Letters: Jul. 7, 2003

Hillary's Story

"Whatever Clinton may have gained through tasteful public confession she has lost by forfeiting the quiet dignity of a former First Lady." GENE SAVAGE Sacramento, Calif.

The self-pity and narcissism in Hillary Clinton's Living History are breathtaking [BOOK EXCERPT, June 16]. Apparently she learned nothing from her White House experience. Clinton seems to regret that there wasn't a depression or national disaster to help her ram the socialized health-care scheme through Congress. For the Clintons, citizens are just pawns in their game for political and personal power. It is clear that Hillary does not have the best temperament for the political arena. GREGG MCCONNELL Newbury Park, Calif.

Those who vilify Hillary overlook the fact that she was the first of the baby-boom generation to become First Lady. Like thousands of American women, she went to college in the mid-1960s not to find a husband but to find herself. And unlike Barbara Bush or Jacqueline Kennedy, she was unwilling to bask in the reflected glory of her husband. Rather, she constantly tested the limits of her intelligence and abilities to make a meaningful contribution to her country. DAVID M. PETROU Washington

Senator Clinton still doesn't seem to understand why some of us supported the impeachment of her husband. For me it came down to two issues: Bill Clinton lied to a federal judge and lied to the citizens who had elected him. The questions in the Paula Jones deposition may have been "designed solely to trap the President into charges of perjury," but I can't accept the idea of the head of the Executive Branch lying or in any way dissembling before the Judiciary. The far greater injury, however, came when Bill Clinton lied to me. ALASTAIR DALLAS Los Gatos, Calif.

We know that this is a woman who often got angry at her husband and his glaring weaknesses, perhaps even to the point of hurling objects at him. Hillary Clinton is a woman of political insight and ambition, with a sense of ideological clarity and purpose not often seen in American society. Yet her book barely scratches the surface of her feelings. There is a hint of dissembling in its triteness, a challenge to credibility in its sketchy description of events and an unspoken distrust of the public. Perhaps Senator Clinton did not intend for us to learn much about her life, or there may be things she is reluctant to admit to the public or herself. DANIEL J. HANNEMAN Maplewood, Minn.

I cannot fathom the hatred for Hillary that burns in some conservatives. I am neither an admirer nor a detractor, but I'd vote her into the White House just to hear the screaming apoplexy that would erupt from radio and TV "hate-triots" who think they own America's heart. STEPHEN SCHLICH Petaluma, Calif.