Book #120 of 2016:

Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton

When I requested this book from my local library, I expected that I would be reading it during the presidential election, to better understand Hillary Clinton myself and to be more informed about her record and her vision for America when debating the issues with other voters. When it became clear that the library copy wouldn’t be available until after the election, I still had hopes that reading it would give me insight into the next US president.

As we all know now, Hillary Clinton will not be our 45th president. And that’s a shame, because Hard Choices presents a very compelling argument for her qualifications — a better one than most she put forward on the campaign trail, I would say. This book is largely a memoir of Clinton’s time as Secretary of State under President Obama, and it’s a staggeringly in-depth account of the assorted diplomatic situations that she was called upon to address in that role. The book is structured with different chapters discussing different struggles around the world rather than in a strict linear narrative, but it’s awe-inspiring to take a look at the timeline and realize just how many of these delicate situations the Secretary and her staff were juggling all at the same time. Clinton wasn’t explicitly running for president when she penned this account, but it represents a very solid argument for why, partisan leanings aside, having served as Secretary of State is an incredible qualification for that job. It makes me all the more nervous about the limited government experience of our actual president-elect. For the good of the country, I hope he surrounds himself with Cabinet members as experienced as Clinton.

Hard Choices is also a good whirlwind tour of the past decade or so of international affairs, in case like me you haven’t always paid as close attention to those matters as a good global citizen probably should. The book may go down as a historical curiosity given Clinton’s losing bid for president, but I found it a worthwhile read nonetheless.

★★★☆☆

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