By the age of 14, she was off on her out, working as a housekeeper or, nanny. Thankfully the woman who hired her allowing her to take time during the middle of the day to try to complete high school. And she always talked about the kindness desert people showed occurred during the course of what was a very difficult childhood that gave her the confidence to keep going forward, they really derived from a community that was caring and willing to support the weakest and most marginalized among them. And of course, she and my father gave us a middleclass life with opportunities she never couldve imagined or herself, which she always believed could be possible for her children and that was a great gift that i will be forever grateful for an bill and i of course worked hard to pass on those values to our daughter. And its been a great reward to watch her grow into an accomplished, purposeful young woman. I think about what it mustve been like those two have very difficult circumstances during my mothers life, but never losing faith or hope in how far her children and grandchildren eventually would go thanks to not just their hard work, but the country and society into which they would be born. That is really how america is supposed to work. Each generation striving to create opportunity for the next. Planting trees that we will not be sitting in the shade of, but expecting others who will follow to be able to. Not expect it to be handed anything on a silver platter, but believing that all of us would be given a fair shot at success if we were willing to do the work that was required. In one way or another, this has been a driving force for me in large measure because of my mothers example from the very earliest years. And it was also a sense of obligation of how does one keep this dream alive, whether it is growing up in a suburb of chicago were going off to a Great College and then law school or in our can of the white house or in the senate or the state department. So i always believed that, but during this very consequential time in history has given me an even deeper understanding of what is that stake here and why this organization, your emphasis on big ideas, your belief that we have to keep reinventing america is so essential. People everywhere told me that that is what theyve always loved and admired about america. Our values of opportunity, freedom, equality. Thats why so many people look to us for leadership. Its why so many low risk so much to join our mosaic. Even chinas new president , she champagne has picked up the theme starting to talk about a chinese dream. We know that america is strongest when prosperity and common purpose are broadly shared, when all our people believe they have the opportunity and in fact due to participate fully in our economy and our democracy. Now, the empirical evidence tells us that our society is healthiest and our economy grows fastest when people in the middle or working and thriving and when people at the bottom believe that they can make their way into that rodbased mittal. Now this is not a new insight. It is timetested wisdom. It is at the heart of what i believe is the basic arkin of america to matter who you are or where you come from, if you work hard and play by the rules will have the opportunity to build a good life for yourself and your family. Now unfortunately it is no secret that for too many families in America Today, that isnt the way of works anymore. Instead of getting ahead, they find it harder than ever to get their footing in our changing economy. The dream of upward mobility that made this country a model for the world feels further and further out of reach and Many Americans understandably feel frustrated, even angry. The numbers are stark. More than four out of 10 children built into our lowest income families never managed to climb out of relative poverty. Forget about getting rich. I am just talking about getting an even middleclass and staying there. That shouldnt be as hard as it is now. And what is more, and almost equal percentage of kids who are born into the most affluent families they there for life no matter what their effort. That is the opposite of the mobility we think of as a hallmark of america. And here is a particularly troubling fact. The majority of africanamerican children whose families fought their way into the middle class decades ago now have lower incomes than their parent stood and many are falling out of a middleclass altogether. To understand what is going on here, we have to take a good look at what is happening in both the economy and society. In the economy since 2000, part tv is increased by more than 25 , yet wages for most americans have vaccinated, further depressing demand as slowing growth. Media, real, hourly wages for americans in the middle have been flat over the past decade. For lower income americans have actually fallen and even for many higher wage earners below the very top, theyve barely risen. So what do we draw from this . Americans are working harder, contributing more than other to the Companies Bottom lines into our countries, total economic output and yet, many are still really getting by, barely holding on, not seen the rowers they believe their hard work should it merited. And where is it all going . Economists have documented how the share of it commonwealth going to does at the very top, not just the top 1 , but the top. 1 for the. 01 of the population has vision sharply over the last generation. Some are calling it a throwback to the gilded age of the robber barons. Now his secretary of state, i saw the way to extreme inequality has corrupted other societies, hobbled growth and left entire generation alienated and on ward. From guatemala to greece to an, i urge the least to pay their fair share, to provide services that would be the base on which more of their fellow countrymen and women could climb out of poverty. I pressed governments to rest in their peep hole and inclusive positive vision for the future. Now in the middle east and north africa, we saw the explosive result when opportunity and potential are denied for too long. But one can ask, what does that mean for us . We are not like them. Well, imagine a young single mother trying to raise a family today. After all, there are some 10 Million People moms working hard to make it on their own in America Today up from just 3. 4 million in 1970. Mothers are now the primary or sole breadwinners and nearly 41st and noble families. The single mom live somewhere and our vast metro sprawl, traveling long distances every day to work a lowwage job shes lucky to have. Many other young people in her neighborhood are still looking. She works hard, but she gnaws that her male coworkers tend to make more than she does. Its demeaning and demoralizing and it shortchanges her whole family. She lives in dread of her baby getting sick or some other emergency because like nine out of 10 workers earning the lowest wages, most of them women, she doesnt have access to paid family leave. And forget sick days of flexibility or predictability, which is just as important for parent and caregivers. So she relies on a network of friends and family to help care for her kids. But that too is hard. The neighborhood is not like the one she had certainly not her mother grew up in. Religious Community Organizations are weaker. The schools never seemed good enough. There are few quality affordable childcare options, but she has dreams. She certainly has dreams for her kid. But she doesnt just face ceilings on her aspirations and opportunities. Sometimes it feels as if the floor has collapsed beneath her. These are the kinds of daily struggles of millions and millions of americans. Those fighting to get into the middleclass and those fighting to stay there. And it was found they have a wakeup call when it was recently reported that canadian middleclass incomes are now higher than in the united state. They are working fewer hours for more pay than americans are, enjoyed a stronger safety net of a living longer on average than they seem less income inequality. That is not how it is supposed to be. We often think that we invented the middleclass. So what can we do about it . Of course, a lot depends on our leadership here in washington tend and across our country. The 1990s taught us that even in the face of difficult longterm economic trends, it is possible through smart policies and sound investments to enjoy broad based growth and shared prosperity. My husband gave a lecture at georgetown recently where he walked through the numbers. Yes, erasing tide really did lift all those. 23 million new jobs were created, raising the minimum wage, doubling the earned income tax credit. That helps millions of lowering families climb out of poverty for the first time. The Childrens HealthInsurance Program changed millions of young lives and on and on, all with a balanced budget that resulted in surpluses as far as the eye can see. I remember being on the Budget Committee in the senate. My very first year. But the new administration making a choice is and the next eight years taught us different lessons about how by policy choices we can turn surpluses into debt. We can return to racing deficit. That is what happens when your only policy prescription is to cut taxes for the wealthy. And then to deal with the aftermath of the terrible terrorist attack into wars without paying for them. Regulators neglected their oversight in the Financial Sector and allowed the evolution of entire shadow Banking System that operated without accountability. Government failed to invest adequately in infrastructure, education, basic research. And then the housing crash from a financial crisis hit like a flash flood. Millions of jobs washed away along with college savings, mortgages, ness takes for retirement, confidence that intangible, confidence in the future. It is taken here sipping a can work and strong leadership for president obama to get our economy growing again. But it is growing and there are present to be optimistic about our future. And we know there are tremendous opportunities that we are better positioned to take advantage of in any country in the world from big data to clean energy to a resurgence of manufacturing to the dream being realized of energy and ends. We are better positioned than anyone to take advantage of these are his. We have the best universities, the most innovative, amazed, the most creative, flexible, talented workers anywhere. But about half that just because we have these assets. We will need some big ideas like evidencebased decisionmaking, and all dates yet but i hope will be restored. Some of these ideas are as old as america south, rooted in our values of equality and opportunity and most of all we will need to learn the cad how to work together, how to compromise, how to make pragmatic decisions. And the upcoming midterm elections, americans love traces to make about which path they want to go down and whether we will make the investments we need in our people. I will leave that discussion to others. But for a lot of us, in the private and nonprofit sectors, we have work to do, too. Government doesnt have a monopoly on good ideas obviously and even if it wanted, he couldnt and shouldnt try to solve all the problems by itself. We have responsibilities to do what we can. When i left the state department, i join my husband and daughter at the clinton foundation. I wanted to continue my lifelong work pursuing ways and answers and solutions that could help people get up to their godgiven potential. [applause] 80s game. And bradley graham, coowner of politics prose. Along with my wife, lissa muscatine. On behalf of the entire pnp staff and the staff here at gw auditorium, welcome. [applause] this is a very alert audience can i say that he caused this event sold out within hours, which the just that many of you were paying very close attention to our announcement. At politics prose, when we can , we hold author talks, but we had a feeling that a bigger venue would be needed for this one and we are fortunate to have found it here. We at George Washington university have worked together a number of years of lysol began what we were calling the news ticker series, featuring prominent authors. Id like to thank everyone connect it was listener who helped to organize this evenings event. The guest of honor is done primarily of course for her Political Goals as first lady, u. S. Senator from new york in the 67th secretary of state. Shes also just published her fifth book and has several previous best sailors to her name. So added to the list of credits after Hillary Rodham clinton should certainly be accomplished author. Hard choices, her memoir about her four years as secretary of state recounts how she came to accept a cabinet position offered by her former political rival and led the effort to deny nations standing around the world. The book also reveals some of the last want cash, less battle hardened side of her not, like wimps in the public humor as come as selfdeprecating, maternal, maybe even grant maternal. Although hillary credits a small team of people for helping with the book, she carved out months on her calendar to write and rewrite it herself and there is told to say work that is undeniably in her voice. But also clearly leaves room for future chapters in one worn by more someday. [applause] this evenings event is particularly special. It is particularly special for me because i not only get to introduce the main speaker, but also my wife who will be appearing conversation with hillary. The two of them go back together to the early days of the Clinton Administration and lissa has sent served with hillary in various roles as white house and state department speechwriter, communications or to the first lady. Campaign advisor and collaborator on hillarys white house memoir, living history. These days when hillary and lissa talk, they spend most of their time discussing the latest great novel, mystery or biography they are breeding. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Hillary Rodham clinton and lissa muscatine. [cheers and applause] thank you. Great. [cheers and applause] thank you so much. [cheers and applause] well, that was very nice. It is great to have you. Thank you so much. Thanks to you and brett are running such a great bookstore, politics prose. Speaking up hooks, you got it out for four days now. Is right. For. Its been one of the spaces that was more like when your secretary and you start your books are all over the place in doing these interviews. You keep a pretty frenetic pace. I have to ask you because her the first time i read this book and i read it several times now, i was struck by a kind of lightheartedness. Its a serious book. It deals with obviously very serious issues. But theres a lighter side that comes true. So i am wondering if ive watched you in the first four days and it has been tough interviews to me seem like youre having a good time. Well, i am having a good time and that is in part due to the enthusiasm that i have experienced as ive traveled around in the last couple of days. It is a great feeling to everett in a book about for years that were consequential in my view we can talk about that, but which for me were both a personal journey and a very heavy responsibility. And what i tried to do in the vote was write it so that i could give you, the readers, a bit of a peek behind the curtain because the headline certainly tell some of the story, but not all of the story. And it is more difficult to even get information about the socalled trend line. I wanted to combine both. The hardest part for me about writing this book was that it was, believe it or not, three times longer when i first finished it. I wanted to put every funny story, every bizarre adult. I mean, whatever i could remember and wanted to share. The publisher did say youve got to cut two thirds of this book. And so, i worked hard to keep the combination of seriousness because obviously there is a lot of that, but also the human diet. Not just me, but what i saw and learned as i traveled around the world. Youve never been shy about your opinions, but it does seem to me you are pretty free to speak your mind these days. I think that is true. From some of the reactions ive had the past few days. [laughter] i say in the book that a beard is just a wonderful wealth of x. But ive now had. Ap it is because i am totally god with, you know, being really careful about what to say because somebody might think this instead of that just gets too exhausting and frustrating. It just seems a whole lot easier to just put it out there and hope people get used to it. Whether you agree with that or not, to know exactly where it coming from, what i think about what i feel, i really believe that is missing in both our government dialogue and of course many of you probably are some houses heated in some way with our government certainly in our political dialogue. Theres so many big issues and i talk about some of them, both in nationally and nationally. And i dont agree dean either shouting matches for fingerpointing or biting ones tongue. I think we really need to have an open and straightforward conversation and maybe im trying to model that. I dont know, but that is how it feels to me. It feels a little bit liberating to me. And its great to watch i have to say. Its nice to see. You know, there are occasions when people go up a little, including myself to be fair. But i really want to share the experiences that ive had. I came to this job, as i write in the book, and quite an unusual way and that was incredibly surprised when the president asked me to serve as a little surprise when i finally read too. And then it was just from the very first moment a mad dash because we inherited a pretty serious agenda of problems and challenges. So the perspective that ive gained a sink has encouraged me even more to speak my mind contribute what i can to whatever debate is occurring. Lets talk about the process of writing the book before we get to the substance of it because i remember from the last book you had a day job. You were in the senate and this is really true. Honest to goodness truth because i was working with you on the boat. He did a lot of the work between midnight and 3 00 a. M. And i remember having routine meeting to run your dinner table at 3 00 a. M. We did that for a few months to get it finished. He carved up more time to really focus on it. I think it is interesting. You had a great team working for you, be you or not somebody whos ever taken a draft of a book, speech, chapter and say this looks good. Its been between a cover or publisher right now. Its fine. Youve always played over here fighting. You write, rewrite, you still write in longhand on a legal pad and anybody whos been with anyone writing a