Hillary Clinton: the White House years

June 10 - Hillary Rodham Clinton’s long-anticipated memoir, “Living History,” went on sale Monday. This past weekend, “Today” host Katie Couric sat down with the former First Lady to discuss her life in the White House and her controversial appointment to run the president’s health care reform initiative.

Couric: “Hillary: the White House years: (laughter) Just days after your husband was sworn in as president…”

Clinton: “Right. ”

Couric: “…he announced he was appointing you to head the task force on national health care reform. Looking back on that, do you wonder, ‘What planet were we on?’”

Clinton: “There was so much going on and… so he asked me if I would do this. And I said yes because I’ve always believed that we should figure out a way to provide quality, affordable health care to every American. And, of course, it became a target. And it became a big controversy. And I also, again think we tried to do too much, too fast.”

Couric: “You write in the book that you quote, ‘Knew I had contributed to our failure both because of my own missteps and because I underestimated the resistance I would meet as the First Lady with a policy mission.’ In retrospect, was it truly appropriate to put someone who had never been elected, who never had been confirmed by the Senate as cabinet offices are, in charge as something as big as reforming health care in this country? Can you see why that would make people feel uncomfortable?”

Clinton: “Oh, absolutely. Now, you know, of course, everybody in the White House serves at the pleasure of the President. They are confirmed. They’re there to serve him. And…”

Couric: “Still…”

Clinton: “…that’s I know and — but that’s how I saw it. I saw it as, ‘Well, you know, I want to help my husband. I want to make a contribution to my country.’ But I think it was a mistake. And it certainly wasn’t done again in the administration. I kept working on issues that I’d cared about for 30 years, whether it was adoption and foster care or children’s health but never in any kind of official position. Because you know, it really did divert from the mission that he had undertaken, and that I and others were trying to help him achieve.”

Couric: “You and your husband had m— many controversies to deal with during your time at the White House, Travelgate, Whitewater, the broo-ha-ha over money you made on cattle futures trading. Do you believe the world was out to get you? Or would you acknowledge now, that, you all, made your fair share of mistakes?”

Well, there is no doubt that his transgression and wrong doing, which he’s admitted and apologized for, was absolutely his responsibility, no one else’s. But it was a private matter that, unfortunately, was made public and used, then, for partisan political advantage in what really amounted to a power grab. — SEN. HILLARY CLINTON

Clinton: “You know what, after $70 million spent on investigations and countless people looking at every piece of paper in our lives, the fact is that neither of us on these issues, like Whitewater or the Travel Office or anything else, did anything wrong. Now, however, I think our, oh perhaps, misunderstanding of how best to present the facts and to make clear that there was no there wasn’t as good as it could have been. So, I thought about that. And I’ve written about it.

But I also believe there was an agenda at work. The people who opposed Bill’s policies, didn’t agree with the direction he was trying to take the country — couldn’t beat him politically. So, they did engage in what I call the politics of personal destruction. And that meant that you know, limitless investigations, tens of millions of dollars, looking for something, anything that we might have done wrong that they could hold up to the public. And they weren’t able to do that with all of the various controversies that they tried to pull me into.”

Couric: “Paula Jones, as you know, filed a sexual harassment suit against your husband. And in the course of testifying about that, he was questioned about a relationship with a White House intern. You wrote that he initially told you he was just helping her find a job. And your reaction, you write, was that this was, quote, ‘Completely in character for Bill. It was such a familiar scenario that I had little trouble believing the accusations were groundless.’”

Clinton: “Right, that was in January of 1998. And he told me there was nothing to it. He told everyone in our family, the people that worked with him, the American public.”

[Former President Bill Clinton (on tape) “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky...”]

Clinton: “I did believe him. I cross-examined him as, I think, as any wife would — to make sure that I had as clear an idea of what these accusations were. But, you know, by that time, this was now six years into a very tough campaign, the White House years. I had been accused of so many things that I knew were absolutely untrue.

I had been, you know, accused of outrageous actions by people in the media and elsewhere, that I really had no trouble believing that this was just one more in a long line of these baseless accusations that people, who didn’t agree with him politically, who were out to destroy him would throw up to him.”

Couric: “You stand by your contention that there was a vast right-wing conspiracy.”

TODAY/1998 110436-110446

[Hillary Clinton on “Today,” in 1998 (on tape) “The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.”

Couric: “Knowing what you know now, and didn’t know then when you made that statement on this show in January of 1998, wasn’t it really your husband’s poor judgment, what you acknowledge as immoral behavior and subsequent actions that really got him into trouble in this situation?”

Clinton: “Well, there is no doubt that his transgression and wrong doing, which he’s admitted and apologized for, was absolutely his responsibility, no one else’s. But it was a private matter that, unfortunately, was made public and used, then, for partisan political advantage in what really amounted to a power grab. You know, to abuse the Constitution and our political and our legal system, to make something that should have been a very — painful as it was — private matter between us and with our family — into a grounds for impeachment for which there was no historical or constitutional or legal basis, I think fits into this whole pattern.

And I might have used a different more artful term, because it’s really not a conspiracy. It’s out there in the open. There are people who have a very different view of where we should be going in our country.”

Couric: “Why did you decide to stay in your marriage? There were so many women, frankly, feminists out there…”

Clinton: “Right.”

Couric: “…who said, ‘We can’t believe she’s sticking it out with this guy. He’s a philanderer. He’s not respectful. Why didn’t she just leave? Why’s she putting up with this, basically?’”

You know, I loved him for who he was, the kind of person that he is. And we’ve had a great, great time together. — SEN. HILLARY CLINTON

Clinton: “Well, I asked myself all those questions. And in August of 1998, when Bill told me that he had lied to me, I was outraged and angry, hurt — terribly disappointed and very, frankly, not sure that the marriage would or should go on. And I had to spend a lot of time, by myself thinking hard about all the years we had together, the many good things we shared and putting it into the context of the terrible disappointment of his lying to me and his wrong doing, which I found very hard to accept. We did have counseling, which I thought was important. And I would certainly recommend to people.

And, you know, gradually over time, I came to believe that this man whom I have loved for so many years, who I believe is fundamentally a good human being with so many wonderful attributes was someone I wanted to, if I could, if we could stay married. And I have no illusions about how difficult marriage is. But I also know that every marriage is, not only very private, it’s a mystery to anybody on the outside. And what I’ve tried to do in my own life, ever since I was a little girl, is to listen hard to my own heart and to make the decisions that are right for me.”

Couric: “Because there’s so many people out there who say, ‘They’re just political animals. They do what’s expedient. They don’t love each other. They’re just together because it’s politically advantageous. It’s a sham.’”

Clinton: “Right, right.”

Couric: “You’ve heard all that…”

Clinton: “Right.”

Couric: “…and when you hear people passing those kinds of judgments on your marriage, does it gall you? Does it amuse you? What do you think?”

Clinton: “You know, I really don’t pay attention to it because I don’t think anyone knows what happens in a marriage between two people. Nobody could have predicted that he would have ended up being President of the United States. You know, I loved him for who he was, the kind of person that he is. And we’ve had a great, great time together. You know, it is something that I just value in my own life that I have to do what I think is right.”

Couric: “You write that the role of First Lady has been perceived as, quote, ‘Largely symbolic. She’s expected to represent an ideal and largely mythical concept of American womanhood.’ Clearly, you felt uncomfortable with the traditional role, or some aspects of the traditional role alone, of First Lady. But clearly, some people didn’t cotton to the notion of the co-presidency.”

Clinton: “And they shouldn’t have. I mean, that was never anything that was contemplated. It, you know, when I — when I arrived there as a member of my generation of women who had worked and who’d had responsibilities outside the home, as well as inside the home, it seemed the most natural of thing for me to actually continue working, not for pay, obviously, but as a full-time volunteer. And you know, I found that tradition is very hard to change.”

Couric: “But were you surprised at the backlash — the really vitriolic, violent backlash against you in many ways. Do you think it was good, old-fashioned sexism?”

Clinton: “Katie, I think it was many different things. I think there were legitimate questions that I fully understand and accept about whether or not I should have had a position as the head of a task force on health care. And in retrospect, it shouldn’t have happened. It was a mistake. Whether I could have, in some other way, contributed as I continued to do during the rest of the administration, I think we worked out. I began to figure out how to do that.

But it was I’m sure for some people, you know, women of my generation, me personally— but it was also the values and the issues. You know, there are people who disagree with my fundamental belief that, in our nation, we’ve got to figure out a way to provide quality, affordable health care for everybody. That’s not the way they see the world. There are people who didn’t agree with the economic plan, who didn’t agree with the kind of challenges on taking assault weapons off the street. So, it was many different things. It was personal, which I accept. It was symbolic, which I understand. And it was very much related to the issues and the values that my husband’s administration represented.”

Couric: “So, philosophical, as well?”

Clinton: “And ideological, and political.”

Couric: “You often talked about a zone of privacy when you were at the White House. And I’m wondering how you square that with the fact that you are a feminist. That means your against things like sexual harassment. And given some of the things your husband allegedly engaged in as President, do you think that fell under the pervue of the public’s right to know?”

Clinton: “I do think everyone is entitled to privacy. And I deeply regret that in this effort to undermine his Presidency, and to impeach, and get him out of office — what should have remained private was made public. Because I don’t think that’s good for our country.

And I hope that it won’t go forward. I think that there are every reason for anyone in public life to believe that some things should not be made public. But you know, we live in a time with 24-hour news coverage, and you just have to accept that. And, as I said before, the American public, they have a pretty good set of antennas about what’s real and what’s not.”

Couric: “Senator Clinton, why did you feel compelled to write about such deeply personal things? It must have been quite difficult. Of course, the fallout has been, I’m sure, quite difficult. And many people say perhaps this is better left unsaid.”

Clinton: “Well, you know, like all of my predecessors of First Ladies who wrote about their time in the White House, I wanted to write for myself what that experience meant. And I learned a lot from my predecessors’ books. I found them insightful and helpful and useful and a real window into history. So, when I began writing, I realized first that I had to write a little bit about where I came from. I didn’t just wake up on January 20th, 1993 and I have no prior life. And I wanted people to have some better understanding of who I am.

And because these very painful, private matters were dragged into the public, I couldn’t very well, not write about them.”