What Happened

by Hillary Rodham Clinton Narrated by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Overview

“An engaging, beautifully synthesized page-turner” (Slate). The #1 New York Times bestseller and Time #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year: Hillary Rodham Clinton's most personal memoir yet, about the 2016 presidential election.

In this “candid and blackly funny” (The New York Times) memoir, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. She takes us inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules.

“At her most emotionally raw” (People), Hillary describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterward. She tells readers what it took to get back on her feet-the rituals, relationships, and reading that got her through, and what the experience has taught her about life. In this “feminist manifesto” (The New York Times), she speaks to the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye, the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance, and the double standard confronting women in politics.

Offering a “bracing... guide to our political arena” (The Washington Post), What Happened lays out how the 2016 election was marked by an unprecedented assault on our democracy by a foreign adversary. By analyzing the evidence and connecting the dots, Hillary shows just how dangerous the forces are that shaped the outcome, and why Americans need to understand them to protect our values and our democracy in the future.

The election of 2016 was unprecedented and historic. What Happened is the story of that campaign, now with a new epilogue showing how Hillary grappled with many of her worst fears coming true in the Trump Era, while finding new hope in a surge of civic activism, women running for office, and young people marching in the streets.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

What Happened is not one book, but many. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to Donald J. Trump. It is a post-mortem, in which she is both coroner and corpse. It is a feminist manifesto. It is a score-settling jubilee.... It is worth reading.”
—The New York Times

“What Happened is a raw and bracing book, a guide to our political arena.”
—The Washington Post

“The writing in What Happened is engaging — Clinton is charming and even funny at times, without trying to paint herself in too flattering of a light.... Ultimately, the book might be a historical artifact most of all — the chronicling of what, exactly, it was like to run for president as the first woman major-party candidate (and, yes, a Clinton as well). Plenty may disagree with Clinton’s opinions on what went wrong for her, but her story will still be an important part of that history when America looks back on the melee that was the 2016 election.”
—NPR

“An engaging, beautifully synthesized page-turner.”
—Slate

“Here is Clinton at her most emotionally raw.... While What Happened records the perspective of a pioneer who beat an unprecedented path that stopped just shy of the White House, it also covers territory that many women will recognize.... She demonstrates that she can mine her situation for humor.”
—People

“What Happened is not a standard work of this genre. It’s interesting; it’s worth reading; and it sets out questions that the press, in particular, has not done enough to face.”
—The Atlantic

“Engaging... witty, and useful.”
—The New York Review of Books

“A disturbing autopsy on the state of America today. What Happened is an urgent plea directed not only to those concerned about America’s capacity to survive, but also to all who are anxious about protecting America’s international contributions to human health.”
—The Lancet

“This is an important book, and anyone who’s worried by what happened last November 8 should pick it up.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“Contains... insights into Ms. Clinton’s personality, character, and values, and the challenges confronting women in politics.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“The most useful way to read What Happened is as one last instance of Clinton doing what she calls her civic duty.”
—Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

What Happened is not one book, but many. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to Donald J. Trump. It is a post-mortem, in which she is both coroner and corpse. It is a feminist manifesto. It is a score-settling jubilee.... It is worth reading.”
—The New York Times

“What Happened is a raw and bracing book, a guide to our political arena.”
—The Washington Post

“The writing in What Happened is engaging — Clinton is charming and even funny at times, without trying to paint herself in too flattering of a light.... Ultimately, the book might be a historical artifact most of all — the chronicling of what, exactly, it was like to run for president as the first woman major-party candidate (and, yes, a Clinton as well). Plenty may disagree with Clinton’s opinions on what went wrong for her, but her story will still be an important part of that history when America looks back on the melee that was the 2016 election.”
—NPR

“An engaging, beautifully synthesized page-turner.”
—Slate

“Here is Clinton at her most emotionally raw.... While What Happened records the perspective of a pioneer who beat an unprecedented path that stopped just shy of the White House, it also covers territory that many women will recognize.... She demonstrates that she can mine her situation for humor.”
—People

“Contains... insights into Ms. Clinton’s personality, character, and values, and the challenges confronting women in politics.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“What Happened is not a standard work of this genre. It’s interesting; it’s worth reading; and it sets out questions that the press, in particular, has not done enough to face.”
—The Atlantic

“The most useful way to read What Happened is as one last instance of Clinton doing what she calls her civic duty.”
—Los Angeles Times

“This is an important book, and anyone who’s worried by what happened last November 8 should pick it up.”
—Entertainment Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

2017-09-18
Gracious, sometimes-wonkish post-mortem of the last presidential election by its surprise loser, who still can't quite believe…well, what happened."I ran for President because I thought I'd be good at the job," writes Clinton (Hard Choices, 2014, etc.), modestly. She adds, a touch less demurely, "I thought that of all the people who might run, I had the most relevant experience, meaningful accomplishments, and ambitious but achievable proposals, as well as the temperament to get things done in Washington." Against her was arrayed a field of Republican candidates that included the one no one took seriously—but also, as the author notes in a reckoning that is remarkably measured, a whole cultural and political field of opponents, including Russian hackers and a grudge-bearing Vladimir Putin, the crew of WikiLeaks, Bernie Sanders and his devout followers, misogyny, and a few missteps that, refreshingly, Clinton's not shy about owning up to. (One takeaway: don't campaign with pneumonia. Take a day off.) Of the many enemies, writes the author, misogyny was likely the most intractable, even given James Comey, the screams about emails, voter suppression, and Donald Trump's hammering away about "lying Hillary," to say nothing about looming behind her creepily in debate. Mostly, Clinton campaigned against anger, and she could never quite get a handle on how to reckon with it. Pundits have since insisted that Clinton should have spoken more from the heart and been less managed, which isn't really how politics is done—well, until Trump came along and opened the door to a post-truth America. Of all the upshots, that truth business seems to be what bothers Clinton most, but mostly she's understandably amazed, as are so many, to have gone to bed in one America and awoken in another: "I picture future historians scratching their heads, trying to understand what happened. I'm still scratching mine, too." A touch too reserved and polite, given the circumstances, and in need of supplementing by hard-edged books like Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes' Shattered. Still, a useful book to read—and, for many, to mourn over.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170654093
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	09/12/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

What Happened

This book is a snapshot of how I felt and what we knew in the spring and summer of 2017, just a few months after the 2016 election. As you’ll see, it is at times raw, bewildered, and angry. By the end, though, I found some peace. And I remain hopeful that our country is resilient enough to withstand even these challenging times.

The reception of the book was more positive and fervent than I expected. All over the country, people lined up for hours to tell me— often in tears—how much the book and our campaign meant to them. Hearing from them meant the world to me. Many book signings became part group-therapy session, part organizing rally. I was enchanted by the little girls who came to my events with their parents, some wearing tiny pantsuits and pearls, beaming up at me, so proud to tell me about their siblings, their teachers, and what they want to be when they grow up.

Since I wrote this book, some things have changed. Wounds heal. Emotions cool. History marches on. As it does, it reveals itself more fully. We’ve learned a lot more about what happened in 2016. It turns out the Russian misinformation campaign was even more insidious . . . the dirty tricks that Cambridge Analytica and others used on Facebook and elsewhere were even more devious . . . and the Republican voter suppression efforts were even more effective than we imagined. In a new afterword included in this edition, written in early summer 2018, I try to make sense of these new revelations and what they mean for our country going forward.

As more facts have come to light, I’ve gone back and reconsidered this book with fresh eyes. I believe it stands the test of time. The arguments I made about the factors that contributed to Trump’s election still hold up a year later. Meanwhile, my fears about the danger he poses to our country have only grown. And while Trump and his allies have continued to attack me at every opportunity, none of them has poked any real holes in this book, even about the whole email debacle. I hope that gives you confidence as you read on. And I hope that What Happened helps give you the courage to join the fights we face today. May you find it as cathartic to read as I found it to write.

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