The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

"One time, when I interviewed Hillary, she kept talking about this book and the discipline of gratitude. She brought it up because she was trying to emphasize the role that her faith, as a Methodist, has played in her ability to keep going. She cited that book as one which she would turn to again and again, having a profound influence on her ability to keep going no matter what. “Neither of those books impressed me in the least. They were typical political books that don’t really add much to the equation.” She has a very complex character. It’s hard to say that one thing is the tent pole. But I have no reason to be suspicious or cynical about the role of faith in her life. Well, she’s had to forgive her husband a million times. I don’t know whether she’ll be able to forgive all of her opponents for all that she’s been put through. People are complicated. You can have forgiveness in you and a little anger in you at the same time. But I don’t doubt that striving for gratitude and forgiveness is one of the things that keeps her going. Neither of those books impressed me in the least. They were typical political books that don’t really add much to the equation. In one sense there will be a little déjà vu, because from the very beginning, maybe even more intensely than with Bill, her Republican opposition is going to be targeting her to try to delegitimize her presidency. She is much better organized than her husband was. Maybe we can expect less chaos in her White House staff. The political climate has changed. Her husband was a survivor and he was surviving in a climate that was divisive but more conservative. She’ll be somewhat to the left of her husband, if she can be. In her years as a Senator, she was able to find compromises and get along with Republicans in the Senate. I think that her ability to work across the aisle might surprise people, if work across the aisle is allowed to happen, which is increasingly dubious."