Hillary Clinton emails give rare glimpse in personality of a guarded politician

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/01/hillary-clinton-emails-tea-the-good-wife

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As US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton was one of the most powerful people in the world, but on 3 January 2010 there were just two questions on her mind: what time is Parks and Recreation on? And how about The Good Wife?

In the tranche of approximately 7,000 emails released by the State Department late on Monday night, there were revelations about Clinton’s relationships with foreign leaders, with her husband, and with Barack Obama. But plenty of quirky facts and peculiar tidbits turned up as well.

One email alone from 3 January 2010, contained a request from Clinton, “to buy skim milk for my tea” as well as the question “can you give me times for two TV shows: Parks and Recreation and The Good Wife”. The secretary of state also had issues using her new iPad, which she dubbed an “hPad.” In an email to top press aide Philippe Reines, she asked him to provide a tutorial during a flight to Kiev.

The emails also revealed the use of a pet nickname for Clinton from her childhood friend Betty Ebrling, “Gert”. In one email over Thanksgiving in 2010, Eberling wrote “happy Turkey Day, Dear Dear Gert.” Another email from Ebeling to Clinton ended with “xoxoxo”.

Clinton also used her emails to save notes about china patterns she might buy. She wrote one email to herself in February 2010, which was then forwarded to a staffer four days later, which contained the names of two expensive china patterns: rooster red Deruta and Flora Danica Royal Copenhagen.

And she occasionally shows glimpses of humor. In one email, an aide suggests she should “toss a wrench at someone”. Clinton replies: “Can you hand me a wrench?”

None of this information will likely have any effect on Clinton’s chances of becoming the Democratic nominee. But it does provide a rare and interesting window into the personality of one of the most guarded politicians in modern American history.