This past summer has seen the publication of three books pertaining to Hillary Clinton and various aspects of her life. “Hard Choices” is a memoir the former secretary of state wrote herself after stepping down from her position.
“All of us face hard choices in our lives,” Hillary Clinton writes, “Life is about making such choices. Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become.”
There is one thing that Hillary Clinton said was never a hard choice: serving her country. Even if it means lying down on the backseat of a minivan to sneak past reporters in order to meet with the president of the United States, as Hillary Clinton describes in her book.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life,” Hillary Clinton writes.
Whereas Hillary Clinton focused her memoir on the inside accounts of choices and crises she faced during her four years as secretary of state, journalist Edward Klein focuses his book “Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. The Obamas” on the tumultuous relationship the Clintons have with the Obamas. The book reveals the supposed rivalry between the two families.
Klein claims that in return for Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement over Hillary Clinton, President Obama promised Winfrey access to the White House if he won the election.
If Hillary Clinton had won the 2008 presidential election, Klein states that Hillary Clinton threatened to throw her husband out the door if he interfered too much with her administration.
Despite the popularity the latter has had in book sales, the New York Times expressed this sales advantage as being partly due to the readers’ desire for entertainment. The main source of sales for Klein’s book has come from the conservative demographic.
“Clinton, Inc.” by Daniel Halper is the third book about the political dynasty to be released this summer. It covers the untold story of the rebirth of the Clintons after they left the White House.
“The most difficult decisions I have made in my life were to stay married to Bill and to run for the Senate from New York,” Hillary Clinton writes in her best-selling memoir.Halper uses this same quote in his chapter on Hillary Clinton’s redemption. Halper writes that even while Bill Clinton was facing scandal, Hillary’s mind was on her own political survival. Perhaps Hillary Clinton’s choice was not as altruistic as she would like readers to think.
Despite the pure altruism nullified by Halper’s words, it is perhaps Halper’s and Hillary Clinton’s books that are closer to the truth than the more scandalous “Blood Feud.” Yet none of this really describes what the fascination with Hillary Clinton that has overtaken the country is really about.
The publication of the three books could be a prelude to Hillary Clinton’s possible 2016 presidential election, and these books may or may not affect that presidential election with their influence.
Whether all this literary fascination is for political reasons or for personal insight into Hillary Clinton’s life is unclear. But what is clear is that drama sells: “Blood Feud” trumped Hillary Clinton’s memoir on the bestsellers list after its debut
Follow Ivana Goldtooth @goldiechik93
