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The Secretary: A Journey With Hillary Clinton To The New Frontiers Of American Power (2013)

by Kim Ghattas(Favorite Author)

3.75 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

080509511X (ISBN13: 9780805095111)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Times Books

review 1: Is the author trying to join the Clinton campaign? I had high hopes for the book after spotting it as one of those books that get promoted in the news and so forth. It's supposedly about Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State, but it's more of a generalized view of Clinton as SOS, the US foreign policy during her tenure and the ramifications of particular events. The book is decidedly mixed. Amazon.com review mentions that the book is more about the author's POV on US foreign policy, and I had to cringe at the introduction. There was a little too much of the author in there, and I had hoped that would change. And it did. The book follows the very beginnings of Clinton's time as SOS, with brief mentions of the 2008 election and how HRC ended up being Obama's Secreta... morery. We see bits and pieces of Clinton as she goes on the road to meet with many leaders: from the Emperor Akihito and his wife Michiko of Japan to Nicholas Sarkozy of France and many in between. When she meets leaders and people, it can be tough to know exactly when she's being genuine and when she's being a politician. However, the book transitions to being about HRC to what it's like being a reporter covering the US SOS to a general history text about the Arab Spring and a view on the US role regarding it. HRC recedes as a character as the book goes further on. Which I suppose is commentary on the wider impact the US makes on world events (specifically things like the Arab Spring, the Middle East peace process, etc.). But that makes the title of this book incorrect. Honestly, I agree that the book is really more about how the author feels about the foreign policy of the US and is more of a way for her to wave a sign and say "Hey HRC! Hire me!" Granted, as being the child of a Dutch mother and Lebanese father and having grown up in Lebanon, Ghattas obviously has a unique perspective. But I can't help but question about some of the coverage and way she chose to write about things. For example, she places a heavy emphasis on the US telling the Egyptian military that Mubarak must go. Although I am not an expert, I read read that the military had told Mubarak that unless he resigned, the military leadership would resign, remove their uniforms, and join the protestors in the streets. I get Ghattas might have info I obviously don't, but it just seemed a little too US-centric. And in some cases, there are some truly bizarre omissions. The killing of Osama Bin Laden barely gets much words, just that Pakistan was mad that the US had an operation in the country. Considering HRC was in the room when the operation happened, I am puzzled that Ghattas had almost nothing to add or to say other than what was mostly known or research-able. If you're looking for a general book about US foreign policy and HRC's time as SOS, this wasn't bad. I had kept up with most of the events in the book (not at the academic level, but I knew what the author was talking about) and actually felt bored, because it was a little too 101 for me. If you're looking more about HRC as SOS or more about her as a person, this isn't a good pick-up. Perhaps the back blurb reveals more than it intends "The first inside account..." Sometimes it bears out to wait and let history judge before writing a book about it. Unless you're trying to join the campaign or a media outlet to cover the 2016 election.
review 2: This book probably deserves 4 stars instead of 3 but it irritated me with the constant expectation that the U.S. can solve all the world's problems. I think Hillary Clinton did a terrific job as Secretary of State and probably no one could have done a better job of it. However many miles S travels though, the people of the world are going to have to solve their own problems. The U.S. can and should help or at least not cause them. less

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