HONORING TWO CREATIVE AMERCAN WOMEN LEADERS: MICHELLE OBAMA AND HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

In celebration of Women's History month, in last week's post I honored Michelle Obama  Please read read the post. This week's post honors Hillary Rodham Clinton. Together, the two reviews give you a terrific way to begin your celebration of Women's History Month, March, 2019. If the posts tease you into reading the books and drawing your own conclusions, it'll be even better.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton received the inaugural In The Arena award on November 13, 2018, from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, with support from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation.

Public domain

Recapping Becoming, Michelle reports how and why she lovingly supported Barack, from his very first political campaign through their last days in the White House. In Hard Choices, Hillary reveals her relating to Bill in a very different pattern. She carved out her own simultaneous and independent political and legal careers even while supporting Bill in his official careers in Arkansas and Washington, D.C.

Each reports on her family life. While Michelle reports a happy and loving domestic life, Hillary shares her love of Bill and reveals her devastation and agony when Bill's affair with Monica Lewinsky came into the picture. This section of her book reads like a marriage manual. Or better, it reads like an extended confession by a terribly abused spouse: betrayal, broken heart, outrage, and on what she did for herself to get back to a normal psychological state and a saved marriage. (P. 478.)

Another contrast: while Michelle writes a bit about her religious experience, Clinton relates in detail her youthful experiences as a Methodist Christian. As should happen in a person's development, her religious strength carried over into adulthood and motivated her to work for peace and nonviolence. She drew on faith insights to recover her marriage.

I really appreciated Clinton's openness: the psychological realism, the depth of detail. The book could serve readers both as a marriage manual and a politician's how-to-do-it guide.

I know you join me in honoring both Michelle Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for their national leadership and their family life skills set aside some time to read their books. I also honor all American women and especially my wife.

P.S. I'm convinced that Americans made a huge mistake by choosing Trump over Hillary Rodham Clinton for national leadership as president. To compensate, could we recruit Michelle to run in the next election?

Order or borrow Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hard Choices: a Memoir, 2014 and Michelle Obama, Becoming, 2018.