Pantsuits: One Easy Choice Among Many Hard Ones

Tina Ollenburg
Jul 28, 2017 · 4 min read

So the next book on the Michiko Kakutani reviewing docket was “Hard Choices” by Hillary Rodham Clinton, a 635 page rundown of the famous politician’s turn as Secretary of State from 2009–2013. Right off the bat I think I can confidently make the wager that HRC is going to run for the big POTUS spot in 2016. She basically lays out a groundwork for her campaign in the last part of the book, titled “The Future We Want”, with the very last chapter mentioning quite a bit of “unfinished business.” Not exactly the vocabulary of a retired grandma if you ask me.

“Gramma, after cookies, can we draft an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program? Yay!”

I always find it slightly difficult to read memoirs of currently active politicians because they can be a bit of a snooze fest. When you’ve still got your hat in the ring you can’t really pull any extra hard punches, though Clinton makes it clear there’s no love lost between her and Putin. (I’m paraphrasing a bit, but basically he’s a stubborn bully.) Also, as I’m sure Clinton wants to “modestly” highlight her achievements and leadership abilities, she takes the full advantage of hindsight in retelling her years as Secretary of State. There are a lot of paragraphs devoted to the careful hemming and hawing of all the options and the sense of being caught between two evils when it comes to the tough decisions i.e. anything related to Israel and Palestine. In other circumstances, specifically the ones that worked out favorably, decisions seem much more cut-and-dry to Clinton, as in the call to capture bin Laden in Pakistan. Obviously I wasn’t there to say what really went down in any of these scenarios, but reading Clinton’s carefully crafted version in “Hard Choices” doesn’t make me feel any closer to the heat of the action either.

It is refreshing, however, to read a political book that carries an awareness of the women power-brokers present (or absent). Clinton offers a perspective of where women have gotten ahead and where they still lag behind, as well as the experience of being the only woman involved in negotiations of a global import. Clinton repeatedly remarks on the persistent exclusion of women in these types of events:

“…despite all that women tend to bring to the table, more often than not they’re excluded. Of the hundreds of peace treaties signed since the early 1990s, fewer than 10 percent had any women negotiators, fewer than 3 percent had any women signatories, and only a small percentage included even a single reference to women. So it’s not too surprising that more than half of all peace agreements fail within five years.”

That type of observation isn’t something you hear every day and I appreciate that Clinton is willing to say it. Whatever some of her faults may be, she has always been dogged in her promotion of women onto the world stage. She’s also game to joke about her hair and pantsuits anytime, turning these worthless and unrelenting critiques into the joke they really are.

This is literally the second Google Image result for “pantsuit.”

The book is organized in parts categorized by either region or political idea. I personally would have rather read through these years in chronology to get a more complete picture of the global cause-and-effect at play. As it is, the information seems chopped up and isolated. When Clinton makes reference to more obscure policy events, it is hard to get a picture of the total context behind her diplomatic picture.

If you’re interested in international conferences, human rights issues, or the mind-boggling sensitivity of politicians to the properly worded statement, this is the tome for you. If you want to know more about the real Hillary, perhaps save your $35, because the show isn’t over yet for the Clintons. (Though, with a $14 million book advance, Grandma Hillary could sure bake some nice cookies if she wanted to.)

Next up is Dave Eggers’ new book, “Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?” which, judging by the title, seems like a definite departure from his last novel, “The Circle”.

To read Kakutani’s review of “Hard Choices”, click here.

B2B writer for finance and marketing/Avid reader

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