“Choice” Moments: Beware of Washington

In 1993, Hillary Clinton arrived in Washington, D.C. ready to serve as a key player in her husband’s new administration. But the first lady would face strong resistance.

“She was not coming in as the first lady who was going to stay home and bake cookies and make teas,” says Sally Quinn, the longtime Washington Post columnist, in the short film above. “She was going to make policy and that was very clear. And so there were an awful lot of people who were out of sorts about this.”

The clash between the first lady and the Washington establishment would leave an indelible impression on Clinton as she came to learn just how brutal politics in the nation’s capital could be.

“Beware of Washington” was drawn from FRONTLINE’s reporting for The Choice 2016, filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team’s highly anticipated dual biography of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Since 1988, The Choice has brought viewers in-depth, interwoven biographies of the two major-party U.S. presidential candidates. The Choice 2016 premieres Tues., Sept. 27 at 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CST on PBS and online. Check your local PBS listings.