Hillary Clinton takes stock of life's successes and defeats in her memoirs, which were inspired by a song by Joni Mitchell

NEW YORK – At the end of her new memoirs, Hillary Clinton expresses a wish that sounds like a distant future: “I hope I am alive when the United States elects a woman president.”

It turns out her book went to print a little too early. Clinton wrote that sentence before Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, which suddenly made that desire feel much more immediate. It was too late to update the print version of “Something Lost, Something Gained,” which comes out this week, although the audiobook now has an epilogue.

What is Clinton’s position on this request now?

“Really optimistic,” she says, praising the vice president as a candidate and especially her recent performance at the debate. “I think I'll still be around when the first woman becomes president!”

Clinton, 76, has written previous memoirs – from 2003's “Living History” to 2017's “What Happened?”, about the painful defeat to Donald Trump that derailed her own quest to become the first female U.S. president. This latest book feels more intimate. Inspired by the song “Both Sides Now” by one of her favorite musicians, Joni Mitchell, the book is intended to be a snapshot of how she sees the world today, she says – a bit like chatting with her over dinner.

So the text ranges from the macro level—for example, a chapter on how she imagines the years after Trump's re-election, starting with troops patrolling America's cities—to the micro level, where she describes her life as a grandmother or the morning hours at home with Bill, competing against each other in the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle.

First Lady, lawyer, senator, Secretary of State and, of course, presidential candidate. University professor, aspiring Broadway producer. Clinton lived through many chapters, and the book's chapters move effortlessly between eras.

In the details of a spy novel, she describes an operation to rescue women in danger in Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power in 2021. In the next chapter, she reflects on the unique “sisterhood” of former first ladies and defends Melania Trump against criticism of her outfit at the memorial service for Rosalynn Carter: “She came. That was what mattered.”

But she makes no secret of her hostility toward Donald Trump. It's clear that the “something lost” category of her title includes the election, which still hurts deeply. In a recent anecdote, she recounts meeting a retired FBI agent who apologized for his role in the handling of the FBI's investigation into her emails, an investigation that was reopened days before the election.

She writes that she stared for a minute, unable to speak. “I would have made a great president,” she then told him before walking away.

Clinton spoke to the Associated Press last week ahead of the release of her book. Some other insights:

The omnipresent glass ceiling

Clinton wore white to honor women's suffrage when she accepted the Democratic nomination; Harris did not. Clinton spoke of “18 million cracks” in the ultimate glass ceiling when she lost; Harris has not emphasized gender in her speeches. Why the difference?

Well, Clinton says, eight years have passed. When she ran, the idea of ​​a woman running for a major party was so new to the country that it had to be focused on. Almost a decade later, the country has gotten used to the idea.

“We now have not only one image of one person who happens to be a woman running for president — me,” she said. “Now we have a much better chance for female candidates, starting with Kamala, to be perceived in a way that just takes for granted the fact that she's, you know what?, a woman.”

About “being right”

Clinton writes that admirers often come to her and say, “You warned us, and I wish we had listened.” (She adds, “What can I say? Yes, I did.”)

But Clinton also writes that she does not enjoy hearing or feeling that she is right – “I hate it, actually” – not even when she learned one afternoon in May that Trump was the first former U.S. president to be convicted of serious crimes. That moment, she says, left her with “a shock of disbelief” and “a sense of satisfaction,” along with a few tears.

When asked what she is most afraid of at the moment, of being “right,” she replies: “What I am most afraid of is that people will no longer take Donald Trump seriously. And not in the truest sense of the word.”

Old and new occupations

Not surprisingly, Clinton, who coined the phrase “women's rights are human rights” three decades ago, writes about many activists and dissidents she has worked with around the world. She also tells the story of how she and colleagues participated in a secret operation to rescue hundreds of women from Afghanistan – professors, lawyers, activists and their families – who would likely have been targeted by the Taliban after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

But Clinton also talks about new pursuits. For example, her teaching position at Columbia University, which she is returning to for the first time in 50 years. And her work as a producer on Broadway. Clinton was one of the producers of “Suffs,” the Tony-winning musical about women who fought for the right to vote in the early 20th century. She ends her book with a song from the show: “Keep Marching.”

Will she produce more in the future? “I don't know,” she says. “I can tell you, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.”

Family and marriage

Being a grandmother “is really the only experience in life that is not overrated,” says the grandmother of three children to whom she dedicates her book.

But Clinton gets most personal when she talks about her marriage, which she says “brings new joy every day.” She doesn't feel the need to elaborate on her allusion to past challenges. “It's no secret that Bill and I have had dark days in our marriage in the past,” she writes. “But the past softens with time, and what remains is the truth: I am married to my best friend.”

When asked if she feels some people still don't believe that and wonder why she stayed, she replies, “I'm sure there are people who don't understand that. (But) this was an opportunity for me to basically say what I believe, which is that every life brings challenges, opportunities, setbacks, disappointments, successes and achievements. And you have to make a decision almost every day about how you want to live that day.” Her choices, she says, were right for her.

Walks in the forest

Clinton's schedule is organized by a staff member down to the minute. A phone call could be scheduled for 10:14 a.m. But what does that mean for her widely documented walks in the woods near her home in Chappaqua, New York?

Clinton makes time for that, too. Sometimes Bill comes along, but his walks are more like “a strolling conversation” where he has to chat with everyone he sees. She herself has to “just go out and walk as fast as she can.”

Sometimes she plans speeches while she's out walking. Sometimes, she says, she doesn't think about anything at all. “The Japanese have this great expression that translates to forest bathing, where you literally walk through the forest and take it all in.”

She advises her readers to do the same when the political climate begins to overwhelm them: “Put your phone away and go outside. Take a walk.”