It seems fitting to have former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton launch the tour for her new book – “Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on life, love and liberty” – at DAR Constitution Hall. When the historic building for Daughters of the American Revolution was built footsteps from the White House, then-First Lady Grace Anna Coolidge laid the cornerstone “on October 30, 1928 using the trowel (President) George Washington used to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol in 1793.” It boasts having hosted every president since Calvin Coolidge at events. When its sister building the Memorial Continental Hall was completed in 1905, it was described as, “The costliest, and most impressive monument of its kind ever built by women in this country or any other.”
Lissa Muscatine, a co-owner of Politics & Prose bookstores in DC and a former chief speechwriter and senior advisor to Secretary Clinton, gave a spirited introduction of the book, Secretary Clinton and her interviewer, veteran journalist Katie Couric to a packed auditorium (seats 3702):
“It’s as if your friend invites you to a dinner party at their house, and you go and you’re seated next to someone who you kind of know, but not really that well, and you sit down next to them and you just hit it off, and you end up talking for hours about everything under the sun, from current events to a recent canoe trip in Georgia. From your favorite songs to your fears about the state of democracy and the rise of demagogues, one in particular, from what you’ve learned about love in your life, to how you dusted yourself off and pulled yourself up after a traumatic setback. So, if your dream is to break bread at a dinner table with Hillary Clinton, this book is for you. And in it are moments of happiness and tragedy, passion and poignancy, nostalgia.”
Here are a few highlights of Secretary Clinton’s remarks in the interview[1], which was interrupted frequently by applause:
On the two assassination attempts on former President Trump:
Clinton: “Well, it was horror. I mean, this is such a terrible thing to happen, twice in our country in a relatively short period of time. And it’s frightening to see violence being threatened and used in a, you know, political campaign.” Couric read Trump’s tweet afterwards, Clinton criticized it and added, “If he were really a leader, he should be doing what he can to calm the waters, not try to just continue to throw, you know, red meat out there to get people riled up.”
She asked the audience, “Let’s just all just promise ourselves that we can have significant political differences about who we want to be our next president, about the policies that we think will help our country and the world, and condemn that kind of rhetoric.”
On President Biden and his decision to step down from the campaign and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris:
“I don’t have any inside information, but I think, number one, he (Biden) did a really good job as president. He got a lot done, and I do think he modeled responsible leadership, you know, demonstrating that he wanted to be president for all Americans. He wanted to work with Republicans in the Congress. A lot of his major legislation, many of the benefits, like the Infrastructure bill or the Inflation Reduction Act, you know, they’re going to go to all Americans and they’re going to go to places that don’t vote for Democrats, did not vote for Joe Biden.”
“He (Biden) really did have a strong commitment to try to reach out to people and to build a much, you know, calmer approach toward bringing people together to solve problems.” About his performance at the June debate, Clinton said, “Joe Biden made a patriotic decision (to pull out of the race), and it was commendable,” that, “And I thought his endorsement of Kamala was the right thing.”
On Kamala Harris as the 2924 Democratic Presidential Nominee:
“I say in the epilogue (of the audio version of her new book), you know, I wasn’t sure how I would feel when another woman would be so close to breaking that hardest glass ceiling. And I was thrilled. And she has run a near perfect campaign.” “I thought her convention speech was perfect. It was such an incredible introduction of herself to the country. I also talked with her about the debate, which I thought was terrific. For me, it’s very exciting to see someone literally just get thrown into the deep end of the pool, like, oh, now you’re running for President, and to see her just pick herself up and, and get prepared to do it. And I love her vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz.”
Clinton committed, “There’s so much at stake that I personally am going to do everything that I can to make sure this election turns out right.”
On being a fan of Joni Mitchell’s song “Both Sides Now,” where the book title comes from:
“It’s like the soundtrack of my life. I mean, really. And when I first heard that song in my, I guess, early twenties, you know, ‘I’ve looked at life from both sides now, from win or lose, and still, somehow, I don’t know what life means,’ basically, when you’re in your twenties, as I write in the book, yeah, I mean, what does it mean? What does life mean? What does life hold for me? And then, of course, love the same thing. And I have used that song and the lyrics from it literally through the course of my life. Because at different stages in your life, you know, you do have something lost, something gained, which comes from the song. You do see life from both sides. You often see love from both sides.”
Clinton described her motivation for the book as, “I am thinking a lot about where I am in my life now. And, I want to reflect on that. So, it was a real chance for me to take some time and look at life, look at love, talk about my family, my friends, my political and public activities, in a way that was kind of taking stock of where I am right now and what was important. It sort of absolutely is letting go of things that mattered so much at one point, but you realize now don’t matter at all.”
[1] The author recorded the audio on their smartphone to ensure accuracy, therefore, all quotes are from the audio transcript (with “ums” etc. cleaned up for readability).