Hillary’s Hidden Hand

At a recent campaign stop at an Iowa livestock auction, Hillary Rodham Clinton told voters, "I know you're going to inspect me. You can look inside my mouth if you want." It's not often that a candidate for president issues such an invitation, but Clinton is doing whatever she can to emphasize that she can withstand scrutiny of her long experience in politics. For months she has been saying that her years as First Lady give her an edge over the other candidates, making her "ready to lead from day one."

Is Hillary Clinton truly as "experienced" as she makes herself out to be—and is the experience she gained as First Lady the kind that matters in choosing a president? The answer is not to be found by looking inside her mouth. But it is worth taking another look inside the eight years she spent in the White House.

Hillary Clinton was no spectator at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In campaign speeches, she often talks about what "we" thought and achieved—an acknowledgment that she and her husband have operated jointly for decades. And indeed she was uniquely immersed in the policies and politics of Bill Clinton's administration. Hillary was the first presidential spouse to have an office in the West Wing rather than the traditional First Lady's domain of the East Wing. She had no official position or specified duties, yet she was so involved in decision making that the president's staff called her "the Supreme Court" because they knew she was the last person he consulted before making up his mind.

"She was the absolutely necessary person he had to have to bounce things up against, and he was that for her," said White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum. "They would talk continually every day." For all the strain and heartache in other areas of their lives, the Clintons have a long history of working together privately on issues and political strategy. Hillary enjoyed operating as a hidden hand. While giving instructions as First Lady, she was known to tell her staff, "Don't leave any fingerprints." White House adviser George Stephanopoulos recalled her explaining, "You have to be much craftier behind the scenes."

Because she had no clear place in the White House hierarchy, Hillary left staff members to wonder whether she was freelancing or acting on her husband's authority. She would routinely turn up at West Wing meetings, and her confrontational style "had a real chilling effect," said a senior presidential aide who—like several other officials and friends quoted in this article—spoke freely about private matters on condition of anonymity. "People were scared of her," said Clinton aide Robert Boorstin. "You did not cross Hillary." Even the president "would try to avoid fighting with her if he could, deflecting her if he could," said Nussbaum. Her dissatisfaction with the White House Travel Office staff led to their abrupt dismissal in May 1993, causing a furor over allegations of cronyism and the absence of due process. Testifying under oath, Hillary said she had "no role in the decision" to fire the employees. Yet the Office of Independent Counsel later concluded that "overwhelming evidence" showed she had played a role and that her "statement to the contrary" was "factually false."

Hillary oversaw the hiring of White House staffers and pressed her husband to fill half the top positions with women. In particular, she insisted he choose a woman as attorney general, which led to the derailed nominations of corporate lawyer Zoe Baird and federal Judge Kimba Wood. The president finally settled on Janet Reno, who had been recommended by Hillary's brother Hugh Rodham. "I don't think Clinton believed he had a choice," recalled Dee Dee Myers, his press secretary. "He had painted himself into a corner, and he had to appoint a woman." Hillary was equally adamant that the president appoint her friend Madeleine Albright as secretary of State.