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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA lovely excerpt from Hillary's book: I excerpted a part about her marriage
Hillary Clinton On Losing the 2016 Presidential Election & Her Marriage to Bill
https://www.vogue.com/article/hillary-clinton-memoir-election-marriage?mbid=social_twitter
Weve been married since 1975. Weve had many, many more happy days than sad or angry ones. I know some people wonder why were still together. I heard it again in the 2016 campaign: that we must have an arrangement (we do; its called a marriage); that I helped him become president and then stayed so he could help me become president (no); that we lead completely separate lives, and its just a marriage on paper now (he is reading this over my shoulder in our kitchen with our dogs underfoot, and in a minute he will reorganize our bookshelves for the millionth time, which means I will not be able to find any of my books, and once I learn the new system, hell just redo it again, but I dont mind because he really loves to organize those bookshelves).
I dont believe our marriage is anyones business. Public people should be allowed to have private lives, too. But I know that a lot of people are genuinely interested. Maybe youre flat-out perplexed. Maybe you want to know how this works because you are married and would like it to last 40 years or longer, and youre looking for perspective. I certainly cant fault you on that.
I dont want to delve into all the details, because I really do want to hold on to whats left of my privacy as much as I can. But I will say this: Bill has been an extraordinary father to our beloved daughter and an exuberant, hands-on grandfather to our two grandchildren. I look at Chelsea and Charlotte and Aidan and I think, We did this. Thats a big deal.
He has been my partner in life and my greatest champion. He never once asked me to put my career on hold for his. He never once suggested that maybe I shouldnt compete for anythingin work or politicsbecause it would interfere with his life or ambitions. There were stretches of time in which my husbands job was unquestionably more important than mine, and he still didnt play that card. I have never felt like anything but an equal. Bill is completely unbothered by having an ambitious, opinionated, occasionally pushy wife. In fact, he loves me for it.
Long before I thought of running for public office, he was saying, You should do it. Youd be great at it. Id love to vote for you. He helped me believe in this bigger version of myself. Bill was a devoted son-in-law and always made my parents feel welcome in our home. Toward the end of my mothers life, when I wanted her to move into our house in Washington, he said yes without hesitation. Though I expected nothing less, this meant the world to me. I know so many women who are married to men whothough they have their good qualitiescan be sullen, moody, irritated at small requests, and generally disappointed with everyone and everything. Bill Clinton is the opposite. He has a temper, but hes never mean. And hes funny, friendly, unflappable in the face of mishaps and inconveniences, and easily delighted by the worldremember those balloons at the convention? He is fabulous company.
Weve certainly had dark days in our marriage. You know all about themand please consider for a moment what it would be like for the whole world to know about the worst moments in your relationship. There were times that I was deeply unsure about whether our marriage could or should survive. But on those days, I asked myself the questions that mattered most to me: Do I still love him? And can I still be in this marriage without becoming unrecognizable to myself twisted by anger, resentment, or remoteness? The answers were always yes. So I kept going.
On our first date, we went to the Yale University Art Gallery to see a Mark Rothko exhibit. The building was closed, but Bill talked our way in. When I think about that afternoonseeing the art, hearing the stillness all around us, giddy about this person whom I had just met but somehow knew would change my lifeit still feels magical, and I feel happy and lucky all over again.
I still think hes one of the most handsome men Ive ever known. Im proud of him: proud of his vast intellect, his big heart, the contributions he has made to the world. I love him with my whole heart. Thats more than enough to build a life on.
Much more at link.... go read it.
CatMor
(6,212 posts)compare that with trumps 3 marriages.
Heartstrings
(7,349 posts)sheshe2
(83,966 posts)Thank you for posting. She is a remarkable woman in so many ways.
iluvtennis
(19,882 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)I will read the book and probably cry my eyes out.
calimary
(81,527 posts)Just - no kidding.
Heartbreaking is a good word. She would have been an outstanding president. What we, actually not only us in this country but those in the whole rest of the world world, too, have been denied - - - just no words.
Heartbreaking. It leaves me heartsick.
BlueMTexpat
(15,374 posts)lapucelle
(18,361 posts)I never understood why the religious right was always so dismissive of Hillary for actually abiding by her marriage vow: "...for better or worse, until death do us part".
3catwoman3
(24,072 posts)Last edited Tue Sep 12, 2017, 12:23 AM - Edit history (1)
-effing-O!!! I don't understand it, either. Nor do I understand why the religious right has no problem with all of Melania's porno (oops - "modeling" pictures, yet freaked out when Michelle wore sleeveless dresses.
Hypocrisy, thy name is fundamentalism.
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)Michelle is black, and Maleria is white. White ALL OVER as most of the world has seen!! I am certain that Hillary did not have to PAY Bill to be with her during the campaign, the way tRump had to pay his escort - oops - "wife". The gop has trouble understanding NORMAL people, don't they?
haveahart
(905 posts)Richard Nixon...married to the same woman they started out with in good times and bad times. RESPECT!
livetohike
(22,165 posts)perfect. She spelled it out so eloquently.
kag
(4,079 posts)My husband and I just celebrated our 26th, and I had the same reaction. Her description of Bill sounds so much like how I would describe my husband.
seaglass
(8,173 posts)LakeArenal
(28,858 posts)I'm sure he agrees.
For my marriage of 42 years, we say,
"35 happy ones". Pretty good considering.
The whole family is quite a role model. Love you Clintons.
calimary
(81,527 posts)from her own experience dovetails with ours.
Lotusflower70
(3,077 posts)That is absolutely beautiful. Two strong willed people working together to build something lasting. It is so easy for some people on the outside to judge them. But they are a great combination. They chose to work through the dark times and it looks like they came out stronger on the other side. They compliment each other so well. They don't limit or diminish each other. That's a testament to their individual strengths uniting to create an even stronger bond. And some people will continue to hate on them. But they are the ones living these lives and they have to live with their choices. Screw the haters. They both have held up tremendously well all things considered.
George II
(67,782 posts)...READ the book after it's available), the more we'll all see that the few petty and negative excerpts that were first released will be overwhelmed by how positive her book really is.
nolabear
(41,999 posts)What a role model. Refusing to be defined and demeaned simply by the base opinions of others.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)She's damn eloquent.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)I agree with her that even though she and Bill are public figures it still is none of our business what goes on in their private life. I have always felt that way about any public or famous person. If they have committed a crime like rape, murder, or theft that is one thing because that erases your privacy but something like an affair is not illegal and not any of our business. I sure as hell did not notice his decisions on leading our country to be bad just because he was committing adultery. He obviously kept his personal life separate from his public life and we should do the same. I think that Hillary staying with him and working it out proved how strong she is and that is the type of person who I would want to be a leader. Don't most religions teach about the power to forgive?
volstork
(5,403 posts)Yes, they do. However, Amerikkkan "christianity" is not a religion; it's a cult.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Bring it back in more than a bit? I've never been a person of faith, but I've managed it for years without attacking the religions of others, no matter how I despise personal behaviors that violate all doctrines. And here and there you will run across Christians who truly live their religion. You can tell those by an unusual degree of happy serenity. No hates, precious few guilts. Their lives are typically well ordered, bills paid, houses clean, charities donated to, neighbors cared for because they believe that's what god wants of them.
volstork
(5,403 posts)My point was to call attention to those who twist the true doctrine of Christ into something distinctly un-Christlike, hence my use of quotation marks around the word christian. The "brand" of christianity many espouse would be completely unrecognizable to Christ, as it is to those who seek to live the teachings of Jesus: Matthew 25:40-45. Although I cannot technically call myself a Christian, as I do not hold to the central tenet of Christianity (the sacrifice of Jesus for the world's sins), I do believe that the way Jesus instructed his followers to live is deeply compassionate and inclusive, and I look on it as something to emulate.
It is not, nor has it ever been, my intention to bash those who truly live their faith and who hew to the teachings of Christ. Those who mangle what Jesus spoke are truly evil. THAT was my point.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Turns out we do agree 100%, and that's very nice.
volstork
(5,403 posts)Thank you.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Since he did what he did in the White House while on the phone conducting POTUS business.
nolabear
(41,999 posts)Anything that had to do with governing, sure. How they work out their marriage, not at all.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)But then neither is speculation about Trump and Melania's relationship
nolabear
(41,999 posts)Ilsa
(61,707 posts)This is a person who works for us, and if they are having an affair, they run the risk of affecting workplace morale if others know or are suspicious. Furthermore, their own cognitive dissonance may create guilt or feelings they act upon which may be poor judgment or not in the best interests of the nation.
Boomerproud
(7,970 posts)They didn't get their "I told you so" moment. Hillary, especially, is stronger that they are. Will this part be excerpted-I doubt it.
Leith
(7,813 posts)I absolutely agree 100%. They may be very well known, but their private lives are their own.
cpamomfromtexas
(1,247 posts)murielm99
(30,777 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)blaze
(6,383 posts)Just a fun visual for me.
spooky3
(34,498 posts)lucca18
(1,244 posts)demigoddess
(6,645 posts)somewhere. But when he talked about Hillary, he just glowed and you could see he loved her. And I heard him talk one time about the two of them doing marriage counseling right in the White House during all the scandal. That's why they stayed together. Love.
DesertRat
(27,995 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)Feeling love right now.
MLAA
(17,340 posts)NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)All the hateful stories about that marriage are destroyed in a few wonderful paragraphs. I can't WAIT for the book!
MontanaMama
(23,357 posts)and has done a lot of self reflection. How many people do you know who look critically at themselves and their own lives? Most folks are reactionary and don't think much of the hows and the whys that they do what they do. To choose to move forward in the wake of deep public pain...THAT is a bad ass. THAT is who should be our president right now.
Raster
(20,998 posts)...what a lovely "tribute" to her husband.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)Basic LA
(2,047 posts)When I first saw--here--how she was loathed not only by her traditional foes on the right, but by so many on the "left," well I'll just never get over the viciousness of it. It'll never make sense to me.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)one time
mcar
(42,403 posts)I cannot wait to read this book.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)She's a Scorpio. Regeneration is a strong trait.
Shoonra
(523 posts)This is a very welcome change of pace from the other news clippings which quote Hillary saying something bitter or resentful about Bernie, Trump, Obama, the Democratic National Committee, the media, etc., ad nauseum. Perhaps all those quotations of negative feelings, altho they now get played up in the press, represent one or at most two pages out of a 400 page book.
This except was very nice indeed.
3catwoman3
(24,072 posts)...where I work was practically dancing with joy the morning of November 9th, and exclaiming that she could never have voted for Hillary because of her husband's behavior.
This woman is herself divorced (I don't know the circumstances) and conceived her third child well before she and her second husband were married. I keep my mouth shut about politics at work, except with those I know share my outlook. Boy, would I love to be able to show her this excerpt, and also ask her how she would feel if she were denied a job for which she was eminently qualified because of how people felt about something her husband did, not something shedid.
onetexan
(13,071 posts)and of course her adorable kids. That said, she's no shrinking violet herself; Chelsea is very much her own accomplished woman .
blueinredohio
(6,797 posts)joanbarnes
(1,723 posts)tblue37
(65,502 posts)oasis
(49,429 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,642 posts)Gothmog
(145,667 posts)PatSeg
(47,649 posts)That was very touching and surprisingly candid.
niyad
(113,628 posts)R B Garr
(16,995 posts)to be reckoned with.
You can see that Bill admires her so much for her fierce intellect. She describes a very compatible and enriching marriage.
ismnotwasm
(42,020 posts)I have a very good marriage as well, and I can only hope to make it to 40+ years.
She lets the complex be complex and the personal be personal. I can't read things like this without grieving the loss of her.
NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)her comment on Bill re-organizing the bookshelves for the millionth time and she won't be able to find her books again is so much like my wife - she's the one that always is re-organizing things and I can never find where she puts things afterwards, and when i finally get used to her new organization, she goes and re-orgs again.
SpankMe
(2,970 posts)One of the greatest, true intellects on the planet. A completely coherent thinker. He loved being president, and it showed. He loved the job - every day of it. All this awesomeness pretty much rubbed off on Hillary. (Not that she wasn't brilliant and awesome already.
aikoaiko
(34,185 posts)Mt copy of "What Went Wrong" was delivered to my iPad along with Katy Tur's a few hours ago. It took a few hours, but reviews are starting to pour in for HRC's book. As of 6:20 AM CST there are 26 reviews. 48% 5-star/4% 2-star trolls/48% 1-star trolls.
Native
(5,943 posts)and my SIL, who voted for Trump and still makes excuses for him, walked over to me and listened as I read. When I finished and looked up, she had tears in her eyes (as did I). Quite the moment.