美国国家公共电台 NPR After 4 Decades Of Breaking Molds, Clinton Failed To Shatter The Ultimate Ceiling

After 4 Decades Of Breaking Molds, Clinton Failed To Shatter The Ultimate Ceiling

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After nearly two years of running for president, Hillary Clinton went for a hike yesterday near her home in Chappaqua, N.Y. It's been a couple of days now since Clinton conceded the race to Donald Trump², marking what is almost certainly the end of her long political career. NPR's Tamara Keith looks back at Clinton's decades in public life.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE³: When Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992, he advertised it as a two-for-the-price-of-one deal. Hillary Clinton was a political spouse⁴ who broke the mold. She had her own high-powered law career, and when she defended it in an offhand⁵ remark, that set off a firestorm.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HILLARY CLINTON: You know, I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided⁶ to do was to fulfill⁷ my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life.

KEITH: This was taken as an insult to stay-at-home moms, but for Clinton, it was merely a statement of fact, and the fact is, Clinton has always been a disruptive presence. When she and Bill got married, she didn't take his name, that is until they decided his political career depended on it.

She was a full partner with her husband on policy making and political strategy, going places and doing things that haven't been done before, at least not by women. Celinda Lake is a Democratic pollster.

CELINDA LAKE: She's always broken glass ceilings wherever she's gone for herself and for others. And when you do that, sometimes you get nicked by some of the broken glass.

KEITH: Clinton was the first student commencement speaker at Wellesley College but took heat for her remarks. She was the first first lady with an office in the West Wing, the part of the White House where the president and his top aides work. And she was met with skepticism when her husband put her in charge of health care reform.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BILL CLINTON: I think that in the coming months, the American people will learn, as the people of our state did, that we have a first lady of many talents but who most of all can bring people together around complex and difficult issues to hammer out consensus⁸ and get things done.

KEITH: Clinton's effort at health care reform eventually collapsed⁹ under its own weight. And the whole time she was working on it, she and her husband's administration were embroiled¹⁰ in one scandal after another - Travelgate, Vince Foster's suicide, Whitewater. The investigations¹¹ - they would consider them witch-hunts - would be a fixture¹² of their time in the White House.

In 1998, Clinton went on the "Today" show to defend herself and her husband from what she believed was another false attack. This time it involved a White House intern¹³.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

H. CLINTON: The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy¹⁴ that has been conspiring¹⁵ against my husband since the day he announced for president.

KEITH: Of course the Monica Lewinsky affair turned out to be real. But David Maraniss, an associate editor at The Washington Post who has written extensively about the Clintons, says she has spent her entire public life under attack from the right.

DAVID MARANISS: You know, getting called before a grand jury, having to testify for 11 hours before a congressional committee, being investigated by the FBI. You know, it wasn't all her fault by any means, and none of these things lead to anything in the end yet. But it was a really - it was a heavy load to carry.

KEITH: And yet rather than hide, just as Bill Clinton was being impeached¹⁷, Hillary Clinton was charting out the start of her own political career. She would run for the open U.S. Senate seat in New York. At one point, she talked it through with a group of friends from her Wellesley years. Her political science professor Alan Schechter was there and remembers it well.

ALAN SCHECHTER: Someone said, well, why do you want to do it? You've been so criticized, so overexposed to criticism.

KEITH: What Clinton said stuck with him. She wanted to fight for children and families as she had throughout her life.

SCHECHTER: I will always have a voice if I'm a former first lady, but if I run for the Senate and win, I will have a much stronger voice, and I'm willing to take the politics of personal destruction. That's the price I will pay for having that potential influence.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

H. CLINTON: Because I believe we can meet these challenges together, I am honored today to announce my candidacy for the United States Senate from New York.

KEITH: She won that race and became the first female senator from New York. While in office, Clinton worked well with her fellow senators, including Republicans who had voted to impeach¹⁶ her husband. It's when she's running for office that the questions of likability and trustworthiness emerge and linger.

Celinda Lake says that for Clinton, the wounds of battle became scars in part because she was private about so much of herself. She focused on the work and wanted that to be enough.

LAKE: They don't have the personal context for understanding her, and that makes the negatives more vivid.

KEITH: She points to a focus group she did during 1992 where they asked about the Clinton's favorite foods. For Bill, everyone offered an answer even if they didn't know - barbecue, doughnuts.

LAKE: Or whatever you put in his face because he just was like the joyous¹⁸ warrior¹⁹ who liked everything. And when we asked, you know, what's the favorite food you think of Hillary Clinton, people go, I have no idea, maybe lettuce²⁰. (Laughter) And that wasn't a compliment.

KEITH: For female politicians, she says there is a double bind²¹. Voters require them to be strong leaders and likable, and it's hard for women to pull off being both. It was especially hard for Clinton, who readily admitted she wasn't a natural politician.

When she ran for president in 2008, her likability was an issue, as it was this time. Back then, it even came up in a debate. She was asked what she would say to voters who respect her resume but liked Barack Obama better.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

H. CLINTON: Well, that hurts my feelings.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I'm sorry, Senator. I'm sorry.

(APPLAUSE)

H. CLINTON: But I'll try to go on.

(LAUGHTER)

H. CLINTON: He's very likable. I agree with that. I don't think I'm that bad.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: You're likable enough, Hillary, no judgment²².

H. CLINTON: Thank you so much.

KEITH: Like she would again eight years later, Clinton offered experience in a campaign where voters were hungry for change and saw it in the big personality of her opponent. In 2008, she fought through to the very end of the primary. And in her concession²³ speech, there was a hint of hopefulness.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

H. CLINTON: Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

KEITH: The light was shining through, she said, giving hope that the path would be a little bit easier next time. And in some ways, it was. Clinton came out ahead in the primary this year despite a steady drumbeat of controversy²⁴ over Benghazi, her email server, the Wall Street speeches. Headed into Election Day, she was leading Donald Trump in most polls and had a vastly superior campaign operation. But it seems none of that mattered.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

H. CLINTON: I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday someone will and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

KEITH: When Clinton gave her concession speech in 2008, it was in the National Building Museum underneath²⁵ a ceiling made of glass. In that primary race, she had won the popular vote but lost in the delegate count. On Wednesday morning, she was ahead in the popular vote but had lost the presidency²⁶ in the Electoral College. Hillary Clinton ended her political career in a small hotel ballroom²⁷ with a white plaster ceiling. Tamara Keith, NPR News.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

5 offhand   

adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的

参考例句：

• I can't answer your request offhand.我不能随便答复你的要求。
• I wouldn't want to say what I thought about it offhand.我不愿意随便说我关于这事的想法。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

8 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

13 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

14 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

15 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

16 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

17 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

19 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

20 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

21 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

22 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

23 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

24 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

25 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

26 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

27 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。