Hillary Clinton Is 'In Her Element'

Vanity Fair offers a glowing profile of Hillary Clinton, with a focus on the professional (managing the "swirling challenges" of the Arab Spring) to the personal (changing into sweats during her many, many flights). "Even as she navigates these choppy waters, Hillary’s own vessel is solid and surprisingly leakproof," writes Jonathan Alter. "One of the least-noticed changes in American public life is how she has been transformed from a subject of constant gossip and calumny into a figure of consequence and little controversy."

Other tidbits:

• In her element: "A half-dozen of her friends agree that they have never seen her more in her element," writes Alter. One describes her "engaged, happy, focused, determined, and very tired from all the travel."
• George Shultz? Of all previous secretaries, she might be most like Reagan's Shultz, writes Alter: "A canny pragmatist who made significant progress in several areas without being associated with a single momentous event."
• Looking good: "For years she’s routinely done her own makeup, which is easier because she has good skin. And her genes seem unusually strong."
• Done with politics? Clinton talks a good game about being uninterested in running for president, but Alter isn't completely convinced. "It’s hard to believe 'Clinton' and 'ambition' have been fully sundered. In 2016, the Democrats are unlikely to have anyone better or more acceptable to different parts of the party."

Click to read the full profile. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)