Hillaryland was the self-designated name of a group of core advisors to

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, when she was

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

and again when, as

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

, she was one of the Democratic Party candidates for president in the 2008 U.S. election. The group included Huma Abedin, Patti Solis Doyle (credited with coining the name "Hillaryland"), Mandy Grunwald, Neel Lattimore, Ann Lewis, Evelyn Lieberman, Tamera Luzzatto, Capricia Marshall,

Cheryl Mills Cheryl Denise Mills (born 1965) is an American lawyer and corporate executive. She first came into public prominence while serving as deputy White House Counsel for President Bill Clinton, whom she defended during his 1999 impeachment trial. She ...

Minyon Moore Minyon Moore (born May 16, 1958) is an American political activist and civil servant. Moore is the founder of Women Building for the Future, and heads Dewey Square Group's state and local practice. She is chairperson of the 2024 Democratic Natio ...

, Lissa Muscatine, Neera Tanden, Melanne Verveer,

Lisa Caputo Lisa Caputo is the executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for The Travelers Companies, Inc. She joined Travelers on June 1, 2011. At Travelers, she is a member of the Management and Operating Committees and the ...

Ann Stock Judith Ann Stewart Stock is an American government employee who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, from June 23, 2010, until August 16, 2013. Early life and education Stock, an Indiana native, rece ...

and Maggie Williams. In her autobiography, '' Living History'', Clinton credits campaign aide

Steve Rabinowitz Steven M. Rabinowitz (born January 17, 1957) is a political image maker, media strategist, publicist, and event planner whose primary work is for progressive, Democratic, and Jewish causes. He is frequently quoted in U.S., Israeli and Jewish news ...

with first using the term. Almost all are women; the only man in the group was former First Lady deputy press secretary Neel Lattimore. Most worked in the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

, and have been personal friends and confidants of Hillary Clinton since at least then, if not earlier. The name Hillaryland dates back to the Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, when it was the portion of his

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

"war room" that housed Hillary Clinton's staff. Later it became better known as the moniker for the area of the

West Wing The West Wing of the White House is the location of the office space of the president of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room (White House), Cabinet Room, the White House Situation Room, Situation Room, a ...

of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

in which the First Lady's staff had their offices; according to Clinton, Hillaryland had its own

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

, based on camaraderie, never leaking information to the press, and having plenty of toys and cookies around for the children of staffers – as Hillary put it, "While the West Wing had a tendency to leak... Hillaryland never did, and every child who ever visited knew exactly where we stashed the cookies." Clinton biographers

Jeff Gerth Jeff Gerth is an American investigative reporter. He spent several years at ''The New York Times'', writing lengthy, probing stories. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for covering the transfer of American satellite-launch technology to China. He ...

and Don Van Natta, Jr. described Hillaryland as "an important subculture during the Clinton presidency." Chapter 16. The advisers were also present during Clinton's tenure as U.S. Senator. But the role of Hillaryland came under considerable discussion during and after Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign that she conducted while senator. Michelle Cottle of ''New York'' magazine described its role as "less a campaign entity than an extended sisterhood defined by its devotion to its namesake. Even so, the group's protective ethos dominates her presidential campaign, where loyalty is demanded, self-promotion frowned upon, and talking out of school, especially to the press, s strongly discouraged" As campaign chroniclers John Heilemann and

Mark Halperin Mark Evan Halperin (born January 11, 1965)Mark Halperin. ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Biography In Context. is an American journalist, television cable host, political commentator and founder of the interactive medi ...

later wrote, "the people comprising it ... were loyal to a fault, smart and ruthless, hard-headed and hardboiled. ... They referred to themselves collectively as Hillaryland, and everyone else in politics did too." By this point the definition of Hillaryland was often expanded a bit to include campaign insiders such as chief strategist

Mark Penn Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

. After she ended up losing the 2008 Democratic nomination, critics often focused on the limited and isolated circle of advisers and dysfunctional management style as one of the reasons behind the campaign's failure. One criticism was that she valued personal loyalty over the ability to do the job. The level of protection and the consequent inability to criticize failed tactics—and the public perception that Clinton needed that much protection—alarmed critics in 2015 as well, prior to her loss in the general election the following year. At the beginning of Clinton's 2009–13 tenure as U.S. Secretary of State, she brought over some of the Hillaryland personnel to staff the State Department, but she also hired other people as well.

Gallery

File:Huma Abedin DNC 2016 Pre Hillary Clinton Speech at Democratic National Convention (July 28, 2016).jpg, Huma Abedin File:Mandy Grunwald.jpg, Mandy Grunwald File:Ann Lewis (138) (13315485475).jpg, Ann Lewis File:Evelyn S. Lieberman 1993.jpg, Evelyn S. Lieberman File:Capricia Marshall.jpg, Capricia Marshall File:Cheryl D. Mills.jpg,

File:Minyon Moore 1251972.jpg,

File:Neera Tanden by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg, Neera Tanden File:Melanne Verveer at the India Economic Summit 2009.jpg, Melanne Verveer File:Lisa Caputo.jpg,

File:AnnStock.jpg,

File:Talbot Clinton (cropped) - Mark Penn.jpeg,

References

{{Hillary Clinton Presidency of Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign American political consultants American women in politics Hillary Clinton's tenure as First Lady of the United States

Gallery

See also

References