00:00All the research shows that the more successful a man becomes, the more likable he becomes.
00:06The more professionally successful a woman becomes, the less likable she becomes.
00:13Ain't that the truth?
00:14Secretary Clinton spent months out of the spotlight following the biggest upset in presidential history.
00:20With the release of her new book, What Happened?, Secretary Clinton gave Refinery29 an exclusive interview
00:25about her candid memoir, which relives the 2016 presidential election.
00:30In the book, you share a lot of really personal details.
00:33What made you want to open up now, and do you regret not letting that guard down a little bit
00:37earlier?
00:38I mean, this book is my most candid explanation of not only my life, but what I believe that I've
00:48ever tried to do.
00:48It was hard, and I'm very proud of the outcome, because it was kind of cathartic.
00:55Everybody has losses.
00:57Not everybody will lose a presidential campaign, but there will be all kinds of losses and disappointments
01:03that are just part of human nature and life.
01:06So, I wanted to share my story on a very personal level, behind the scenes, pulling back the curtain.
01:15I think a lot of people did criticize you on the campaign trail for not doing that a little bit
01:20sooner.
01:21Do you ever regret that?
01:22Being a woman in public life is like being on a high wire with no net.
01:26And I have been involved in public service and in politics for much of my adult life.
01:35And there is a double standard about women, and I try to explain that.
01:40And I consulted a friend of mine, Sheryl Sandberg, who, as you know, is the COO of Facebook.
01:48And so she and two of her top researchers came to brief me before the election really got started.
01:54They said, all the research shows that the more successful a man becomes, the more likable he becomes.
02:01The more professionally successful a woman becomes, the less likable she becomes.
02:08And when you are in service for someone else, you can go and advocate, and people will accept that.
02:15But when you are trying to advocate for yourself as a woman, you are held to such a different standard
02:22than when men do the very same thing.
02:24Because we know ambition is a double-edged sword.
02:29It's fine for a young man or a man of any age to be ambitious.
02:33But a young woman or a woman of any age to be ambitious raises all kinds of dissonance in people's
02:41minds.
02:42In What Happened, Secretary Clinton offers an honest exploration of what went wrong during the 2016 election.
02:49She also brings us along on her journey toward healing in the aftermath of the campaign with the help of
02:54her friends, her daughter Chelsea, and her husband, President Bill Clinton.
02:58Oh, he was wonderful because it was so shocking.
03:02You know, we thought I was going to win.
03:06That's what the, you know, data we had suggested.
03:09I knew that I had taken a big hit from the letter that Director Comey from the FBI sent,
03:17which was, I thought, incredibly, unbelievably unnecessary, unprecedented, and damaging.
03:25So it was shocking, and when it happened, it was really a comfort to have him because he is, you
03:33know, my principal advisor and supporter, but he'd also lost.
03:38He'd lost two races for Congress and re-election as governor, so he knows the pain of losing.
03:45And he was able to both buck me up, but also begin to, you know, point me forward, because it
03:55was devastating.
03:56I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
03:58And I write in the very first chapter what it felt like going to the inauguration that was going to
04:06inaugurate my opponent.
04:08And I had raised so many concerns about him.
04:11I tried to warn people, and it was painful.
04:14And I felt like I owed it to the country that it was a duty that I go.
04:19So I did.
04:20Bill and I went.
04:23And then we, you know, just kind of recovered ourselves after it was over.
04:30But then the next day with the Women's March, it was exhilarating.
04:34So that gave me a big boost of, you know, spirit and encouragement.
04:40I think that a lot of young women were surprised, though, how much misogyny and sexism played a role in
04:46Donald Trump's campaign.
04:48And you write in the book that that did play a big role in the election.
04:52What lessons do you think that that taught you about men in the aftermath of the campaign?
04:57That sexism and misogyny, which I describe and differentiate, if you will, are endemic in our society still.
05:08And we elected for our president a man who bragged about groping women and sexual assault,
05:16who used vile insults to describe women, who called me nasty for challenging him.
05:25It was classic, classic misogynistic behavior.
05:29So what does that tell us?
05:31It tells us that we've made progress.
05:34I would be the first to say we have, certainly from the time I was your age and younger.
05:39But that we, by no means, have achieved the dream of equality in social, political, and economic terms.
05:51And that when someone who is now our president in the White House gives voice to those kinds of degrading
06:04comments about women,
06:07who's caught on tape saying those kinds of things,
06:10it gives a license to people to be more outspoken against women, against our progress, against our rights.
06:22And I think it's really important for young women to recognize,
06:27yes, we've made progress, but we have to all continue to stand up for ourselves,
06:34to stand up for each other, to stand up for the laws that we need,
06:38and to take on the sexism that is so prevalent,
06:44and which has been given a real boost by Trump.
06:50After Secretary Clinton's stunning defeat,
06:52many look to Ivanka Trump as a moderating force for the Trump administration.
06:57So Ivanka Trump, she's started to champion a lot of the same issues that you did.
07:02She even wore a white pantsuit to inauguration.
07:04But she's kind of failed to live up to a lot of the things that she said that she would.
07:09Do you feel that she's complicit in the administration's actions,
07:12and should we be sympathetic for her?
07:15The way I look at it is that the person who has to be held responsible is Donald Trump.
07:22He is the president.
07:24He listens to who he listens to.
07:26He tweets and speaks out,
07:30makes common cause with white supremacists and neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan-ers,
07:36takes away the protections that were granted to 800,000 DREAMers in so many ways,
07:43just trying to impose a political agenda that is turning the clock back,
07:51or attempting to do so,
07:52in ways that I find not only really repulsive,
07:59but wrongheaded in terms of the kind of country we are.
08:03So everyone associated with him,
08:05they're either on board with that,
08:08or they're not.
08:09And if they're not,
08:11they need to be speaking out or leaving.
08:13But if they remain silent and just give lip service to contrary points of view,
08:20then they are part of his agenda
08:22and should be judged and held accountable for that.
08:25I've been thinking a lot about the day after the election,
08:27the Refinery 29 offices.
08:28There was a lot of people sobbing and crying and upset.
08:31And during your concession speech,
08:34that was particularly,
08:35there was just an electric energy in the room.
08:37Is there anything that you would say to those women differently today
08:42than you did back in that speech?
08:43I think the speech was certainly reflective of my concerns at that point,
08:49which were that people would get discouraged
08:51and they would turn away from public involvement,
08:54however they defined it.
08:56I'm not so worried about that.
08:58What I am focused on now with this new organization I've started called Onward Together
09:02is to give more people, young people,
09:08the chance to participate through supporting organizations,
09:11through being online,
09:13through raising money for people who are out in the public arena.
09:17And I have a little mantra where I like to say,
09:19resist, insist, persist, and enlist.
09:22Not everybody's going to run for office by any means,
09:25but you can support those who do,
09:27whether it is standing up for DACA recipients,
09:30whether it is fighting for better rules to protect equal pay
09:37and overtime and all of the other pieces,
09:40or fighting to get health care for people.
09:42There's so much to be involved in now.
09:44And so I feel like the commitment is there,
09:49the passion is there,
09:50but we just have to organize ourselves as well as we can
09:54so that the maximum number of people can be involved
09:56and particularly to vote in elections
09:59because that's really what it all comes down to.
10:00Right, of course.
10:01One of the other things you read about in the book
10:03is your passion for moving forward the Democratic Party.
10:05Do you feel that abortion litmus tests
10:08are necessary for the Democratic Party in red states?
10:11I have to say that I am proud to be a Democrat
10:15and I'm proud of all the progress
10:17that's happened in my own lifetime.
10:19And I will continue to advocate
10:21for the policies of the Democratic Party.
10:23But I don't think it's either or.
10:25You need a very strong economic message,
10:29which I think I had, but it was hard to get through.
10:34And you need to stand up for human rights,
10:36social justice, and civil rights.
10:38And a woman's right to control her body
10:43and her health care decisions
10:46is a fundamental human right.
10:49One of the reasons I was proud to have Tim Kaine
10:52on my ticket is that he's personally opposed to abortion.
10:56He's a practicing Catholic.
10:58But he, like Mario Cuomo, long before recognized
11:03that you have to protect the rights of individuals
11:07to make the most important and intimate decisions.
11:11And reproductive rights are important
11:14in order to make clear
11:16that we want to give women a choice.
11:20Well, to end this interview, we're finally at 29.
11:22We love owning your power
11:23and we are big fans of the power pose.
11:27Mine's kind of something like a little...
11:29That makes me feel confident.
11:31Do you have a go-to power pose
11:32that makes you feel powerful?
11:34Let me say here, it's hard to do sitting down,
11:37but I think, you know, sitting up straight
11:40and just looking as fearless as you can
11:43about whatever lies ahead of you out there
11:46and just being unapologetic
11:48to own your own power and who you are.
11:51I love it.
11:51Thank you so much, Secretary Clinton.
11:53I appreciate it.
11:54Thank you so much.
11:54Thank you very much.
