An Interview with Hillary Rodham Clinton "We've Had Some Good Times"

By MARGARET CARLSON WASHINGTON Hillary Rodham Clinton

Q. How do you manage a family in the White House?

A. We're trying to strike a balance. You still want family time when you can really let your hair down. One night we just got into this silly conversation, just the three of us. Chelsea had to memorize all of the members of the Cabinet, and it was just hysterical. We were rhyming them and making acronyms, and it was so much fun. So we've had some good times as well as some hard times.

Q. How is your stress level?

A. It's all pretty unformed. There is a lot going on, when you look at moving and changing schools for Chelsea and new house, new role, new demands, my dad and everything -- pretty stressful three months.

Q. Must feel like three years.

A. No, 30 years.

Q. How are you coping with your father's death?

A. It comes up on you at odd times. I was in Montana, something I'd promised to do for a long time. I did not feel like going. I was so tired, drained, but I'm really glad I went, because the people were wonderful and a lot of them engaged me in talking about my father and were generally sympathetic. Today I feel pretty good. I feel we're back to settling in and trying to get rooted again.

Q. Do you spend as much time with your husband as before?

A. I see him maybe a little bit more, because I'm not off at my law office. Chelsea was off on a school trip, so Bill and I decided to have dinner outside on the Truman Balcony. All the cares of the day -- I could just feel them ebbing away, sitting out there looking at the beautiful spring. The air is so ; soft. Everything is blooming. Bill and I have just been wandering around here in this dazed spring fever.

Q. Some people say that in putting you in charge of the health-care task force, the President has created problems for himself. For one thing, you cannot be fired.

A. I think about it more in terms of the willingness of Bill to say, "Look, we're going to take this on and do the best job we can." By his asking me to do that, he's not looking for deniability. He's not looking for distance.

Q. Is it a sprint to the finish line now?

A. I have never seen an issue that is as complicated as this. I can see why for 50 years people have tiptoed toward this problem and turned around and run away.

Q. Does it keep sprouting new arms and legs?

A. We've got to make sure we understand the implications of everything that sprouts. Nobody ever tried to reconcile all the different numbers. The people in the government have been working extraordinary hours, killing themselves to do this right, so we're beginning to develop a sense of confidence about what it all means.

Q. What's your daily routine?

A. We usually get up around 6 or 6:30, but sometimes in the last couple of weeks it's been hard because we've been staying up so late trying to catch up. I have a little study upstairs where I pay my bills, I do my personal correspondence. I have some help, but I like to get personal and house things taken care of before I go over to work on the other stuff.

Q. Do you get out of your office, or do you have people come to you?

A. Both. I do a lot of running around. I'm so lucky because I have energetic, caring, smart, committed people, and so it makes my life a lot more fun. We have a great time.

Q. Do you let them go home once in a while?

A. I can't let them work too hard. We're looking for dates for them, Margaret. We're looking for dates.

Q. Do people stop talking about issues long enough to date?

A. We stop talking about stuff like that, because otherwise you don't have any time to be with each other as people. I mean, you kind of get overwhelmed by it.

Q. When do you and the President stop talking about work? When you go upstairs?

A. Last night we were talking about books and crossword puzzles, which he's still working on, and . . .

Q. Does he ask you for a six-letter word for a river in Germany?

A. I say Rhone, Rhine -- How many letters is that again?

Q. You once told me that in the evening the President will do four things at once -- listen to music, read a book, watch sports on TV, talk on the phone. Does he still do that?

A. Yes. And eat, that's five.

Q. What do you do in the evening?

A. I just finished a wonderful book, Broken Cord. And I'm now reading an Elliott Roosevelt mystery, which is set in the White House, and I have become quite a fan of Game Boy. I really became addicted in my father's hospital room.

Q. Do you get a chance to exercise?

A. I was faithful until the move. I went down to my local Y and everything. ((But)) I have been so tired. I need to get a good night's sleep once in a while. I feel like I'm a million hours behind some days, but I'm catching up.

Q. Have you ever thrown a lamp, a vase or a Bible, as rumor has it?

A. No, that's not me. I thought the best response was from Neel Lattimore, our token male in the press office, who said, "Not only did she throw it, she hit ((the President)) with it and we have buried him in the Rose Garden." I mean, that's how we thought of it. It was kind of silly.

Q. What do you tell Chelsea about it?

A. Oh, the same thing we've been telling her ever since she was old enough to realize her father was in politics -- that some people will lie about you, and you can't take it personally because they're doing it for their own reasons.

Q. You give the President lots of support. Who supports you?

A. Oh, he does. He does. These past couple of weeks he's just been extraordinary. He's also a loving son-in-law and brother-in-law. And you know, he's really wonderful.