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A review by carriekellenberger
What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
4.0
Four and a half stars
"The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth." - Garry Kasparov
If ever there has been a book that is more eye-opening to the powers that foreign influence have over countries like the United States, this book would be one of them. This story is scary. It's disturbing.
I've held off on reading What Happened because I needed some time to process what happened after the 2016 election. To this day, I still do not understand how the current president - a racist, homophobic misogynist who lies, bullies, and constantly undermines anyone who disagrees with him gained access to the White House. How does that happen? Clinton provides valuable insight about what happened on the road to the election.
Clinton addresses each topic in turn and backs everything up with facts. Her words, written in 2017, are almost like prophecy because we're here now. There is no denying any of this now. It's all out in the open and it's important that all Americans understand how their country was taken advantage of.
I'm glad I read this now. I thought this book might be full of rage, but it's not. What Happened is well written. HRC is just as calm and collected in her writing as she is with her public appearances. She doesn't offer excuses; she admits to the mistakes she felt she made during the election, and she accepts responsibility for the loss. She is honest and open about what she was thinking and feeling during the most controversial presidential election in history. She describes what it was like to run against Trump and Sanders, the mistakes she made and how she could've corrected them, how she coped with her loss and how she moved on. She also speaks openly about the challenges of being a female leader in the public eye, and how the media and her opponents used her sex to criticize everything about her, from her appearance to her age, her health, her voice - she faced every double standard a woman could possibly face in politics. We're seeing it all happen again today with candidates like Elizabeth Warren.
It is shocking to read that everything she predicted in 2017 when she wrote this book is happening right now. We know for a fact that foreign powers were involved with the 2016 election and that the US is undergoing constant and ongoing threats to its democracy. If you care about the United States and you're just now starting to realize what an information war and technological warfare might look like, this is a very eye-opening account.
All the comments that are still showing up whenever her name is mentioned: the emails, the Wall Street funding, lock her up - she addresses everything and tells us what happened and how it happened.
Everything she writes about in this book can be verified, and we should all be thinking carefully about outside influence, what propaganda looks like and how it is used against us, how the media was manipulated or did the manipulating in the election, and how power is used to control people. Clinton reiterates over and over again the importance of independent critical thinking and reading the evidence for yourself.
Mark her warnings in this book because we're here, right now, exactly where she said we would be when she wrote this in 2017. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in reading about politics, anyone who cares about the US, and anyone who is interested in feminism. If you're into spy novels, here's a real life account of what happened.
Best Takeaway Quotes
"As I noted at the beginning of this chapter, one reason the Russian misinformation campaign was successful was that our country's natural defenses had been worn down over several years of powerful interests that sought to make it harder for Americans to distinguish between truth and lies. If you feel like it's gotten tougher to separate out fringe voices from credible journalists, especially online, or you find yourself arguing more and more with people over what should be knowable facts, you're not going crazy. There has been a concentrated effort to discredit mainstream sources of information, create an echo chamber to amplify fringe conspiracy theories, and undermine Americans' grasp of objective truth."
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
“In my experience, the balancing act women in politics have to master is challenging at every level, but it gets worse the higher you rise. If we’re too tough, we’re unlikable. If we’re too soft, we’re not cut out for the big leagues. If we work too hard, we’re neglecting our families. If we put family first, we’re not serious about the work. If we have a career but no children, there’s something wrong with us, and vice versa. If we want to compete for a higher office, we’re too ambitious. Can’t we just be happy with what we have? Can’t we leave the higher rungs on the ladder for men? Think how often you’ve heard these words used about women who lead: angry, strident, feisty, difficult, irritable, bossy, brassy, emotional, abrasive, high-maintenance, ambitious (a word that I think of as neutral, even admirable, but clearly isn’t for a lot of people).”
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
"When people feel left out, left behind, and left without options, the deep void will be filled with anger and resentment or depression and despair about those who supposedly took away their livelihoods ore cut the line. Trump brilliantly tapped into all these feelings, especially with his slogan: Make America Great Again. Along with that were two other powerful messages: "What have you got to lose?" and "She's been there for 30 years and never did anything." What he meant was: "You can have the old America back once I vanquish the immigrants, especially Mexicans and Muslims, send the Chinese products back, repeal Obamacare, demolish political correctness, ignore inconvenient facts, and pillory Hillary along with all the other liberal elites. I hate all the same people you do, and unlike other Republicans, I'll do something to make your life better."
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
“Something I wish every man across America understood is how much fear accompanies women throughout our lives. So many of us have been threatened or harmed. So many of us have helped friends recover from a traumatic incident. It’s difficult to convey what all this violence does to us. It adds up in our hearts and our nervous systems.”
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
“But her emails! —the internet, 2017”
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
Ad nauseam 2019
“But too many of Trump’s core supporters do hold views that I find—there’s no other word for it—deplorable. And while I’m sure a lot of Trump supporters had fair and legitimate reasons for their choice, it is an uncomfortable and unavoidable fact that everyone who voted for Donald Trump—all 62,984,825 of them—made the decision to elect a man who bragged about sexual assault, attacked a federal judge for being Mexican and grieving Gold Star parents who were Muslim, and has a long and well-documented history of racial discrimination in his businesses. That doesn’t mean every Trump voter approved of those things, but at a minimum they accepted or overlooked them. And they did it without demanding the basics that Americans used to expect from all presidential candidates, from releasing tax returns to offering substantive policy proposals to upholding common standards of decency.”
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
"The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth." - Garry Kasparov
If ever there has been a book that is more eye-opening to the powers that foreign influence have over countries like the United States, this book would be one of them. This story is scary. It's disturbing.
I've held off on reading What Happened because I needed some time to process what happened after the 2016 election. To this day, I still do not understand how the current president - a racist, homophobic misogynist who lies, bullies, and constantly undermines anyone who disagrees with him gained access to the White House. How does that happen? Clinton provides valuable insight about what happened on the road to the election.
Clinton addresses each topic in turn and backs everything up with facts. Her words, written in 2017, are almost like prophecy because we're here now. There is no denying any of this now. It's all out in the open and it's important that all Americans understand how their country was taken advantage of.
I'm glad I read this now. I thought this book might be full of rage, but it's not. What Happened is well written. HRC is just as calm and collected in her writing as she is with her public appearances. She doesn't offer excuses; she admits to the mistakes she felt she made during the election, and she accepts responsibility for the loss. She is honest and open about what she was thinking and feeling during the most controversial presidential election in history. She describes what it was like to run against Trump and Sanders, the mistakes she made and how she could've corrected them, how she coped with her loss and how she moved on. She also speaks openly about the challenges of being a female leader in the public eye, and how the media and her opponents used her sex to criticize everything about her, from her appearance to her age, her health, her voice - she faced every double standard a woman could possibly face in politics. We're seeing it all happen again today with candidates like Elizabeth Warren.
It is shocking to read that everything she predicted in 2017 when she wrote this book is happening right now. We know for a fact that foreign powers were involved with the 2016 election and that the US is undergoing constant and ongoing threats to its democracy. If you care about the United States and you're just now starting to realize what an information war and technological warfare might look like, this is a very eye-opening account.
All the comments that are still showing up whenever her name is mentioned: the emails, the Wall Street funding, lock her up - she addresses everything and tells us what happened and how it happened.
Everything she writes about in this book can be verified, and we should all be thinking carefully about outside influence, what propaganda looks like and how it is used against us, how the media was manipulated or did the manipulating in the election, and how power is used to control people. Clinton reiterates over and over again the importance of independent critical thinking and reading the evidence for yourself.
Mark her warnings in this book because we're here, right now, exactly where she said we would be when she wrote this in 2017. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in reading about politics, anyone who cares about the US, and anyone who is interested in feminism. If you're into spy novels, here's a real life account of what happened.
Best Takeaway Quotes
"As I noted at the beginning of this chapter, one reason the Russian misinformation campaign was successful was that our country's natural defenses had been worn down over several years of powerful interests that sought to make it harder for Americans to distinguish between truth and lies. If you feel like it's gotten tougher to separate out fringe voices from credible journalists, especially online, or you find yourself arguing more and more with people over what should be knowable facts, you're not going crazy. There has been a concentrated effort to discredit mainstream sources of information, create an echo chamber to amplify fringe conspiracy theories, and undermine Americans' grasp of objective truth."
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
“In my experience, the balancing act women in politics have to master is challenging at every level, but it gets worse the higher you rise. If we’re too tough, we’re unlikable. If we’re too soft, we’re not cut out for the big leagues. If we work too hard, we’re neglecting our families. If we put family first, we’re not serious about the work. If we have a career but no children, there’s something wrong with us, and vice versa. If we want to compete for a higher office, we’re too ambitious. Can’t we just be happy with what we have? Can’t we leave the higher rungs on the ladder for men? Think how often you’ve heard these words used about women who lead: angry, strident, feisty, difficult, irritable, bossy, brassy, emotional, abrasive, high-maintenance, ambitious (a word that I think of as neutral, even admirable, but clearly isn’t for a lot of people).”
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
"When people feel left out, left behind, and left without options, the deep void will be filled with anger and resentment or depression and despair about those who supposedly took away their livelihoods ore cut the line. Trump brilliantly tapped into all these feelings, especially with his slogan: Make America Great Again. Along with that were two other powerful messages: "What have you got to lose?" and "She's been there for 30 years and never did anything." What he meant was: "You can have the old America back once I vanquish the immigrants, especially Mexicans and Muslims, send the Chinese products back, repeal Obamacare, demolish political correctness, ignore inconvenient facts, and pillory Hillary along with all the other liberal elites. I hate all the same people you do, and unlike other Republicans, I'll do something to make your life better."
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
“Something I wish every man across America understood is how much fear accompanies women throughout our lives. So many of us have been threatened or harmed. So many of us have helped friends recover from a traumatic incident. It’s difficult to convey what all this violence does to us. It adds up in our hearts and our nervous systems.”
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
“But her emails! —the internet, 2017”
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened
Ad nauseam 2019
“But too many of Trump’s core supporters do hold views that I find—there’s no other word for it—deplorable. And while I’m sure a lot of Trump supporters had fair and legitimate reasons for their choice, it is an uncomfortable and unavoidable fact that everyone who voted for Donald Trump—all 62,984,825 of them—made the decision to elect a man who bragged about sexual assault, attacked a federal judge for being Mexican and grieving Gold Star parents who were Muslim, and has a long and well-documented history of racial discrimination in his businesses. That doesn’t mean every Trump voter approved of those things, but at a minimum they accepted or overlooked them. And they did it without demanding the basics that Americans used to expect from all presidential candidates, from releasing tax returns to offering substantive policy proposals to upholding common standards of decency.”
― Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened