The following version was used to make this guide: Sittenfeld, Curtis. Rodham. New York, New York: Random House, 2020. This historical fiction novel includes three parts, with a prologue and seven chapters in total, but for the purposes of this guide is broken into ten parts.

The novel opens with a prologue of Hillary’s speech at her Wellesley graduation in 1969. Part 1 “The Catch” begins with Chapter 1 in 1970, as Hillary sees Bill Clinton for the first time at Yale Law school. Bill approaches her later that spring and asks her out. On their first date, Bill admits he wants to run for office in Arkansas, and eventually for President.

Hillary and Bill start to fall in love, as Hillary takes on and wins pro-bono cases in New Haven. She also continues her advocacy for children, volunteering for Gwen Greenberger’s National Children’s Initiative. Hillary is headed to San Francisco for a summer clerkship, and Bill decides to forgo working for the McGovern campaign, and live with Hillary for the summer.

Hillary and Bill drive cross-country together. In San Francisco, they live in a small apartment and attend a party at the home of Hillary’s new boss for the summer. One day she comes home to find Bill kissing a young woman, realizing it is the daughter of her boss. Bill confesses he has a sexual addiction but he wants to be better. At the end of the summer, they drive back to New Haven and live together there.

In 1974, Hillary moves to Fayetteville to be with Bill while he runs for Congress. Bill had proposed to Hillary the year before but she had turned him down. In Fayetteville, they both work as law professors at the University of Arkansas. A few days before the election, a woman approaches Hillary in a parking lot, telling her Bill forced himself on her. Bill loses the Congressional election. A few months later, Hillary confronts Bill about the woman’s claim but he denies it, and Hillary says she will marry him. Part 1 ends as Bill tells Hillary she should not marry him, and Hillary leaves Arkansas.

Part II “The Woman” begins in 1991. Hillary is a tenured law professor at Northwestern University, living in Chicago. Thurgood Marshall is retiring from the Supreme Court, and Clarence Thomas is nominated to replace him. Hillary is single, with a crush on James, a married colleague. Bill, who is now Governor of Arkansas and married with kids, calls Hillary to tell her he is running for President. Hillary’s friends talk to her about running for Senate in the democratic primary against Senator Dixon, if he votes to confirm Thomas.

As the nomination proceedings begin, Hillary and James continue their flirtation. In October, Dixon votes to confirm Thomas, but Hillary learns that Carol Moseley Braun is running to primary him so Hillary decides not to run. However, they start to hear rumors that Braun’s campaign is disorganized. Meanwhile, tabloids accuse Bill of sexual indiscretions. He and his wife Sarah Grace do a 60 Minutes interview, and Sarah Grace bombs. Hillary decides to run for senate in the primary. On the way to her announcement, Greg insists a staffer shave Hillary’s legs. Hillary calls it off with James. She eventually wins the primary and general election for the Senate. A year later, James kills himself. Bill drops out of the primary after the interview.

Part III “The Front-Runner” begins with a list of Presidents from George Bush in 88, getting re-elected in 92, Jerry Brown in 96, John McCain in 2000 and 2004, and Obama in 2008 and 2012. Chapter 5 starts in Iowa, 2015, with Hillary on the campaign trail, as she learns that Bill is running for President. After dropping out of the presidential race in 1992, Bill became a tech tycoon in San Francisco. Hillary had enjoyed her time in the Senate, and had run for president in 2004, and along the way ran into Bill at various events and once Donald Trump in 2005. She ran again in 2008, though Obama beat her in the primary and won.

Bill starts to gain momentum and Hillary’s staff research his past, including a rape allegation from a woman named Vivian in Fayetteville. At his rallies people across the country start to chant “Shut her up!” about Hillary (308). Bill’s popularity and polls start to climb and she starts to worry about her campaign. She discusses with her staff the idea of getting Donald Trump to run for president in order to take away from Bill’s base.

Hillary meets with Donald in a greenroom before a morning talk show, and she tells him earnestly that he should run for president. Hillary attends a fundraiser where she meets a man who flirts with her - Albert. Trump decides not to run for president but wants to campaign with Hillary. Though Hillary says no at first, Greg tells her she is behind Bill in Iowa.

Hillary prepares for the Democratic debates but a woman named Jill Perkins comes forward, claiming Hillary forced Jill to shave her legs. Rumors start that she is gay, so she goes on a date with Albert. Trump claims he wants to endorse Hillary in a big event before the debate. Hillary agrees and in the lobby of his hotel in Las Vegas he endorses her, making racist incendiary comments. At the debate Hillary is asked about Jill Perkins and she speaks honestly about what happened, and afterwards the media claims the debate is when she found her voice. She beats Bill in the primary, then Jeb Bush in the general election by 2.9 million votes. She is sworn in as president on January 20, 2017 and the novel ends as she remarks that other women now know “they, too, can make it . . . because they’ve seen it happen” (417).