WI: Hillary didn’t go into politics after her Bill’s Presidency

She gives speeches, she sits on corporate boards, she writes books, and gets paid a lot of money to not do a whole lot on any number of things.
 
Divorces Bill with extreme prejudice. She hung on for team Clinton and the deal was she would get a go as the politician after him.
 
She gives speeches, she sits on corporate boards, she writes books, and gets paid a lot of money to not do a whole lot on any number of things.
Pretty much this. I’m sure she’s going to be a huge lobbyist. Hillary will be as active behind the scenes as she was active in the public political sphere.
 

Dolan

Banned
20xx Senate GOP blocks President <non OTL Democrat>'s nomination of Hillary Clinton to the Supreme Court.
Strangely, without Hillary being active politician, I think she would end up as almost neutral pick for Supreme Court, assuming OTL events still going on.

She is to the right of Democrats. Having her seen as non politician would means she'll be effectively middle way pick. I could see Jeb Bush, McCain, or even ATL Trump picking her as a compromise candidate.
 
Divorces Bill with extreme prejudice. She hung on for team Clinton and the deal was she would get a go as the politician after him.
I never bought this particular angle. Besides the obvious wrongness of the "women are just conniving gold diggers" angle, I don't think there has been a single time wherein being yoked to Bill has been helpful to Hillary. His presidency is not that well regarded, he comes from a state where Hillary has no intention of winning votes in (for any position), and the Lewinski Scandal probably would've played better for Hillary if she had divorced Bill.

It really is possible that she could just love the guy. Shocking, I know.
 
I think she does love him.

I don't see gold digging. I see two ambitious intelligent people who met young and made a tactical decision based on Bill's charisma and the times ability to accept a woman in power.
By the time Bill has made it to the top it is practical for Hillary to have a go and after Lewinsky has given her the leverage to make sure he backs her.

I am sure their plans changed over time as opportunities opened up. But it interesting that she had no personal political profile till after Bill ended his career.
 
I never bought this particular angle. Besides the obvious wrongness of the "women are just conniving gold diggers" angle, I don't think there has been a single time wherein being yoked to Bill has been helpful to Hillary. His presidency is not that well regarded, he comes from a state where Hillary has no intention of winning votes in (for any position), and the Lewinski Scandal probably would've played better for Hillary if she had divorced Bill.

It really is possible that she could just love the guy. Shocking, I know.
Being Bill’s husband must definitely was helpful for running for senate in 2000. Otherwise there no way in hell she could have run after only buying a house in New York a few months prior

Remember, in 2008 we were going though the very bad second term of Dubya. Democrats and Republicans looked at Bill’s presidency as golden years. It made Hillary the front runner and she won the most votes

Her being runner up made 2016 “her turn” and a coronation. Yes, by 2016 people started turning on Bill for 3 strikes, welfare reform, and NAFTA.

But that obviously didn’t prevent her from winning the nomination

Up until the 2016 general election, Hillary benefited greatly from being Bill’s wife. Her entire political career was based off that.

At I don’t think she lost the general election because of Bill. She lost the WWC in the Midwest and low minority turnout. Both groups favor Bill over her
 
At I don’t think she lost the general election because of Bill. She lost the WWC in the Midwest and low minority turnout. Both groups favor Bill over her
She “lost” because of gerrymandering. She won the popular vote by 3 million people. And the GOP has utterly hated her since the 1990s and demonized her so thoroughly that many people who grew up in those circles can’t separate fact from fiction when it comes to Hillary as a person.

I always thought a more interésting ATL would be Bill losing the AR governorship, them moving to NY and Hillary starting her Senatorship early and maybe becoming President in the late 90s or 2000s herself.
 
Obama has an easier time winning the 2008 nomination (and the general election), and Biden is likely the 2016 Democratic nominee.

I don't think Obama's foreign policy would be much impacted without Clinton at SecState. Though if someone could find instances where Clinton's advice was a crucial influence on Obama's policies, I'm happy to hear about them.
 
I am sure their plans changed over time as opportunities opened up. But it interesting that she had no personal political profile till after Bill ended his career.

Almost right out of law school she was one of the counsels for the Watergate House impeachment inquiry and considered to be a rising star in Democratic circles... and then gave that all up to move to Arkansas. She had a personal political profile in the 1970s, and gave it up for a while, just like how many people have adjusted their careers to accommodate their spouse or family.
 
I don't think Obama's foreign policy would be much impacted without Clinton at SecState. Though if someone could find instances where Clinton's advice was a crucial influence on Obama's policies, I'm happy to hear about them.
The fact that Hillary was going to run in 2016 may have motivated the GOP to make such a big deal out of Benghazi. If the Secretary of State didn’t have any ambition for an elected office, the GOP might not have made such a big deal out of Benghazi.
 
What if she decided that she and Bill had done their part as President and First Lady and didn’t run for Senate in 2000?
What If they had run against each other ? The Evenformer Goldwater Girl vs the Arkansas governor. in opposing parties ? The butterflies might not be even so huge for both of them without marrying. It still might be possible for them to archive the carriers they did OTL.
 
What If they had run against each other ? The Evenformer Goldwater Girl vs the Arkansas governor. in opposing parties ? The butterflies might not be even so huge for both of them without marrying. It still might be possible for them to archive the carriers they did OTL.

I think HRC could've stayed a Republican if Rockefeller had been nominated by the GOP in 1968. But that unleashes enough butterflies to possibly prevent Bill Clinton from ever making an impact on national politics at all.
 
Interesting to think who would have been the “establishment” candidate in 2008...Would there have been a much larger field like this year had Hillary not seemingly cleared the board? How would Obama have fared in a larger field? Could he still put together his coalition or would the vote be spread out enough to allow him to thread the needle and win?
 
Interesting to think who would have been the “establishment” candidate in 2008...Would there have been a much larger field like this year had Hillary not seemingly cleared the board? How would Obama have fared in a larger field? Could he still put together his coalition or would the vote be spread out enough to allow him to thread the needle and win?

There might've been some pressure on Kerry to run again. If he declines, donors and operatives would move to Edwards. Biden and Dodd might get some additional (but marginal) support. IMO Obama still wins the nomination, in fact he wins it more easily than OTL.
 

Deleted member 1487

Strangely, without Hillary being active politician, I think she would end up as almost neutral pick for Supreme Court, assuming OTL events still going on.
Huh? She was loathed by the right even without being a politician. Not only that, but she hadn't actively practiced law in year by 2000, so she'd probably need to become a judge for several years before that was even an option and then hope the GOP wouldn't stop her from getting nominated, which would be a pretty hard thing to pull off.
 
The obvious alternate history for Hillary Clinton is her deciding in 2000 not to run for Moynihan’s New York Senate seat, but for the Clintons to move to Illinois (her home state) to prepare for a run in 2004 against Republican Senator Ryan. With the Chicago establishment behind her she takes care of any token opposition in the Democratic primary (including that interesting state senator) and is easily elected in November.

Not joining the Senate until January 2005 means no pesky pro-Iraq War vote which means the major obstacle to her nomination in 2008 is eliminated (and Obama’s nomination in our timeline proves that four years in the Senate is more than adequate).

She is elected over McCain and then Obama is appointed to the vacant Illinois seat.
 
Top