Some see Hillary Clinton as a trailblazer. Others may not. Yet it is indisputable that the woman wears many hats. Former Secretary of State Clinton was the First Lady under her husband Bill Clinton's presidency. A Yale law school graduate, Hillary Clinton, now 76, is not slowing down. Last month, she returned to Wellesley, her alma mater, to attend the opening of a new research/study center named after her. It did not turn out to be a peaceful visit. Clinton endured insults for allegedly not speaking up against violence toward Palestinians by Israel during a talk. There were also on-campus protests around her political views.
Secretary Clinton is no stranger to controversy in the personal and professional arenas. Former President Clinton's well-known Oval Office affair with young intern Monica Lewinsky had tongues wagging that Mrs. Clinton should leave the her husband--but she did not. The only woman to run for President on a major Party ticket in 2016 marches to her drum--whether she could be categorized as a feminist or not. Even outside the political sphere, currently a part-time professor at Columbia University, she experienced a string of protests sparked by her policies when she was Secretary of State.
Recently, Hilary Clinton decided to play a different role. She may now add Broadway producer to her list of professional accomplishments. Just how did this happen?
First off, we tend to do best with work that interests us. The former First Lady teamed up with Broadway veteran Shaina Taub, who designed a show about the suffragists who were mavericks in the women's right-to-vote movement.
Hilary Clinton has a history of championing human and civil rights. She is an outspoken advocate of Roe V. Wade and was devastated when the Supreme Court overturned the ruling that had been law for over half a century. The Democrat is also a long-time supporter of children's rights.
A few years ago, former First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama also threw their hats into the show-producing arena--which suggests that the skills needed for being in politics or entertainment are closely intertwined.
The Obamas got a contract with Netflix in 2018 to produce multiple projects from their own production company, Higher Ground, whose name undoubtedly was inspired by the superb Stevie Wonder's tune. Although some projects center around films on race and democracy, other Obama-produced projects extend into less political topics. An adaptation of the mystical book Exit West by Moshid Hamid, an acclaimed novel that blends the ideas of refugees with magical elements, is being produced at Higher Ground.
Did Hilary Clinton get the idea to produce from the Obamas? It's hard to say--but undoubtedly the long-time associates influenced each other. Both the Clintons and Obamas have many stories to tell; films that focus on politics and social topics are right up their alley.
Ironically, the writer of Suffs, Shaina Taub, who also stars in the Broadway show, told CBS that she knew very little about the women's suffrage movement before she got the idea to write the script. The play is set in 1913, the first year of women's suffrage marches in Washington, DC.
The portrayal illustrates what women endured to gain the right to vote. Suffragist Lucy Burns, portrayed by actress Ally Bonino, was thrown in jail and tortured. Burns was even force-fed in a brutal act of cruelty by her jailers. The play is so engaging that it is up for six Tony Awards.
It is no accident that Speaker Clinton was named as a producer. She serves as an ambassador for the show's message. Clinton is co-producing with the remarkable Nobel Prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head after vocally supporting women's education in Pakistan. While losing the presidential race in 2016 was disappointing for Clinton, she still strives to remain in other pursuits that have meaning to her.
Hillary Clinton chose to produce Suffs because it supports her background and core beliefs. Mrs. Clinton told CBS News to "Keep fighting, keep marching, keep trying. You know, what's that great line in one of the songs: Progress is possible, but not guaranteed. That's how I feel about the whole life that I've led, the progress that I've seen."
When Shaina Taub contacted Clinton and asked her to produce, she simply could not say no. Hillary Clinton will likely be involved in similar projects in the not-too-distant future.
Acknowledgment: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author.