The Hunting of Hillary: The Forty-Year Campaign to Destroy Hillary Clinton

by Michael D'Antonio

Overview

The Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter traces how an industry of lies was created to persecute Hillary Clinton: “thoroughly researched [and] incisive” (Kirkus Reviews).

A pioneer for women, Hilary Clinton was burdened in ways no male politician ever was. Maligned by an avalanche of sexist insults and baseless accusations, she couldn’t call out her right-wing attackers lest she be cast as weak and whiny. Nevertheless, she persisted. And her many achievements in politics and policy are all the more remarkable for the unprecedented smear campaign that attempted to stop her.

The 2016 presidential election can only be understood in the context of the primal and primitive response of those who just couldn’t imagine that a woman might lead. For those who seek to understand the experience of the most accomplished woman in American politics, The Hunting of Hillary offers insight. For those who recognized what happened to her, it offers affirmation. And for those who hope to carry Clinton’s work into the future, it offers inspiration and instruction.

“I’m biased! But I think Michael D’Antonio’s book, cataloging decades of right-wing misogyny and mythmaking, is a stunner.” —Hillary Clinton

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250154613
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/01/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	343
Sales rank:	366,001
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

As part of a team of journalists from Newsday, MICHAEL D'ANTONIO won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting before going on to write many acclaimed books, including A Consequential President,The Truth About Trump, Atomic Harvest, and The State Boys Rebellion. He has also written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, and Sports Illustrated. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 What's in a Name? 15

2 She's Ambitious 36

3 Woman Trouble 48

4 Caricature 74

5 A Multifront Assault 105

6 "I Love Dish!" 141

7 Almost Numb to It 156

8 Unstoppable 177

9 Overcoming 198

10 We Create Our Own Reality 221

11 Chaos 251

Afterword 283

Acknowledgments 295

Notes 299

Index 327

Editorial Reviews

[D'Antonio] is a fluid writer, responsible summarizer and diligent researcher. This volume is a comprehensive history of the way right-wing attacks have both replicated and morphed over the decades, and across technologies.... But the book is most successful as a work within the terms of its chosen genre: Clinton defense. Just as the Clinton prosecution — in the manner of Edward Klein and Peter Schweizer — is a recognizable literary category (one to which D’Antonio rightly draws critical attention), so is Clinton defense.”
—The New York Times Book Review

"His compelling examination of the 'vast, right-wing conspiracy' to take down the esteemed former first lady and secretary of state is immaculately compiled... People on both sides of the aisle tire of being asked to confront this ugly history, but D’Antonio’s stirring account demands that we consider it further, especially now."
—Ms. Magazine

"I love this book. It is a thorough and clear-eyed analysis of how a Midwest, Methodist Goldwater Girl became the most vilified woman in America. There really was a right-wing conspiracy; sometimes vast, sometimes half-assed. Michael D’Antonio gives us a riveting account of the decades-long effort to tear down the woman who has been named Gallup’s Most Admired Woman more than anyone else. Essential reading."
—Paul Begala, former advisor to President Bill Clinton

"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."
—Kirkus Reviews

"This galvanizing exposé will stand as a key resource in the study of sexism and politics."
—Booklist, starred review

From the Publisher

2020-01-19
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.

Kirkus Reviews