The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton

The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton was written by Joyce Milton and published by HarperCollins in 1999.

Reaction

The Washington Post said: "The First Partner...is well-written and may be the single best compendium of every charge of malfeasance, true or false, that's ever been hurled at the Clintons."

In a Booklist Review, Mary Carroll said: "...Milton is more interested in dishing dirt than in understanding her subject; here, she adopts a "gotcha" tone, whether the issue is Clinton's alleged bossiness in high school or her Arkansas real-estate deals."

In National Review, Dick Morris said: "The chief lesson here is that there is very little about Mrs. Clinton that she will not either change or modify as the situation requires. We can expect a new "new Hillary Clinton" soon."

Chapter summaries

One: The First Victim

Topics discussed

• Paula Corbin Jones case
• Monica Lewinsky scandal

Notable events

• Saturday, January 17, 1998: Bill gives six-hour deposition to lawyers representing Paula Corbin Jones.

Notable quotes

• "[T]he former spokesperson for the 1960s, which prided itself on exposing hypocrisy and 'telling it like it is,' was now admired by many of her peers for her ability to close her mind to unpleasant realities." (pg. 10)

Two: Rugged Individualist

Topics discussed

• childhood
• family
• school

Notable events

• October 26, 1947: Hillary born

Notable quotes

• "'Children are not rugged individualists.' This is the first sentence of Hillary Rodham Clinton's book It Takes a Village, and it's a startling one because Hillary Rodham was a rugged individualist as a child." (pg. 11)
• "'I always felt Hillary thought she knew what was best, and that's what everybody should do.'" (pg. 19)

Three: The Art of the Impossible

Topics discussed

• Undergrad studies at Wellesley
• Studies at Yale Law
• Meeting & dating Bill
• Campaigning for child's empowerment & destruction of nuclear family
• Work on Nixon impeachment

Notable events

• January, 1974: Hillary hired by John Doar.
• July 9, 1974: Hillary accepts professorship at Fayetteville's University of Arkansas School of Law.

Notable quotes

• "[T]he most notable feature of Hillary's Wellesley career was her tendency to befriend students who were destined for success in later life." (pg. 28)
• "'Hillary is stuck in a bit of a time warp. She has not learned as I think I have the power of the market.'" (pg. 37)
• "[Hillary] advocated liberating our 'child citizens' from the 'empire of the father.' (pg. 59)
• "With hindsight, the most interesting thing about Hillary's views is her assumption that all dependency relationships are bad–––except the dependence of the individual on the state." (pg. 60)
• "Hillary 'paid no attention to the way the Constitution works in this country, the way politics works, the way Congress works, the way legal safeguards are set up.'" (pg. 66)

Four: The Yankee Girlfriend

Topics discussed

• Move to Arkansas
• Bill's failed House race
• wedding
• Bill's successful 1976 Attorney General race

Notable events

• October 11, 1975: Bill and Hillary marry.
• December 1977: Hillary appointed to board of Legal Services Corporation.

Notable quotes

• "Hillary realized if she married Bill, she would be the one responsible for their financial security for the foreseeable future. This seemed to bother her more than his womanizing, or perhaps they were part of the same problem." (pg. 85)

Five: First in Her Firm

Topics discussed

• Hillary joins Rose Law Firm
• Bill wins 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial race
• Hillary's sketchy commodities trading stint
• Hillary's pregnancy
• Taxpayers billed for Clintons' personal expenses
• Clintons cheating on taxes

Notable events

• 1977: Hillary joins Rose law firm.
• Spring of 1977: Bill begins long-lasting affair with Gennifer Flowers.
• Summer of 1978: Bill and Hillary become co-signers with Jim and Susan McDougal on Whitewater mortgage.
• October 11, 1978: Hillary opens commodities trading account at Springdale, Arkansas office of Refco.

Notable quotes

• "Undoubtedly, Hillary was often lonely. She had no close friends in town, social events in Little Rock were invariably organized for couples, and the problem, recalls Hubbell, was that 'of course Bill was never around.'" (pg. 93)
• "Unable to control her husband's behavior, Hillary concentrated on taking care of the family finances." (pg. 95)

Six: Survival Plan

Topics discussed

• Chelsea born
• Bill loses gubernatorial re-election; immediately begins campaigning
• Illegal activities of Legal Services Corporation
• Bill's re-election campaign; negative ads
• Hillary's name change
• Hillary hires private investigator to document Bill's affairs

Notable events

• February 27, 1980: Chelsea born.
• January, 1981: Bill and Hillary move to Midland Street in the Hillcrest Section of Pulaski Heights.
• February 27, 1982: Bill announces run for second term as governor.

Notable quotes

• "[W]ith Hillary preoccupied with the baby and her job, Clinton was feeling sorry for himself, and he compensated by seeking out other women." (pg. 116)
• "Dolly Kyle Browning, who saw Hillary at social events, would observe, 'it took her a long time to learn to pretend to like us.'" (pg. 119)
• "Hillary's instant decision to engineer a comeback effort suggested that even at this early stage she couldn't see her marriage apart from her and Bill's shared political ambitions." (pg. 121)

Seven: A Woman of Many Projects

Topics discussed

• Hillary's friendship and possible affair with Vince Foster
• Education reform
• Roger Clinton's drug arrest & conviction
• Bill implicated; accused of cocaine use
• Bill's depression
• Hillary threatens divorce
• Family therapy
• Bill announces run for fourth term as governor
• Sketchy finances re: Jim McDougal and Whitewater

Notable events

• August 14, 1984: Roger Clinton arraigned for cocaine-related charges; released on $5,000 bond.
• November 1984: Roger pleads guilty to one count of drug trafficking.
• January 27, 1985: Roger sentenced to two to five years (released after one for good behavior).
• Summer 1985: Hillary tells friends of plans to file for divorce.

Notable quotes

• "Brown felt that both the Clintons held working people, law enforcement types and "rednecks" in contempt, though Bill was better at disguising his feelings that Hillary." (pg. 147)
• "[O]ther troopers also believed that Hillary and Vince Foster were having an affair." (pg. 148)
• "If practicing law was often unrewarding, Hillary's first major venture into policy making would be deemed a resounding success." (pg. 152)
• "Hillary's considerable skills as an executive and motivator often seemed squandered because of her inability to find a job large enough for her ambitions." (pg. 161)

Eight: The Gary Hart Factor

Topics discussed

• Bill decides last minute not to run for president in 1987
• Bill's rampant affairs
• School merger fiasco
• Giroir ousted from Rose law firm
• Suspicious work by Rose
• School "reform" shenanigans
• Chair of Children's Defense Fund (Hillary)
• Bill chairs DNC
• Bill announces run for president in 1991

Notable events

• July 15, 1987: At a press conference where Bill was expected to announce his presidential campaign, he announced instead that he would not be running.
• 1987: Hillary appointed by Judge Woods as legal adviser to a three-member committee tasked with drafting a plan for dealing with a federal suit filed by the Little Rock school district for unification with wealthier suburban school districts.
• January 1989: Joe Giroir resigns from Rose law firm.
• December 1989: Bill and Hillary attend counseling with a methodist counselor and decide to stay married.
• September 1990: Larry Nichols files lawsuit implicating Bill.

Notable quotes

• "But Hillary at this point had invested almost as much effort in Bill's career as he had, a consideration that had to weigh heavily against any thought of divorce." (pg. 194)

Nine: Everyone Has a List

Topics discussed

• Presidential campaign in '91 & '92
• Expensive cover-ups of Bill's affairs
• Defamation, discrediting, intimidation, theft of evidence to cover up affairs
• 60 Minutes interview of Clintons with positive spin gives big boost to campaign
• Careless remarks from Hillary

Notable events

• October 3, 1991: Bill formally announces presidential candidacy.

Notable quotes

• "As we now know, the nastiest things Bill Clinton's opponents said about him were essentially accurate." (pg. 206)

See also

• Books about Hillary Clinton

References

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