News and Reviews

The White House Years of Clinton—Hillary, Not Bill Harvard alum details the N.Y. senator's past as first lady, but avoids the present - Reviewed by GRACYE Y. CHENG, The Harvard Crimson, December 1, 2006

What's the dish on Hillary? HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON POLARIZING FIRST LADY Reviewed by CAITLIN KELLY, Chicago Sun-Times, October 29, 2006

Book follows Clinton from White House to Senate, CTV News, 10-10-06

Canada AM Interview: Gil Troy, author, 'Hillary Rodham Clinton Polarizing First Lady', 10-10-06 (Requires Windows Media Player or Realplayer)

Booklist Review: "an engrossing look at the behind-the-scenes 'psychodrama' of the Clinton White House

Troy, Gil. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Polarizing First Lady. Oct. 2006. 256p. Univ. Press of Kansas, $24.95 (0-7006-1488-5). 973.929092.

History professor Troy approaches the tumultuous first ladyship of Hillary Rodham Clinton from the perspective of how her tenure fits into tradition and how it will impact future First Ladies. Not surprisingly, there are comparisons to Eleanor Roosevelt. What made Clinton such a polarizing figure was not her political beliefs but her defiance of tradition early on. With midwestern roots and Methodist centrism, Clinton fit the traditional mold, but her Ivy League education, career as a powerful attorney, and determination to play an active role in her husband's administration set the American public against her, provoking the lowest approval ratings for a First Lady ever. It was not until she changed her hairstyle, dress, and image, and was publicly humiliated by her husband's dalliance with a young White House intern that the broader public began to embrace her. This is an engrossing look at the behind-the-scene "psychodrama" of the Clinton White House-the failed health care reform effort, Whitewater, and various scandals-with Hillary as "wronged wife, chief defender, coconspirator, trained lawyer, and independent target." -- Vanessa Bush, BOOKLIST

(More than a) Book Launch with Prof. Gil Troy
"Hillary Rodham Clinton - Polarizing First Lady" WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 AT 7:30 P.M.

Unlike most First Ladies, Hillary Clinton's White House years were but one chapter in a very remarkable, very public life. Troy's new book candidly and refreshingly looks at arguably the most controversial, prominent First Lady yet: a woman who dealt with family/career balance and infidelity while redefining herself an influential "Co-President" and Senator. Whatever your stance on Hillary's personal life, her career or her presidential ambitions, be prepared to reassess where you think she should stand in the continuum of Presidential spouses and in history.

Gil Troy, professor of history at McGill, is the author of Mr. And Mrs. President: From the Trumans to the Clintons; Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s; and See How They Ran: The Changing Role of the Presidential Candidate. Named one of America's Top 15 Young Historians by History News Network, his commentaries on presidential politics have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

Introduced by Prof. Rosalie Jukier, Faculty of Law, McGill University. Books and autographs available. Reception to follow.

Gelber Conference Center, 1 Cummings Square
Admission: $5 members, $10 non-members. For information please call (514) 345-2627 ext. 3017.

Gil Troy Interview: "U.S. Population Nears 300 Million as Households Shrink", Fox News, Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Gil Troy: Desperately seeking Hillary, McGill Reporter, September 21, 2006 - Volume 39 Number 03

THE LIBRARY JOURNAL: Troy, Gil. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Polarizing First Lady. Univ. Pr. of Kansas. (Modern First Ladies). Oct. 2006. c.256p. photogs. index. ISBN 0-7006-1488-5. $24.95. BIOG

Troy (history, McGill Univ.; Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s) is no polemicist; instead, he presents a balanced attempt to understand Hillary Clinton's role when she was First Lady. The work succeeds in explaining the elements of her upbringing and personality that made her work for progressive causes yet led her into political crises that prevented her from achieving her goals. Troy enables us to understand and respect her strengths and idealism while also wincing at her arrogance and suffering her humiliations. He shows us her personal complexities and her relation to major American political movements, particularly Puritanism, progressivism, and feminism. He concludes that Hillary Clinton never clearly understood the constraints that limit the First Lady and undermined the vision of a joint presidency that she and Bill shared. Yet he suggests that she may be more effective as a political figure in her own right. Aimed particularly at the general reader, this book is solidly researched, well written, and engaging enough to be important for both public and academic libraries. --
Elizabeth R. Hayford, emeritus, Associated Colls. of the Midwest, Chicago

Inside Higher Ed, The Quest for Crossover Books, May 22, 2006

Another press with the advantage that its scholarly specialty produces crossover books is the University Press of Kansas, known for its studies of presidents and politics. The fall's hot book is expected to be a biography of Hillary Clinton by Gil Troy, a professor of history at McGill University.

While there are many Hillary biographies, they tend to either be hagiographies or savage attacks. Troy, who has written previous books on the Reagan administration and on modern presidential marriages, is aiming for middle ground. Unlike the Hillary as hero books, this one will not hold back on the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the positive role it played in her political advance. But unlike the Hillary as she-devil books, Troy argues that she is "genuinely moderate" on many issues, and conservative on some, and is nothing like the radical she is portrayed to be.

Look for the book - arriving October 4 - and if Hillary runs for president, expect good promotions for the paperback.