THE HUNTING OF HILLARY

A deep look at four decades of hating Hillary.

Perhaps no woman in American history has been vilified as viciously or for as long as Hillary Clinton. Ever since Newt Gingrich famously called her a “bitch” 40 years ago, she has been publicly accused of everything from running a pedophile ring in the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria to murdering former Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster, or at least participating in his murder (it was ruled suicide). She’s been accused of being a lesbian, being frigid, attending sex parties with her husband, Bill, and having an affair with Foster; of controlling, with Bill, death squads in Arkansas; of waging a 30-year war on the nation’s religious heritages; of being “the antichrist” (Ryan Zinke). She’s been at the heart of a number of supposed scandals involving such things as Whitewater, her emails, and Benghazi. Today, even after her presidential bid failed and she left politics three years ago, the attacks continue. Donald Trump alone has issued more than 200 social media attacks on her. Former Newsday journalist D’Antonio, who wrote The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence (2018), among other biographies and histories, explores every one of the accusations, in detail, with the intent of showing why they are all wrong. He vilifies any writer who vilified her, often spending several paragraphs explaining why this or that writer cannot be trusted, either because they have a history of writing erroneous stories, obviously hate Hillary, or are blatant liars. However, while he builds a convincing case that Republicans have treated Hillary with extraordinary unfairness, hatefulness, and cruelty, the book suffers from its one-sided viewpoint. D’Antonio makes Hillary sound almost like a fairy godmother who can do no wrong; there is hardly a word of criticism throughout the text. Still, just like the author’s previous books, this one is thoroughly researched, clearly written, and often incisive.

Hillary lovers will love it; Hillary haters will hate it.