As the Democratic National Convention drew to a close in Philadelphia last Thursday, the website of the Cable News Network posted an article written by psychologist Peggy Drexler regarding the “surprising secret” behind the marriage of former Democratic President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary, the party's current candidate for occupant of the White House.
“Marriage, like many jobs, is tough work,” the assistant professor of psychology at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., stated. “If Hillary works as hard at running the country as she and her husband have at maintaining their family unit -- and there's every reason to believe she will -- there's reason to believe the United States will be in very capable hands.”
“On Tuesday night,” Drexler noted, Bill Clinton gave a speech “to make the case for another Clinton -- the former U.S. secretary of state and his former first lady -- Hillary Clinton,” to become the next president of the United States.
“It was a politically historic speech,” the former gender scholar at Stanford University in California wrote, “the first time a former commander-in-chief would speak on behalf of a life partner who herself had made history as the first female nominee of a major party.”
Drexler continued:
Bill Clinton has always been a gifted orator, and this address was no different; it was powerful, convincing and heartfelt. But it was more than just a speech to satisfy an agenda; far more than a means to a political end.
Loving, respectful, proud and very human, his speech spoke volumes not only about his wife, the candidate, but more notably about the modern marriage ideal.
“There was firstly, and undeniably, love,” the columnist asserted. “Before millions of viewers,” the former president “spoke of the first time he saw Hillary. He described, in personal detail, the qualities about her that he believes make her a good candidate for president and how they are similar to the qualities that make her a good wife, mother, friend.”
The former president “spoke of why he respects her as a person, but also why he loves her as a partner,” Drexler noted. He also spoke of their history: "Through joy and heartbreak," he said, "we built up a lifetime of memories."
“And yet, of course, the Clintons' very public marriage has not been a universally smooth one,” the columnist stated. “It has endured career ambition, extramarital affairs, numerous relocations, children, grandchildren. It has most certainly been tested, both publicly and privately.”
“It is not perfect,” she added. “But few -- and even 'few' may be generous -- marriages are.”
“While the cynical might look at the Clintons' marriage as one that turns on political gain, one in which each has garnered power from the other, isn't that the whole point of marriage?” Drexler asked. “To boost one another? To support the other despite his or her flaws, or perhaps because of them?”
“The fact is that the Clintons' marriage has survived, perhaps even thrived, to become a very real and modern testament to the marriage bond,” the columnist stated.
Drexler also noted:
There is sacrifice, but there is also a notable lack of sacrifice. Hillary supported Bill for many years, but not while abandoning her dreams entirely. He either didn't ask, or she didn't comply. Either way, they made it work, through challenges and successes.
Now, some 40 years in, the Clintons' marriage has emerged to serve as an example: partnership can take many forms, and sacrifice, while important, needn't be absolute.
“And it's just not a marriage for show -- gifted orator or not," Bill Clinton's speech "proved that,” the columnist indicated. “When Bill Clinton talked about his wife, he did so from the privilege of really knowing her, and it's clear they do far more than simply put up with one another.”
“It's said, too, that Bill is one of Hillary's most trusted advisers,” Drexler asserted, stating that their relationship is one of “trust” and “family.”
“It's easy to judge others' relationships, especially at a time in our social history when many couples are quick to call it quits,” the columnist stated.
“This is not to say that all marriages should endure, even through the sorts of hurtful times the Clintons experienced,” Drexler added.
“But it is to say that all marriages tell multiple stories, and that, in the end, the marriages that last are the ones that can count on mutual support, respect, love and coming together when it really matters,” the columnist noted.
And as NewsBusters previously reported, the Cosmopolitan women's magazine has also claimed that the Clintons are “good marriage role models” since a “serial adulterer who’s still a popular national figure and married? That’s Cosmo’s idea of a hero.”
