Hillary Clinton Has Been a Slave to Her Own Ambition. Now She’s Free

Watching Hillary Clinton’s concession speech, I was struck by how serene she appeared to be. There was no bitterness, no veiled barbs at Donald Trump or his deplorables, no insults directed at average Americans, not even any harmless snark. This didn’t seem like the Clinton we’ve all come to know and love loathe. What was going on here?

I had fully expected Hillary’s surprise defeat at the hands of Trump to destroy her. To be denied something she has coveted for so long, in such a surprising way, at the very last minute, must have affected her in ways the rest of us can’t even imagine. I actually thought her health might be in danger. But then it occurred to me: What if she is feeling something completely different? What if this situation is more complex than it seems?

I’m currently rereading “The Lord of the Rings” for, if my count is accurate, the seventh time. With that story in my mind, it’s impossible for me not to draw parallels between the Ring of Power — the One Ring to Rule Them All — and the presidency. What if Hillary has been a slave to her ambition for the last 50 years, just as the creature Gollum became a slave to the ring and the power that came with it? For half a century, she has desperately been pursuing one thing, the presidency. And now, for the first time, it is clear that she will never have it. She is too old to run in four years. Hillary will never be president of the United States.

Gollum’s relationship with the ring was more complicated than mere desire. As Gandalf the wizard said, “He hates and loves the ring, as he hates and loves himself.” Maybe Hillary feels the same way about the presidency. As with all addictions, the object desired creates such disruption in the life of the addict she grows to despise the very thing she lusts after. When that object is destroyed, when all hope of obtaining it is lost, it can be a liberating experience. When the Ring of Power is destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom, all under its spell are set free.

When Hillary lost the primary to Barack Obama in 2008, publically bursting into tears, we all assumed she was feeling the sting of the loss. What if, instead, she was confronting the realization that she would have to do it all over again in eight years? Already in her 60s, she knew then that the next decade of her life would be consumed with campaigning, political maneuvering, and jockeying for position to the exclusion of all else. She had no choice; her uncontrollable ambition demanded it. It must have been exhausting, and you know what? I would have cried too.

Now it’s all over. She never has to campaign again. She can comfortably retire from public life and live out the remainder of her days as a grandmother, if she so chooses. Maybe Hillary’s acceptance that she can never achieve the dream that has haunted her all her life has brought her peace. The curse has been lifted, and she is free to move on.

Well, it’s only a theory, but it would make me happy if it were true. To be doomed to run for president again and again is not something I would wish on my worst enemy, and if Hillary has finally managed to escape that, I wish her peace. (For more from the author of “Hillary Clinton Has Been a Slave to Her Own Ambition. Now She’s Free” please click HERE)

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