To my two grandmothersGrace Stalsburg, the original boss babe, and the reason why politics is in my blood; and Violet DeLanomy Italian grandmother, another boss babe who gave me my moxie.
To my mom and dad, Gerda and Nelson Whitman, who instilled a love of politics in me from a very early age, taught me right from wrong, and never wavered in their support.
Hillary Clinton has occupied the political spotlight for more than three decadesas First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the United States, US Senator from New York, 2008 presidential candidate, and secretary of state. Her professional and personal lives have been analyzed, scrutinized, and criticized incessantly, as she has been the subject of thousands of articles, stories, books, and dinnertime debates.
Despite the fact that Hillary has been in the public eye for decades, a common refrain is that Hillary herself is, in many ways, unknown. The established storyline is that Hillary is aloof, secretive, and inaccessible. This reputation has hurt her in the eyes of voters who yearn more than ever for a leader who seems authentic and in touch with the concerns of American families.
This book seeks to re-introduce Hillary to America and re-tell her story, not only as an experienced, accomplished public servant, but also her life as a real persona daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and role model for women and girls around the world.
We, the authors of this book, are lifelong Democrats and strong Hillary supporters. We wrote this book not only to convince our readers to vote for Hillary, but also to re-educate America about who Hillary is and what she is about. With so much misinformation and exaggeration swirling around, it is critical that we tell readers the facts about Hillary Clinton.
So what does Hillary stand for? After we examined her forty-year record as a public servant as well as her personal life history, we concluded that Hillary stands for five core values: Opportunity, Fairness, Respect for Human Dignity, Freedom, and Perseverance. The story we tell in this book is centered on how Hillarys actions and plans for the future reflect those five values.
Hillary believes that every American should have the opportunity to live up to their potential, and that we must do all we can to knock down barriers that hold Americans back from getting ahead and staying ahead. Here we talk about Hillarys plans to create jobs, and highlight some of her proposals to eliminate obstacles to economic opportunity, such as her strategy to increase college affordability and her plan to ensure working parents dont have to choose between a paycheck and childcare.
We begin the Fairness section detailing Hillarys plan to create an economy that is fair for all Americans, which is at the core of her campaign. Hillary has also proposed reforming the criminal justice system, ensuring equal pay for women, and building on the progress President Obama has made in providing healthcare access for all Americans.
Respect for the human dignity of all people has been a cornerstone of Hillarys vision for America and the world. She has spent her career fighting for human rights around the globe, dating back to 1995 when she proclaimed in Beijing that womens rights are human rights. She has been an advocate for marginalized groups and is committed to ensuring that no American is left behind. Hillary will fight for the rights of immigrants, people of color, women, LGBT people, seniors, veterans, the disabled, and those who suffer from mental health and substance abuse issues. Hillarys America is one where it doesnt matter what you look like or where you come from, but what you contribute to your community and country that makes you American.
Freedom is a core American value, and one that Hillary will defend, protect, and preserve as President of the United States. Hillarys foreign policy experience equips her well to restore American leadership around the world and aggressively protect the United States from foreign threats like ISIS. She will be ready on day one to take on the role of commander in chief, and has both the strength and the smarts to lead the free world. In this section, we also discuss Hillarys commitment to ensuring a balance between security and privacy, as well as her lifelong commitment to protecting womens reproductive freedom.
Hillary has said that although shes been called many things in her life, a quitter is not one of them. The Perseverance section is an ode to that sentiment, and details Hillarys relentless efforts and lifelong commitment to being a champion for American families. It is in this section that we re-tell some of Hillarys earlier life history, including her roots in the Midwest, her relationship with her mother, and the story of how she turned Bill downtwice!before she agreed to marry him. We also detail Hillarys exceptional record of bringing people together and compromising to get things done for American families.
We believe that by the end of this book, the reader will come away with a wealth of knowledge to articulate why Hillary is the candidate who will bring America forward, into the twenty-first century, and will ensure that no American gets left behind. While the Republicans want to roll back the progress our country has made and return to the past, Hillary knows that Americas best days are ahead. America has always been greatthe task now is to bring Americans together and make us whole, and that is exactly what Hillary Clinton will do as President of the United States.
Please visit our website for updates and timely news about the election: www.52ReasonsToVoteForHillary.com.
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We wrote this book during one of the busiest years in both of our lives. Brittany planned a wedding and got married and Bernard oversaw one of the biggest growth spurts in his companys history. In the midst of this whirlwind we also decided it would be a good idea to write a book about Hillary Clinton. It almost didnt happen several times, but it did, and there are many people we need to thank who helped push this book forward.
First wed like to thank everyone at Whitman Insight Strategies who not only covered for us when we were busy writing and editing, but who provided valuable feedback and support for this project throughout the process. Wed like to thank the interns who helped with the research for this book among other important tasks, especially Maya Daver-Massion. We are very grateful to Ross Aaron, our dedicated book intern, whose excellent research and analysis provided the foundation we needed to write a compelling story about Hillary.
Thank you to the team at Prospecta Press, especially David Wilk, who helped propel this book forward and provided exceptional advice along the way.
Thank you to our family and friends and our partners: Constantin Mitides and Chuck Fritch. We could not have done this, or anything else, without your loving support and encouragement.
Bernard Whitman
and Brittany L. Stalsburg,
June 2016
Im running for president to build an America for tomorrow, not yesterday, an America built on growth and fairness, an America where if you do your part, you will reap the rewards, where we dont leave anyone behind.
Hillary Clinton