Showing what works–that has become the new mantra for Hillary Rodham Clinton. With a 50th birthday this month and her only child off at college, the First Lady is using this turning point to orchestrate a new, higher-profile role to spotlight policies she likes. She’s attending a birthday gala in her native Chicago, including visits to her childhood haunts. ““All the stations of the cross,’’ says a friend. She now takes reporters on all of her trips (though she continues to control the media by conducting her interviews off the record until her staff can review and approve the final results). This month, the White House will hold a splashy conference on child care. All of it comes from a feeling, say her friends, that she’s better off highlighting the many projects she cares about rather than making policy or concentrating on one single cause. (Remember health care.) She’s not indifferent to her legacy, but–unlike her husband–she is not consumed by it, either.
Hillary is candid about the lessons she’s learned as First Lady. She says she now understands that there is power in words as well as deeds. ““I’m much more aware and much more comfortable with the Bully Pulpit,’’ she told NEWSWEEK. ““It is something that I’ve come to appreciate more than I ever thought I would.’’ She’s also less worried about what Washington thinks of her: ““I was very upset at times and couldn’t understand why people were so critical and opposed to what I was trying to do, no matter what I did. Then I came to understand that was just part of the political landscape.’’ She defends her health-care program but acknowledges ““that maybe it’s easier for people to take reform in small chunks.’’ While she was never in hiding post-health care, stories about Hillary’s ““influence’’ disappeared. Now her presence is again being felt inside the White House. Despite her caricature, she took on liberals and urged the president to sign welfare reform last year.
Why the new role? For one thing, her popularity is way up. Internal White House polls show her at practically her highest levels (around 60 percent) since coming to office–perhaps because, for the moment, she’s out of the scandal spotlight: her husband and Al Gore are now the ones facing scrutiny. Meanwhile, of course, Chelsea’s off to Stanford, leaving Mrs. Clinton freer to travel and work in the evenings. Friends of the first couple’s say that Mrs. Clinton is handling Chelsea’s departure better than the president. Her absence is especially vexing for him late at night when Hillary has gone to bed and Chelsea, a fellow night owl, is not around to gab with. While both Clintons have vowed to learn e-mail to bridge the nearly 3,000-mile gap, Mrs. Clinton is ahead of her husband in going online. One of the presents her staff got her in the days leading up to her birthday: ““E-Mail for Dummies.’’ She loved it.
What’s next? NEWSWEEK has learned that next week’s child-care conference will be followed by an executive order calling on federal agencies to develop child-care proposals for the country. This isn’t the prelude to One Big Program. Instead, Hillary hopes to spotlight favored causes, not only child care but gulf war syndrome–an issue of concern to Ross Perot, who has been in touch with her staff to point out new medical research. A C-Span junkie, she’s always loved political speeches. With her new high profile, she may be on the channel more than she’s watching it.
