‘What Happened’ - Hillary Clinton
7 MINUTE READ - BOOK REVIEW
Hilary Rodham Clinton’s book 'What Happened' is the story of how a skilful and qualified women lost an election she had prepared for her whole life.
This is the story of how an establishment candidate was betrayed by that very establishment. This is the story of a deeply personal defeat on the biggest stage, a defeat she attributes to events beyond her own control.
‘What Happened’ will invariably only be read by her supporters (and likely burned by her detractors). Yet, it is required reading for anyone wanting to better understand the 2016 US Presidential election. It is therefore a significant historical document.
Clinton analyses the circumstances that led Americans to elect Donald Trump President of the United States. Her conclusion is that she was on course to win, before FBI Director James Comey inexplicably intervened 11 days before the vote. Comey’s letter to Congress effectively re-opened the debate around Clinton’s use of a private email address and server to conduct official state business, a move that inflicted irrevocable damage to her campaign. She argues that this proved to be the one decisive event that lost her the election, and though she admits it cannot be truly seen in isolation, the evidence suggests the Republicans gleefully exploited Comey’s mistake and ultimately won by turning up the dial on fury and rage.
To over-simplify in this way is probably neither helpful, nor accurate. And yet, I understand why this is used as the main narrative. Firstly, it gives Clinton more room for manœuvre. While she doesn’t flinch from owning up to her failings, these are minimised in the final reckoning. It also satisfies the publisher’s need for easy answers (and a scapegoat).
Comey’s role is hard to ignore however, and I suspect that more will come out as to why he felt the need to re-emphasise the email business when he chose to publicly disclose the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia only AFTER the election. The reason he gave for this (that it might influence the outcome of the Presidential race) could easily have applied to Clinton.
In the end, Clinton’s campaign could not cope with Trump’s exploitation of his own gravitational pull and outlandishly populist and childishly vindictive rhetoric. They couldn’t cut through all the BS that was spewing out. They weren’t in control of the agenda, the news-cycle. Whether positive or negative, Trump was always in the foreground, and enough people were drawn in by his arrogance.
It’s ironic that Trump’s populist platform did not win the popular vote. The GOP may have won the election, but they have inherited an America rendered more intolerant by their own candidate. The divisions Trump has sown are now running amok and may prove harder to harness in office than his supporters thought. The Trump administration is forced to keep its grip on power by further stoking fear and division and by endlessly playing the blame game, and that is not a healthy way to run a country long term. The GOP may have scored a short-term political win, but it will harm them more in the long run.
A lot of mud has been slung at Clinton - she is both baffled and angered by it: not likeable; doesn’t inspire trust, representing a system that is “broken” and “corrupt”; followed by scandal etc. Then there’s the name-calling: from the quite mild: “batshit crazy”, to the downright disgusting: “Benghazi c**t”. Let’s take each of these framing stereotypes one-by-one.
Likeability. The line is: “She’s just not folksy”. First, she carried the popular vote. In fact, that’s all you need to say. You could mention how Clinton was clearly more likeable than Trump, but I guess this is about personal preference. Still, she did win the popular vote.
Untrustworthy. For many on the political right in America, Clinton is just shifty. They say she comes across as evasive when questioned. She’s seen as a “Washington insider”. But might this be because she’s smart, and doesn’t try to hide it?
Corrupt. There’s no doubt Clinton carried baggage - often her husband’s and her own. The Clinton Foundation, Benghazi, her emails - all of these were damaging to her campaign and took up valuable airtime that she could have spent on explaining her program. But many of these “scandals” have been sexed up by opponents keen to exploit a gullible public. No independent investigation has found any illegal activity, or anything remotely indictable. [As I publish this retrospectively, Trump has just been indicted for his hush-money payments to pornstar Stormy Daniels.]
Crazy. The name-calling was continuous, ugly and overtly sexist - Clinton’s detractors were stoked up to see her as a hate-figure. There are countless videos on YouTube which purport to show how crazy Clinton is. And yet, when you watch them, you are struck by how passionate, involved and capable she is.
Clinton's book is visceral and raw in parts. It is critical of her own Democratic campaign, and she owns up to her mistakes. For example, she admits using a private email server to carry out state business was likely to look bad. It wasn’t the first time an elected official had done this (and wouldn’t be the last - several of Trumps own team have been doing exactly the same thing). Again, when looked at in the cold light of day, these so-called scandals pale when compared to those of her opponent. Why should Clinton’s emails be picked over so microscopically when Donald Trump has refused to publish a single tax return in 16 years? In the aftermath, the electoral battlefield is littered with similar examples of false equivalence, all seemingly weighed in Trump’s favour.
Whilst Clinton stares into the mirror at her own weakness, she also looks at the cracks appearing around her: attitudes to women in politics, the sensationalisation of the news media and the marginalization of the working class. But Clinton’s own assessment of America’s failures overlooks other important elements. For example, nothing is made of the US's two-party political system, which leads the electorate to choose between two candidates. This has led to a political climate and debate that is invariably polarised, political and prejudiced. America's obsessions are channelled too narrowly, the country's flaws can never be worked through, only exploited.
But the problems of America are not only covered by Hillary Clinton's book, but embodied by it too. That Clinton herself constantly refers to "people of color", "blacks" and "whites" shows how her country's approach to politics is so flawed. Just think: you would never hear mainstream politicians "divide" people on the basis of race in Europe. Is this a symptom that has become its very own sickness?
Notwithstanding this, Clinton's analysis is often sound. The passages dealing with Russian meddling hit the mark, as events continue to unravel. Trump's complicity is likely to hinge on technicalities, but there is no doubt even now that his team was courting this foreign influence.
And whilst chapters on "Love and Kindness" may make some roll their eyes, they are as just powerful in diagnosing the disease at the heart of America and beyond.
What comes across in almost every page is a passionate advocate for America and Americans who was undone not by her ideas, nor by her commitment, but by her unwarranted reputation. As political assassinations go, the one committed on Hillary Clinton was brutal and to a large extent undeserved. Traditional and social media need to take a good hard look at themselves, but more importantly average Americans bare a large portion of the blame: they allow themselves to be spoon-fed by a partisan media, they have grown tired of critical-thinking, and in 2016 they hungrily gobbled up blatant untruths and ultimately they elected themselves a liar and pathological egotist to the highest office in the land.
Trump is almost certainly a tax-dodger, he is palpably an unscrupulous businessman. He has gone on record and glorified how he has used his wealth and power to abuse women. He has stood up for white-supremacists and neo-nazis. He wants nothing more than to do away with the fourth estate. He distrusts the rule of law. Furthermore, he does all this brazenly: he shows no compassion, no desire to understand common people, feels no compunction to speak kindly of anyone; rather attack and counter-punching are his standard settings. In short, he is a fantasist, a boor, a bully and yet, he is also now President of the United States. Go figure!
America always gets the President it deserves, and this time democracy has revealed how rotten the guts of this once great country truly are. Trump's track-record in office is already a cataclysmic failure. He has inflicted grave reputational damage to the USA at a time when reasoned statesmanship is in dire need. Meanwhile the carcasses of issues like climate-change, campaign finance, healthcare, gun control, and infrastructure spending are rotting away on the scrap-heap. America’s foreign policy is a wasteland. Federal agencies stand gutted and idle. So far the all-important markets are bucking this trend of oblivion, but how long will the positive effects of the previous administration last?
Why re-litigate this election? Trump won, fair and square - why the muck-raking? Why is Clinton such a sore-loser? Why can’t we just move on? Anyone asking these questions has obviously missed the point, whether wilfully or not. To those people, I would simply say: read this book. Treat it with an open mind. If you don’t think America is breaking apart, then god help you. If you’re starting to see it, then What Happened is a good place to begin looking for answers.
And you’ll also find hope. Bundles of it. This battle may have been lost, but the war for America’s soul is still raging. And as Clinton concludes, women are now better prepared (and indeed more motivated) than ever to take the crucial next step that will break that ultimate glass ceiling.