. Gail Sheehy emphasizes on Hillary's father playing a very significant role in the way she turned out to be. You will be informed of how her father used to discipline them.
You might even call the man a bastard for not providing adequate support towards his daughter, while some of you might agree with his discipline. The father being a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy is portrayed as being, self-sufficient, and a tough minded individual. An example of how tough minded her father was, when Hillary was in high school she would bring home straight As, he was not pleased. As being the highest grade of achievement at that time cause there was no plus or minus grades, was still unsatisfactory to her father and Hillary was reprimanded for it.
Another form of punishment that her father implanted on Hillary was when she was off in college. During those times you learn that in order for an individual to leave the campus, the college must have parental consent. Her father once always refused to give his consent and she was forced to stay on campus. Only in her last couple of college years is when she starts rebelling against her father, this period in her life is when she is trying to come to terms with her own being. The author once again provides us vivid imagery on her trips to Chicago suburbs to meet with inner city black kids and learn their cultures and values on life. And the most valuable experience that Hillary would keep for the rest of her life would be the one in which she heard Dr.
Martin Luther King preach. She had become so overwhelmed with his believes and attempts to unify the nation that it would ultimately lead in helping her achieve some of her goals. Living under those circumstances as they are depicted by author Gail Sheehy, do you believe you would turn out the same way Hillary has? I know I would be scared of her father and most likely would turn out the way she has. You come to learn a lot about the way Hillary represented herself throughout her teen years. If you were to look at Hillary now you would never think that she was a prude girl who never wore make-up and never cared about the way her clothes looked.
I believe the author picked the appropriate word to describe Hillary back in youth years, prude. The meaning of the word prude: one who is excessively concerned with being or appearing to be proper, modest, or righteous. That is precise word that would best describe Hillary Clinton all throughout her life until about the last year in college. As stated by one of Hillary's closest friend and Minister Don Jones, Hillary is circumspect and prudent. While this was Hillary's life, Bill Clintons life was can say quite the contrary. He lived in a family filled with troubles.
Unfortunately Bills father died when Bill was only three. He died in what you might consider to be a freak accident. The manner in which he died is in a car accident, while he was drunk, he stumbles out of the car falls on a puddle of water and drowns. From this illustration one gets the impression that all wasnt well in the Clinton household.
As you read about Clintons life as a childhood you might come to the conclusion that Bill became a ladys man by the way he learned to treat his mother. His mother often needed support and loving and the only ones who would do so was Bill and his brother. Everyday after school they would come home and find their mother Virginia tell herself she is worthless and ugly, all the boys had to do to make her proud and cheer her up was tell her that she was beautiful and had everything to look forward too. From the way he treated his mother he grew up to be a ladies man, hypnotizing women with his charm and good looks. But this excellent quality that he possessed is what ultimately got him in hot water, not only with his wife but the nation also. Author Gail Sheehy, her strongest points in the book come from those which are directly quoted from primary sources.
She does an incredible job taking her time in acquiring first hand information on every aspect she wrote about. She was able to gather information not only from Hillary's mother but even from college classmates and even individuals she has worked with. With this kind of support being included in the book it just provides that much more detail and information to learn about how her life was. But the one quote in the book that I will associate Hillary with is that of Dick Morris, You sound like a goddamned Stalinist!
The book could not have been complete without this direct quote. Once again Gail Sheehy has managed to obtain direct and powerful information that only makes the point she is trying to portray much stronger. The imagery one gets from the name Stalin is that of dictatorship. If you are not familiar with Stalin he was a former dictator / ruler of Russia.
Having that image in your head, you should be able to place a mental image of how strong minded Hillary is. When she wanted to push for an issue, in this case health care reform, she would not back down or accept any negotiations that would hinder her goal in anyway. It was either her way or no way. That is the primary reason why the proposal never passed. Author Gail Sheehy will have you thinking to yourself, like father like daughter, both very tough minded individuals who always wanted to be correct. The information provided to us in the first chapter Into the Flames, is used to lure you into the book.
As you continue to read you begin to reach the climatic point. You will see it is basically the reiteration of the scandals in the first chapter. But one thing the author did not include in the very beginning is the fact that Hillary used to beat on Bill. Now who in reality do you believe wore the pants in the relationship? The knowledge you acquire from the book is that Hillary was always the one to get Bill Clinton out of trouble. With her skills and expertise in law she was the one that was able to manipulate the press and lawyers.
Bill Clinton just went along for the ride. That is why many individuals believe she has at least one major goal to accomplish, the goal to becoming the first female President of the United States. She already has one foot through the door, will she be able to complete her journey? Gail Sheehy finishes of the book off by naming the last pages, The road not traveled yet. This is implying that Hillary Rodham still has yet to find her purpose in life. A direct quote from Hillary's early years, I wonder who is me.
I wonder if Ill ever meet her. If I did, I think wed get along famously. Gail Sheehy manipulates this quote around and finishes the book very powerful. Traveling this road, Hillary Rodham may at last meet herself.
And perhaps they will get along famously. For the meantime she is concentrating on human rights. Hopefully she will be able to unify people using peaceful terms. Who knows maybe the road will lead to Presidency. Only time will tell.
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