by Paul Kengor
First published 2007
Paul Kengor examines the spiritual journey that molded Hillary Clinton into the politician she became. The historian traces Clinton's path from her strict Methodist upbringing through decades of personal and political trials. Kengor shows how Clinton's childhood foundation of private prayer and community service initially drove her activism. He follows her faith as it wavered during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, then strengthened again during her Arkansas years as she joined Bible study groups while weathering her husband's gubernatorial scandals. The White House years brought Clinton's greatest spiritual tests, from her experiments with New Age practices to surviving the Monica Lewinsky crisis. Kengor reveals how Clinton turned to God to preserve her marriage and endure public humiliation. The author also tackles the tension between Clinton's Christian beliefs and her liberal positions, particularly her pro-choice stance on abortion. Through exhaustive research, Kengor presents Clinton as a complex figure whose political evolution cannot be understood without grasping the religious convictions that both anchor and complicate her worldview.
Genres: history, christian, 20th-century, political-science, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Arkansas, White House
Period: 1960s, 1970s
352 pages · Kindle Edition · HarperCollins