The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Biography [Hardcover]

Joyce Milton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 1999

Hillary Rodham Clinton is seen by many as the real power behind President Clinton. This biography offers insight into the character, values and career of a woman who is about to embark on her own political career.'

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Hillary Rodham Clinton is a touchstone for a generation. Supporters view her as a feminist icon, detractors as an enabler for her husband's constant philandering--and as someone with her own dangerous political agenda. The First Partner is a well-written, well-researched, and insightful biography in which Joyce Milton fully considers her subject's many contradictions. Hillary Rodham's upbringing was as stern and demanding as her husband's was loose and adoring. She has always provided discipline; he, charm. Milton concludes that the first lady's "most significant public accomplishment by far" has been "saving Bill Clinton from political ruin" by standing by him and stage-managing behind the scenes on numerous occasions.

Those who crave sensational tidbits will not be disappointed by the book's "greatest hits" recap of the various Clinton scandals: the suggestion that Bill Clinton used drugs when he was governor; that the Clintons considered divorce; the alleged affair between Hillary and Vince Foster; her use of profanity with Secret Service agents; the banning of Barbra Streisand from the White House; the "kitchen coup"; the pornographic Christmas ornaments; the failure to credit her collaborator on It Takes a Village--not to mention Whitewater, Filegate, Travelgate, Chinagate, and Monicagate. Milton claims that whenever there is trouble, Hillary Clinton can usually be found right in the middle of it, but that she consistently denies involvement, expecting friends and employees to cover up for her. Perhaps Milton's most valuable contribution in The First Partner, though, is to take a hard look at HRC's liberal ideas and politics going back to her college days, including the groups to which she has belonged and the people with whom she has associated. An understanding of these views, obviously strongly held, will become increasingly important and relevant when evaluating Hillary Rodham Clinton's political character during--and after--her husband's presidency. --Linda Killian

From Library Journal

Biographer Milton has drawn a fairly unflattering portrait of Hillary Clinton that traces her personal and professional development from her childhood in Illinois to her years of study at Wellesley and Yale Law School, her early career, and her role as First Lady. Clinton's relationship with the President is examined in detail, from their first meeting in law school through the Monica Lewinsky affair. Her bond with daughter Chelsea and possible run for political office are also examined. Reader Sandra Burr has a pleasant voice, although she speaks a bit too quickly at times. The impressive abridgment is seamless, and listeners will probably not be aware of the phrases, paragraphs, or pages that are cut throughout the book; it is also severe in places, at times stripped to a bare-bones summation of the facts. Not a necessary purchase except where demand dictates.ALeah Sparks, Bowie P.L., MD
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 435 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (April 21, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688155014
• ISBN-13: 978-0688155018
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,162,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Partner, May 10, 2000

By 

TAZZY "TAZZ" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton (Paperback)

I wanted to read this book to see what made Hillary Clinton tick. It was a fascinating read, hard to put down. Her childhood and the relationship with her parents was spelled out. Her college days are covered. It offered much insight into the relationship that developed between her and Bill Clinton during their college days and the story continued throughout their courtship, marriage, his time as Governor, his bid for Presidency, her career as a lawyer, the Vince Foster suicide, their relationship with Chelsea, the scandals, the rumors, the affairs, her frustrations, etc. These are two people who will let nothing stand in their way to achieve their goals.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now I understand why she stays in an abusive marriage, May 18, 1999

By 

Marilyn Burge (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Biography (Hardcover)

As a strong woman who has always had trouble understanding why a well-educated woman who is supposed to be at least as strong as I am would stay in such an abusive relationship, this book provided more than enough reasons.

This book is a must-read for those who do not understand why women with much less education and promise for their futures would make a similar decision, despite continuing abuse.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is much more socialist than I ever would have guessed. She has a head stuck firmly in the 60's, coupled with the attention span of a 5-year-old whose Ritalin ran out a week ago. Her ignorance of the economic realities of life are appalling, and her inability to understand how sweeping revisions of the social structure will adversely affect those least able to adjust to those changes is equally disturbing -- and flabergasting!

While differing views of various people interviewed for this book may be a turn-off by some readers, one need only look at the spectrum of emotions elicited by Hillary's husband to understand how people can see one human being through so many different prisms and come to so many different opinions of what they have seen.

I would recommend this book to anybody who is a news junky, Clinton-watcher -- on either side of the issue of them as human beings, or just interested in a good read with more than a bit of spice.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-written, well-presented, and seemingly objective book, October 12, 1999

By 

Danielle Y Clermont (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton (Nova Audio Books) (Audio Cassette)

Joyce Milton provides a very objective account of the personality, actions, power, and influence of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Unlike some books that I have recently read, Milton presents the reader with an refreshingly unbiased depiction of Mrs. Clinton. I finished the book with a greater sense of understanding and knowlegde of the events, scandals, and rumors that have surrounded the First Lady -without feeling biased by the author's personal viewpoint. I recommend this book to anyone interested in First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.