Love Her? Love Her Not? Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a woman is notable or simply notorious. What kind of woman should be called a heroine? And what kind shouldn’t? Love Her? is a column dedicated to just this question.

Really Hillary
Who will Senator Clinton turn out to be?

By Susan Flinn
Illustration by Richard Beckerman

First Lady Hillary Clinton has never been one to walk away from a good fight. Whether the enemy is a schoolyard bully or the "vast right wing conspiracy," Hillary is often at her best when her back is against the wall. She certainly proved this when, against the advice of friends, she went for elected office in an adopted state where many people disliked her. In the process, she faced down New York's cantankerous press corps and confounded her critics by running an exhaustive, issues-based campaign. When, on November 7, Hillary overcame her "carpetbagger" image and decisively won the New York Senate seat, she not only made history, she made an important transition, both personally and politically.

Hillary Clinton is undeniably a transitional figure in American feminism, the brightest star in the movement to shift women's political efforts from behind the scenes to center stage. Having come of age on the cusp of the women’s movement, she herself admits that the odd contradictions between her ambitions and her life choices reflect the confusion of early feminism. As Walter Shapiro once noted, she played the classic '50s wife-to-be by following Bill to Arkansas, though her dreams–and, for that matter, his–were a far cry from The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. But now, her victory on election day points us all toward a day when such confusion and contradictions may be cleared up.

I first became interested in Hillary when she began playing a leading role in her husband's Presidential campaign, way back in 1992. At the time, I was excited because I love ambitious, aggressive and articulate women. But Hillary is a complicated individual, at once deeply religious, fiercely partisan, mistrustful of the press and, occasionally, paranoid. She is also a devoted mother and a loyal wife. She has ideas about where the country should go and how it should get there. She's ambitious, political, competitive, smart and opinionated–characteristics that are not popular in a woman, even in the 21st century. I believe it's Hillary's clear political ambition that her detractors find most upsetting and unseemly.

While the President has a clear job description, the First Lady really only has a gender. The office has always been an extremely traditional one. Hillary is one of the first Presidential spouses to publicly announce that she was interested in politics, and that she was going use her position to work on the issues that mattered to her, whether the American people liked it or not. And a lot of them didn't. Her outspokenness makes those who don't think political wives should have strong beliefs uncomfortable. It also irritates those who have genuine political differences with her agenda. By being vocal, Hillary gave people grounds for disliking her. If she had presented herself as "just" a wife and mother–like Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan did–no doubt she would have been much more popular. But Hillary tried to keep her private life private, and put her political foot forward instead.

Regardless of our talk about issues, politics is–to a large extent–about personalities. Is George W. stupid? Is Al Gore boring? It's human nature to be curious about the personalities of our candidates, and Hillary is no exception. As she campaigned for the Senate, New Yorkers wanted to know about the private Hillary. They wanted to know why she didn't leave after her husband cheated on her; they wanted to know about the nature of her relationships with her husband and daughter. In short, people want to know what Hillary is really like.

Hillary confuses and frustrates this basic desire. She is guarded about her personal life–and who can blame her?–and one of the results is that she has been portrayed as a cold, conniving, moralistic know-it-all. Also, she can't be easily placed in a convenient, one-dimensional personality box. She is religious, and also fiercely partisan. She is a feminist who is opposed to divorce. She's a liberal who believes that personal responsibility and work are incredibly important. She's ambitious, but she also wants to be liked. She has principals, but she's not above dying her hair or wearing contact lenses to advance her political causes. She's a public figure who dislikes the glare of the media spotlight.

Now that Hillary has won her Senate seat fair and square, she finally has a chance to try to directly implement her political vision. Perhaps now the public will get a better idea about what she is really like. Once freed from the role of First Lady (and supporting her husband's policies), it will be interesting to see who emerges. Will Hillary be more willing to share her inner life with her constituents? Will she move to the left or the right of her husband’s positions? One thing is certain: In the end, the public assessed her record and commitment, and elected Hillary Clinton by a decisive margin that neither George W. Bush or Al Gore could swing. In all likelihood, she will continue to be a driven, caring and intelligent Senator who works hard for New York. Truly, hers is a victory of issues over personality and substance over style.

Susan K. Flinn is a former lobbyist with over a decade of experience in political organizing and social change. She is the co-founder of Oxygen Communications, a consulting firm which specializes in public health and public policy. She is the editor of Speaking of Hillary: A Reader's Guide to the Most Controversial Woman in America (White Cloud Press, 2000), and lives in Washington DC.

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