NEW YORK — At the end of her new memoir, Hillary Clinton utters what seems like a far-fetched wish: “I hope I live to see a woman elected president of the United States.”
It turns out her book went to the printer too early. Clinton wrote the sentence before Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, which suddenly made her wish seem that much more urgent. The print version of “Something Lost, Something Gained,” which comes out this week, was updated too late, though the audiobook now has an epilogue.
So how does Clinton feel about his wish now?
“Really optimistic,” she says, praising the vice president as a candidate and especially her recent debate performance. “I think I’ll be there to see the first woman president!”
Clinton, 76, has written memoirs before — from “Living History” in 2003 to “What Happened?” in 2017, about the painful defeat to Donald Trump that thwarted her own quest to become the first female U.S. president. This latest memoir feels more intimate. Inspired by the song “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell, one of her favorite musicians, the book aims to show how she sees the world now, she says — rather than socializing with her over dinner.
So it ranges from the macro — for example, a chapter in which she imagines the years following Trump’s re-election, starting with soldiers patrolling America’s cities — to the micro, in which she describes life as a grandmother or mornings at home with Bill, competing over the spelling bee puzzle in The New York Times.
First Lady, lawyer, senator, secretary of state, and, of course, presidential candidate. University professor, budding Broadway producer. Clinton has lived many chapters, and the actual chapters of the book switch seamlessly between eras.
She recounts in detail worthy of a spy novel her efforts to rescue women in danger during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, then in the next chapter reflects on the unique “sisterhood” of former first ladies, at one point defending Melania Trump from criticism of her outfit at Rosalynn Carter’s memorial service: “She came. That’s what matters.”
But she makes no secret of her animosity toward Donald Trump. It’s clear that the “something lost” category of her title includes an election that still deeply hurts her. In a recent anecdote, she recalls meeting a retired FBI official who apologized for his role in the way the investigation into her emails was handled, an inquiry that was reopened just days before the election.
She writes that she stared for a minute, unable to say anything. Then she said, “I would have been a great president,” and walked away.
Clinton spoke to The Associated Press last week ahead of the release of her book. Here’s more:
Clinton wore white when accepting the Democratic nomination, honoring women’s suffrage; Harris did not. Clinton spoke of “18 million cracks” in the final glass ceiling if she lost; Harris has not emphasized gender in her speeches. Why the difference?
Well, Clinton says, it’s been eight years. When she was running, having a female major-party candidate was so new for the country to focus on. Nearly a decade later, the country has gotten more used to the idea.
“We no longer have just one image of someone running for president — that’s me,” she said. “We now have a better opportunity for female candidates, starting with Kamala, to be seen as embracing the fact that, yes, guess what? She’s a woman.”
Clinton writes that fans often come up to her and say, “You warned us, and we wish we had listened to you.”
But Clinton also wrote that she took no pleasure in hearing or realizing she was right — “in fact, I hated it” — even when she learned one afternoon in May that Trump had become the first former U.S. president to be convicted of serious crimes, saying the moment brought her a “shock of disbelief” and “the pang of vindication,” as well as some tears.
Asked what he fears most now that he is “right,” he replied: “What I fear most is that people will not take Donald Trump seriously. And really.”
Not surprisingly for the woman who coined the phrase “women’s rights are human rights” three decades ago, Clinton writes about the many female activists and dissidents she has worked with around the world. She also describes how she, along with her colleagues, ran a secret operation to get hundreds of women out of Afghanistan — professors, lawyers, activists and their families — who were likely to be targeted by the Taliban after American troops left.
But Clinton also discussed new work. Such as teaching at Columbia University for the first time in 50 years. And a Broadway production. Clinton was one of the producers of the Tony Award-winning musical play “Suffs,” about women fighting for the right to vote in the early 20th century. She ends her book with a song from the show, “Keep Marching.”
Will there be more productions in the future? “I don’t know,” she says. “I can tell you it’s been one of the best experiences of my life.”
The grandmother of three, who dedicated her book to her three children, says being a grandmother is “truly a life experience that can’t be overrated.”
But Clinton gets most personal when talking about her marriage, which she says brings her “new joys every day.” She doesn’t feel the need to elaborate on past challenges. “It’s no secret that Bill and my marriage have had its rough days in the past,” she writes. “But the past softens with time, and what remains is the truth: I am married to my best friend.”
Now when asked if she thinks some people still don’t believe it, and wonder why she stayed, she replied: “I’m sure there are people who don’t understand it. It was an opportunity for me to basically say what I believe, which is that every life has challenges, opportunities, failures, disappointments, successes, achievements. And you have to make a decision almost every day about how you’re going to live that day.” She says her decisions were the right ones for her.
Clinton’s schedule is arranged minute-by-minute by an aide. The 10:14 a.m. phone call may be planned, but what does that mean for her much-documented walk in the woods near home in Chappaqua, New York?
Clinton schedules time for them, too. Bill comes over sometimes, but his walks are more like “a walking conversation” where he gets to talk to everyone. As for her, she “just has to get out and walk as fast as I can.”
Sometimes she plans a speech while walking. Other times, she says, she doesn’t think about anything at all. “The Japanese have a great phrase that means forest bathing, where you literally walk in the forest and take it all in.”
She advises readers to do the same when the political climate starts to get tense: “Put your phone down and go outside. Go for a walk.”
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