Do All the Good You Can: How Faith Shaped Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Politics

Historian Smith (Religion in the Oval Office) sketches a sympathetic religious portrait of the former first lady and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. While much ink has been spilled about Clinton throughout her years in the public eye, the role of religion in her life “has been underappreciated,” according to Smith, even though it has “significantly influenced” everything from her personality to her political policies. Smith unearths the childhood roots of Clinton’s Methodist faith and explores how founder John Wesley’s dictum to “do all the good you can, by all the means you can... as long as ever you can” became a north star in her public service career. He also overviews Clinton’s faith-driven, humanitarian initiatives, from helping to create the Early Head Start program to allow “every child... to live up to his or her God-given potential” to lesser-known projects such as the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Curious readers might wish for more insight into how faith helped Clinton handle her loss to Donald Trump, though the author convincingly establishes Clinton’s reliance on her religious convictions to cope with other life challenges, including her husband’s infidelities. This fine-grained study is a must for students of contemporary American religion and politics. (Oct.)