The Fall and Rise (and Fall and Rise and Fall and Rise) of Hillary Clinton

As the rumors of what role, if any, Hillary Clinton will play in the Obama administration trickled out into the mainstream media, culminating in The Guardian's scoop, subsequently confirmed, that Clinton had been offered, and had accepted, the role of Secretary of State, the commentariat rejoiced in the knowledge that, once again, the Clintons would be center-stage in public life once again - meaning, presumably, a never-ending mine of drama and scandal to be exploited by all. Veteran Hillary-Haters have been gleefully harping on the discrepancy between the Clintons’ notoriously self-centered and attention-grabbing political style and the two-word phrase that has been the mantra of the Obama team from the very beginning: No Drama. Obama’s fiercest partisans, especially those on the far left and in the blogosphere, who rejoiced at Clinton’s primary defeat, have raised an incredulous chorus not of “Yes, We Can,” but rather “No, I Can’t Believe He Just Did.”

In the meantime, Hillary-lovers have been on Cloud Nine. Having long since grown accustomed to the emotional roller-coaster that is Senator Clinton’s political career, we are reveling in what would appear to be yet another dramatic reversal of fortune. The wails of anguish from the anti-Hillary tribes on both sides of the political spectrum fills us not so much with angst as an acute case of Schadenfreude – any true Clinton supporter knows that two-thirds of the fun is watching people on all ends of the political spectrum squirm with discomfort – and, yes, jealousy – at the knowledge that, once again, Hillary has come out on top.

Finally, and most satisfyingly, the installation of Senator Clinton in what is effectively the number-three slot in the Obama administration represents an enormous triumph for those of us who supported her from the very beginning. For us it is the moment that we have been waiting for since Obama’s primary victory last summer – the moment when Obama would finally recognize the enormous talent and tenacity of his erstwhile rival, and offer her the kind of meaningful power that we know she so richly deserves. For a lot of Clinton supporters Obama’s decision not to seriously consider her for the Vice Presidency was a hard blow. Appointing her to Secretary of State will go a long, long way towards healing that wound. But, fervent Hillarista that I am, I have always tried to look at the Secretary-in-Waiting with an objective and critical eye, and to my mind it is inescapable truth that the greatest failures of Hillary Clinton’s career – most clearly healthcare reform and her run for the presidency – represent fundamental flaws in her way of working that, to me, made her unacceptable as vice-president and potentially worrying as Secretary of State.

It is essentially a commonplace in political discourse today that the reason for the failure of President Clinton’s healthcare reform initiative in 1993 was that the project was badly mishandled by his wife. Bill Clinton, breaking with all precedent governing the role of the First Lady, put Hillary in charge of his project to introduce universal healthcare to the United States. Hillary’s proposals were drafted in utmost secrecy, and she personally evinced a politically tone-deaf stubbornness that resulted in a hugely complex, unworkable and unsatisfying compromise that was simultaneously too ambitious and far too cowardly. The bill was dead on arrival, and “Hillarycare” made universal healthcare politically untouchable in the United States for fifteen years.

I am too young to remember the failure of the Clinton healthcare initiative, but Senator Clinton’s recent defeat in the primaries I had the privilege of following like a hawk for the better part of two years. In my analysis Clinton’s bid fell victim to organizational incompetence, poor planning, and rigidity of thinking on the part of her campaign staff. The irony of the fact that Clinton was running on a platform of experience and managerial know-how is telling: the fact of the matter is that Clinton’s remarkable knowledge and penetrating intellect do not necessarily translate into the ability to run an organization well, and many of the flaws of her campaign – constant damaging leaks, valuing loyalty over competence, stubbornness and inflexibility – are flaws that were evident at the time of the healthcare debacle and that could very well be brought to the fore when Clinton is put in charge of one of the most powerful bureaucracies in the United States government.

Being a Clinton supporter often means getting used to disappointment. That Hillary Clinton will bring new insight to American foreign policy I have no doubt. That I am glad she will have a high-profile role in the Obama administration goes without saying. But that aside, I do worry. Hillary Clinton’s political life has been characterized by extreme peaks and troughs. This appointment is a peak. But if history is any guide, that peak will not last long.