In four previous memoirs — “Living History,” “It Takes a Village,” “Hard Choices” and “What Happened” — Hillary Rodham Clinton has spoken at length about her political career, idealism, policy positions and, occasionally, her closely guarded private life.
Does she have more to say? The cover of SOMETHING LOST, SOMETHING GAINED (Simon & Schuster, 324 pp., $29.99), which shows a softer, more approachable figure than the one familiar from the campaign trail or the situation room, hints at personal revelations. And while there are some, the book — dedicated to her grandchildren “with love and hope for the future you and your generation deserve” — it is mostly an affectionate ode to the women in her life.
These portraits are interspersed with thoughtful reactions to the political events that have taken place since “What Happened” (a point-by-point litigation of Clinton’s electoral loss to Donald Trump), forensic analyses of foreign policy situations in Ukraine and Gaza and warnings about the danger posed by another Trump term.
As “long as he remains within striking distance of the White House, the dominant emotion I feel is dread — plus determination to do all I can to stop him,” she writes.
Here are eight takeaways from the book.
She did not revel in schadenfreude (much) after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies
“I closed the breaking news alert and exchanged a few funny tweets and memes with friends over text. … That evening I had to appear at an event for women’s rights. I started my remarks by asking, ‘Anything going on today?’”
The first ladies are not mean girls
In a chapter titled “This Remarkable Sisterhood,” Clinton describes the mini-reunion of first ladies that took place at Rosalynn Carter’s 2023 Atlanta memorial. The Clintons, Obamas and Bidens flew down together on Air Force One. When they arrived, they greeted Laura Bush, who “was, as always, a picture of polish and warmth.”
To Clinton’s surprise, Melania Trump was at the funeral, too: “If anybody at the White House or on Bill’s or my Secret Service detail had been briefed on Mrs. Trump’s plan to attend, they didn’t tell me.
“Melania had a look on her face — very smiley but uncertain — that reminded me of the little kid at the birthday party who doesn’t know anyone and is waiting at the edge of the circle, hoping people are going to be nice. We were. We all went up to her … Jill air-kissed her cheek, and Michelle Obama gave one her of her signature big hugs.” Melania, reserved, “didn’t engage much. Bill tried to make conversation, asking her how she was, but he was met with a smile and few words. I reached out, shook her hand, and said, ‘Hello, Melania, it’s nice to see you.’”
Her staff has a nickname for her
“Where once they called me Mrs. Clinton or Senator Clinton or Madam Secretary, today they refer to me as ‘Big Girl.’ As in, ‘Has anyone heard from Big Girl whether she’s in town to meet us for dinner?’ I like that it’s not ‘Boss’ or (God forbid) ‘Top Banana.’”
She has a nickname for her post-menopausal midsection
Clinton refers to her stubborn spare tire her as “Beulah,” an idea “borrowed from Wanda Sykes … when Chelsea and I were filming our 2022 ‘Gutsy’ docuseries on Apple TV+.”
She remains deeply distressed by campus protests over the Israel-Gaza War
Clinton says she was “struck by how little history of the region most of our students had been exposed to,” adding, “History matters. Context matters. Especially in such a difficult and complex crisis, where nothing is black and white and enmities go back decades if not millennia. If we don’t educate ourselves — and not just through propaganda or snippets of video served up by an algorithm controlled by the Chinese Communist Party on TikTok — we can’t form good judgments or advocate effectively for smart policies. That’s not just true for young people; it’s true for all of us, including policymakers in Washington.”
She is philosophical about aging, and clowning
“Yes, I have more aches and pains than I used to. I go to more funerals than I’d like. But I also read more novels and see more Broadway shows. Somehow, I’ve even become a novelist myself — and a Broadway producer and a Hollywood filmmaker; I even took clown lessons with Chelsea at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, red nose and all. Never thought I’d do that!”
Chelsea Clinton cleaned her own room in the White House
“Try enforcing chores when there’s a whole household staff at your teenager’s service! To Chelsea’s credit, she stepped up even then.”
Each morning, she and Bill Clinton lie in bed and play Spelling Bee on their phones
After only a few minutes, “he’ll call out, ‘Queen Bee!’ That’s the highest score, when you find every possible word. ‘Still working on it,’ I’ll reply, wondering, even after half a century at his side, how he does it so fast.”
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