EXCLUSIVE: Is Hillary Rodham Clinton rewriting history? She sings her mother's praises in new memoir but relatives claim Dorothy Rodham was a petty grudge-holder who made anti-Semitic remarks
- In an excerpt from her new memoir Hard Choices, due out in June, the former First Lady describes her mother Dorothy Rodham as a woman to be admired
- Author Jerry Oppenheimer spoke with relatives and friends of the family who painted a different portrait of the Secretary of State's mother
- 'It just isn't a true picture of a woman who, like most everyone, also had a dark side,' the author tells MailOnline
- According to Hillary's first cousin, Dorothy Rodham would say things like 'those damn Jews are so cheap'
- Once Hillary's mom was so busy talking that infant Hillary could have choked to death if a cousin hadn't come to her rescue
Hillary Clinton sings her mother’s praises in a just published excerpt from her upcoming memoir. But family members who knew Dorothy Rodham claimed she hated housekeeping, held grudges, was greedy and used anti-Semitic slurs.
Hillary Clinton's much balleyhooed and long-awaited memoir Hard Choices will be hitting bookstores in June, but the latest issue of Vogue has an exclusive sneak peek in the form of an excerpt that was tied to Mothers Day, in which the former First Lady, who many believe will run for the presidency in 2016, discusses the greatness of her mom, Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham.
Hillary thought Dorothy Rodham was the best mother in the whole world, according to the excerpt.
Sharing a laugh: As First Lady, Hillary says she relied on her mother Dorothy Rodham. Dorothy moved into the White House to help raise her granddaughter. 'Mom gave me so much unconditional love and support,' Hillary writes in her new memoir Hard Choices
'Mom gave me so much unconditional love and support when I was growing up in Park Ridge, Illinois,' Hillary revealed.
Critics have claimed that Hillary Clinton has often changed history to fit her ambitious agenda, and the portrait she painted of her mother in the Vogue excerpt is far different from the detailed description of Dorothy Rodham in the bestselling biography, State of a Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton by Jerry Oppenheimer, written over a decade ago.
Now, in an exclusive interview, Oppenheimer tells MailOnline, 'I was actually surprised when I read the excerpt, only because I had conducted many interviews during my research, and Dorothy Rodham had emerged as a completely different persona than the one now portrayed by her daughter.
'I have no doubt that Mrs. Clinton loved her mother, and did everything she could for her to make her old age a pleasant one, and I wouldn't expect a negative account from her.
'It just isn't a true picture of a woman who, like most everyone, also had a dark side, which emerged in interviews with family members who knew her well.'
All in the family: 'I have no doubt that Mrs. Clinton loved her mother, and did everything she could for her,' says biographer Jerry Oppenheimer. But Dorothy, here with President Clinton and Chelsea, had a dark side
In his book, which the Clintons vehemently attacked at the time, Oppenheimer interviewed relatives and friends of the Rodham family, and uncovered some shocking details about Dorothy Rodham, who Hillary now claims had such positive influence on her and on Chelsea.
Among the revelations was the allegation that Dorothy Rodham had a strain of apparent anti-semiticism.
A first cousin of Hillary's, Oscar Dowdy, claimed to Oppenheimer that an angry Dorothy Rodham at times used anti-Semitic slurs around her family. Dowdy was the son of Dorothy’s sister Isabelle.
'Aunt Dorothy would say, 'Oh, all those damn Jews are so cheap,' and 'That Jew has to watch every dime,' that kind of thing,' Dowdy revealed. He also claimed that Hillary's maternal grandmother -- Dorothy's Rodham's mother, who had married a Jewish man, Max Rosenberg -- would often call him 'you cheap Jew bastard,' when she was angry.
'Grandpa Max was very proud of Hillary, and recognized that she was very bright, an exceptional person, but the closeness was at arm's length because of Dorothy. Dorothy had kind of poisoned Hillary's mind about Max.'
Three generations: Dorothy became one of the most important figures in now pregnant Chelsea Clinton's life, says Hillary in her memoir. 'Mom helped Chelsea navigate the unique challenges of growing up in the public eye and, when she was ready, encouraged her to pursue her passion for service and philanthropy.' But family members say Dorothy couldn't get along in life unless she had something to be angry about
According to the book, Hillary's father, Hugh Rodham, got along with Rosenberg, but 'was not above a few below-the-belt jibes.' When the Jewish couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced in the '50s to die in the electric chair for spying, Hillary's father jeered, 'Watch out, Max. You're a Rosenberg. They're going to fry all you people.'
Dowdy, recalled that his aunt Dorothy was a grudge-holder, and he told Oppenheimer, 'It seems like she can't get along in life unless she's really pissed at someone.'
His wife, Helen Rutherford Dowdy, a tall, slim, blue-eyed blond, had warm memories of Hillary's mother, but also corroborated her husband's portrayal. 'It's sad,' she told Oppenheimer, 'but Dorothy's always mad at somebody. And it tends to last forever. Dorothy doesn't get over it, she doesn't deal with it.'
When a relative died and left Oscar Dowdy a large sum of money, Dorothy Rodham was said to have been angry because Hillary had only been bequeathed ten thousand dollars, with equal amounts going to her brothers, Hugh and Tony. Hillary's mother personally went to the hospital in California where one of the heirs was dying to pick up the $30,000 check, but none of the Rodhams attended the funeral.
Daddy's girl: Hillary says she noone influenced her life as much as her mother or did more to shape the person she is/ But family sources told author Jerry Oppenheimer that Hillary was devoted to her Dad Hugh and mother Dorothy was jealous
'The way I see it, Hillary is Dorothy's daughter,' Oscar Dowdy observed. 'Dorothy passes on this attitude and feeling [of resentment], and Hillary accepts it. It's unfortunate. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. To me, Hillary and Dorothy have a lot of likenesses.
‘They can both turn you on or turn you off. I don't think they take anybody's feelings into consideration. What's good for them is good -- nothing else matters.'
Hillary's mother, according to the book, was twenty-eight when she gave birth to the future First Lady, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of State, and named her Hillary Diane Rodham.
Hillary's brother, Tony, the youngest of Dorothy's three children, told Oppenheimer that his mother wasn't a Betty Crocker or a Martha Stewart around the modest Rodham house when they were growing up.
'Our mother,' he observed, 'hated housework, she hated cooking. She hated it with a passion because in her younger days she used to have to do it all. She didn't want to do it. Any time she could get out of it she loved it because she didn't have to cook dinner. Her grandparents in California [with whom she lived for a time] treated her like a slave. She would get all the housework'
When Hillary was in her first year, she almost died - because her mother was gabbing with some other women and not playing close attention. Oscar Dowdy, then four years old was present, when he saw that Hillary in her carriage had wriggled around, was hanging out of the coach, and the harness strap was around her neck.
Irony: The former Secretary of State waves to the audience at the conclusion of her address today to the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Global Forum closing plenary in Washington. Family members say her mother often made anti-Semitic remarks
'I just grabbed her and shoved her back,' recalled Dowdy. Then there was this big commotion. Aunt Dorothy said, 'Oh, my God! What happened?' Hillary has brought it up a few times that I saved her life.'
According to her cousins, Hillary was the apple of her father's eye. Dowdy, for one, said that on his aunt Dorothy's part 'there was a bit of jealousy of Hillary because Hillary was daddy's princess, and got his attention.'
In Hillary Rodham Clinton's ode to her mother in Vogue she declared: 'Like so many Americans of my generation, I felt both blessed to have these extra years with an aging parent and very responsible for making sure she was comfortable and well cared for.
‘Mom,' she continued, 'gave me so much unconditional love and support...'
It's no surprise that the fashion Bible got first crack at Mrs. Clinton's book, says Oppenheimer, because Vogue's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, has been a longtime friend and political supporter of the Clintons.
Wintour was, according to one source, 'smitten' with Bill Clinton's charisma and sexiness, and as the sex scandal involving the President and White House intern Monica Lewinsky was unraveling in the late '90s, Wintour began tutoring Hillary, who usually sported drab pants suits, on how to look younger and more fashionable and glamorous
Taking care: Dorothy tended to her daughter's attire, but according to Hillary's brother Tony his mother was no Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart
Wintour's view of the Lewinsky nightmare was, 'If you're going to make accusations about the president, you had better have a good hairdresser.'
And she felt the same about Hillary who she put on the cover of Vogue in dramatic and glamorous high style in December 1998 - a first for a First Lady of the land.
Because Wintour has always thought of Hillary as the most fascinating First Lady since Jackie Kennedy (and now Mrs. Obama), she jumped at the chance to run the June excerpt and promote Hillary's intensely loving feelings about the woman who brought her into the world close to seven decades ago, and at the same time hopefully gain support for her future role in the national politic.
She described her mother as a 'fiercely independent woman,' and when she was nearing the end of her life, 'She couldn't bear the thought of being a burden to anyone.'
Mrs. Rodham died on Halloween 2011 at George Washington Hospital, in the nation's capital. 'Mom was a fighter her entire life,' Hillary wrote, 'But it was finally time to let go.'
In the last years of her life Dorothy Rodham moved in with the Clintons, became a loving grandmother to now about-to-be a mother Chelsea.
Bill Clinton's mother-in-law 'loved mystery novels, Mexican food,' even the TV reality program 'Dancing with the Stars' -- the Clintons even got her in to a show taping, Hillary boasted.
Mrs. Rodham became 'one of the most important figures' in Chelsea Clinton's life, and Hillary wrote, 'Mom helped Chelsea navigate the unique challenges of growing up in the public eye and, when she was ready, encouraged her to pursue her passion for service and philanthropy.'
And Hillary pointed out that, 'Mom never lost her commitment to social justice, which did so much to mold and inspire me when I was growing up...No one had a bigger influence on my life or did more to shape the person I became.'
After the Rodham matriarch died. Hillary said she had found herself sitting next to her mother's empty chair in the breakfast nook and 'wishing more than anything that I could have one more conversation, one more hug.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2628379/EXCLUSIVE-Is-Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-rewriting-history-She-sings-mothers-praises-new-memoir-relatives-claim-Dorothy-Rodham-petty-grudge-holder-anti-Semitic-remarks.html#ixzz31l10L5qE
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