Today’s New York Magazine article, Getting to Know Hillary the Diplomat, takes a closer look at Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State through the lens of the authors of the recently published book, HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton. The authors – Amie Parnes, a reporter for The Hill, and Jonathan Allen, of Bloomberg News – conducted over 200 interviews with Hillary Clinton’s friends, foes, and former State Department colleagues to gauge a comprehensive assessment of her record as Secretary of State, which is best summarized below:
“The portrait of Hillary Clinton that emerges from ‘H R C’ is that of a woman with ‘a bias for action,’ in one source’s words, someone who would rather act than be passive in the face of opportunity. Ms. Parnes and Mr. Allen portray the secretary as adept at mastering complicated policy material, attentive to details and possessed of an ‘unrelenting work ethic’ — so conscientious and driven that her friends and even President Obama worried, at times, about her health.” [New York Times; 2/7/14]
The New York Magazine interviewer posed the following question to the book’s authors: “Clinton haters, and even some friends, believe everything they do is calculated to serve their political ambitions. Did you see that in the choices Hillary made at State?”
Parnes’ response not only silences the skeptics, but it provides insight far beyond the State Department, to the core of Hillary Clinton’s character:
“It sounds geeky and naïve, but she really believes in public service. She has this philosophy, that she talks about at the end of the book, that comes from John Wesley, about ‘a sense of obligation.’ You kind of want and have to believe her.”
Read the full article here.