What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton- Book Review

I have thought about how to begin this blog post for a little while now. Do I begin with how I voted in the election? Do I write about how Bill Clinton was the first candidate I ever voted for? Do I put some kind of asterisk next to everything I will write?

What I decided to do is write why I purchased the book. None of us can deny that when one talks about HRC, everyone has an opinion of her. She has been in the political spotlight on a national level since Bill Clinton became candidate Clinton and then President Clinton. In my state, HRC's legacy continued as she became our state Senator (the first First Lady to have a political career post White House days). Then she ran for President, became Secretary of State, and then ran for President again. I have to write this- no matter what your opinion of her is, you have to respect the accomplishments that she has made. This is the reason I purchased the book. No one compares to HRC when it comes to her political career. She broke all kinds of ceilings and was a forerunner for candidates who are women. I wanted the book to get an insight into her life, post political career (as it is looking like that is the case).

This book is so many things and at 500+ pages, it should be. It covers what it was like to lose the Presidency after winning the popular vote, what it was like to run against Trump and Obama, what it means to be a woman in politics, what it is like to be in the spotlight for so long, etc. This book is raw and is nothing like what it is being painted as.

The book is being painted as a blame book. I am not going to lie, there is some blame at others, but I found much more self blame. There were plenty of sentences that focused on whether or not she had done something correctly or if she had just tweaked something. In the parts that blame others, it comes from a rawness in her reflection. She has reason to be angry. She has been under a hate machine since 1992 and had all sorts of criticism, critique, and lies spread about her. I would be pretty angry at times too.

Yet, with some minor anger passages, there are many more passages about the love she has for her grandchildren, her need for self care, and just being alive and trying to live a normal life in the midst of a spotlight searching out every mistake and problem. That made this a powerful book. After reading it, I turned to my wife and said "I wish I saw this Clinton on the stage instead of what was presented to me." In that statement, I realized I too had bought into some of the attacks.

With everything typed, I do think this book could have been trimmed a bit. A whole section on life of the road was almost unnecessary as she divulges which is the best hot sauce. Those parts seemed a bit tedious. Overall though, I thought it was a good insight into her mindset including her frustrations, her joy, her life, and presented all in a very real and raw way. In this book is HRC the woman and person and not HRC the candidate. I really enjoyed it.

I gave this one 4 stars.