Long before Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, she was reading ‘Internet E-mail for Dummies’ books
Hillary Clinton may still be battling criticism for deleting a massive cache of emails sent from her personal account while secretary of state, but back in 1997, she still had a “phobia of computers.”
At least, so said a story by Karen Tumulty that was published on the cover of Time that year. The very entertaining profile of Clinton at 50 also offers a backstory to a photo the William J. Clinton Library posted on Instagram Monday morning. In the 1993 snapshot by Ralph Alswang, the then-first lady is intently focused on her Nintendo Game Boy on an Air Force One flight from Texas to Washington, D.C.
(Ralph Alswang/Courtesy, William J. Clinton Library via Instagram)
According to Tumulty’s story, Clinton “mastered” the device in the ’90s as a way to deal with her daughter Chelsea’s departure to college and to overcome her fear of electronics. On at least one occasion, her chief of staff at the time caught her reading an “Internet E-Mail for Dummies” book. Yes, those books.
In 2012, a similar photo of Clinton — this time clad in large sunglasses — staring at her BlackBerry went viral thanks to a Tumblr named Texts From Hillary.
In the words of Drake: “Started from the bottom, now we here.”
SLIDESHOW: The most ‘90s pictures from the Clinton Library’s Instagram feed >>>
Follow Alyssa Bereznak on Twitter or email her here.
