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1-Page Summary of What Happened

Overview

When Hillary Clinton announced her presidential campaign, many Democrats were excited that she would be the first female president. However, problems arose when Donald Trump unexpectedly won the Republican nomination and Bernie Sanders was perceived as more relatable by voters. In comparison to them, Clinton appeared aloof and impersonal. What exactly did she stand for?

Despite the fact that she was a clear winner, Clinton lost. But why? There are several key points to this story. They include her campaign and circumstances that eventually brought it down.

In this passage, you’ll learn about George W. Bush’s opinions on Trump’s inauguration speech and Clinton’s advice to anyone who has lost hope in politics.

Big Idea #1: Trump’s inauguration was far from uniting and uplifting, unlike the Women’s March.

If you lost an election to Donald Trump, you might not want to go stand in the cold for hours and listen to him being sworn in. But Hillary Rodham Clinton went anyway because it’s her obligation as a former candidate.

There are many traditions in American politics, and one of them is the peaceful transition of power. Many people told Clinton to stay away from Trump’s inauguration because it would have been bad form for her to be absent. She had spoken with former presidents Carter and Bush, two people who also didn’t like Trump as a president elect. The fact that they would accompany her at the event gave her some encouragement before attending the Inauguration ceremony.

George W. Bush had a great reaction to Donald Trump’s inauguration speech, which was bizarre and bleak.

Clinton would have approached the speech differently. She sees a presidential inauguration as an opportunity to unite and inspire people. Her view of America is not one that Trump described in his speech, which was full of disturbing words like “American carnage.”

Clinton saw the kind of people who attended the Women’s March. They were protesting Trump and his policies, which they considered to be harmful for women. Clinton would have liked to attend such a march herself, but she believes that it was right not to steal the spotlight from those voices that needed to be heard on inauguration day.

Big Idea #2: Election night led to a period of recuperation and trying to resist becoming cynical.

On November 9, 2016, Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the presidential election. It was a hard loss for her and many people who supported her. The result came down to three states: Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Then at 1:35 a.m., the Associated Press called Pennsylvania for Trump, which meant he won the presidency over Clinton.

The phone call to President-elect Trump was tough, but even tougher was the phone call to President Obama. She had let him down, and she felt bad about it. However, he told her that she didn’t have anything to feel bad about because life would go on after the election. He also said that he wanted her to stay strong and keep up the good work. He encouraged her by telling her how motivated people were after learning of their loss in a way that helped prevent Clinton from feeling hopeless and isolated.

She did spend a day lying low, but then she got back to work and made sure her campaign staff received their paychecks. She also ensured that they had health insurance until the end of the year. A good way to keep cynicism at bay is to have an Irish wake where sadness is faced with celebration, which Clinton did by hosting a post-election party for her staff. Another remedy would be watching season one of Friday Night Lights while drinking some chardonnay.