Hilarious White House Memo In 1995: “Hillary Could Speak To Young Women Through Internet”

Dennis Van Tine/UPPA/ZUMAPRESS.com

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On Friday, Bill Clinton’s presidential library released 4,000 previously secret documents from his time as president. An August 31, 1995, memo titled “HRC Media Possibilities” written by Lisa Caputo, an aide to Hillary Clinton, discusses the various venues through which to promote the First Lady. They include meeting with the editors of women’s and liberal magazines, sitting for interviews pegged to the Clintons’ 20th anniversary and the birthday of Eleanor Roosevelt, and even making an appearance on the popular ABC sitcom Home Improvement. (“I know this may sound like a wild idea, but I think it is an interesting one to discuss.”)

The otherwise sober memo takes an unexpectedly funny turn, however, when the Internet comes up. Or, as Caputo refers to it, “Internet.” As in: “As Karen has said, Internet has become a very popular mode of communication. Hillary could speak to young women through Internet.”

Here’s an except from the memo:

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Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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