Whichever way the votes tally this week, we are still
four years away from electing the first female president.
In the alternate history Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld, we would, in 2020, be four years into the term of the first.
In this version of events,* Hillary and Bill still
meet at Yale Law School. She’s charmed by his charisma, and they soon become a
couple. Early on, she catches him kissing another woman, but they stay
together. After graduation, they move to Arkansas together. She teaches at the
law school, and he runs, and loses, his first campaign for office. When she
realizes his dalliances have been ongoing, Hillary decides to move to Chicago without
him.
“The margin between staying and leaving was so thin;
really, it could have done either way.”
Fast forward two decades, Hillary is a law professor.
After she hears Bill is going to run for president, she considers a run for Congress. Even though Carol Moseley Braun has a chance of becoming the first
Black female Senator, Hillary decides to run against her in the primary. And
wins.
“Some people who run for office want to create change,
and some want everyone to fall in love with them.”
In this portrayal of Hillary, Sittenfeld gives us someone who wants both.
* If you want to get into the nitty gritty of the plausibility of this universe, read this.
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