Living History Unknown (best books to read fiction .txt) 📖

University in Washington. I particularly admired the King’s courage in resisting Fascism in his country. He became head of state at age thirty-seven, after Franco’s death in 1975, and immediately declared his intention to reestablish democracy in Spain. In 1981 he single-handedly thwarted a military takeover of Parliament by appearing on television to denounce the coup leader and to order his troops back to the barracks. Sofia, a Princess of Greece when she married Juan Carlos, is a trained pediatric nurse and as charming and accomplished as her husband.

A great philanthropist, she championed microcredit programs years before most people had heard about the concept.

We continued on to Madrid, for the summit of NATO members. Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Marfa Aznar and his wife, Ana Botella, hosted a private dinner in the garden of the Moncloa Palace, their official residence, for the NATO leaders and spouses. Bill’s commitment to expanding NATO finally came to fruition when Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were asked to join. The next night the King and Queen hosted a large dinner at the neoclassical palace in central Madrid to celebrate this historic expansion.

We first saw the palace in 1995, when the King and Queen hosted a small dinner. The real fun started after we’d eaten, when the King gave us a tour. He confessed that he had no idea what was in most of the rooms, so he would make up stories as he opened doors.

Pretty soon we were all telling tales about imaginary events that might have happened.

Both the King and Queen have a marvelous sense of humor, and my favorite sight was Bill and the King eyeing the longest dining table I’d ever seen (it looked as though it could seat a hundred guests) and discussing the merits of running and sliding down its length. Now two years later that same long table accommodated heads of state and government from all over Europe, at a formal dinner.

After our official duties were over, Sofia and Juan Carlos took Bill, Chelsea and me to the Alhambra Palace in Granada. When Bill and I had first started dating, he told me that the most beautiful natural sight he had ever seen was the sun setting over the Grand Canyon, and the most beautiful man-made one, the Alhambra Palace lit by the rays of the setting sun as it sank over the plains of Granada. When I shared the story with the King, he insisted that I must see it for myself. We toured the castle and then ate dinner at a restaurant in a centuries-old house with a stunning view of the palace. We watched the sun go down, painting the walls a rusty pink. As we lingered into the night, we saw the palace’s own lights come up, equally stunning.

After such an evening, I felt I could levitate to my next destination: Vienna, where I was keynote speaker at a forum entitled “ Vital Voices: Women in Democracy.” Conceived and organized by Swanee Hunt, our Ambassador to Austria, and nurtured by Melanne Verveer, this meeting of one thousand prominent European women was the official launch of the U.S. government’s Vital Voices Democracy Initiative.

The project was close to my heart, a prime example of the Administration’s efforts to incorporate woman’s issues into foreign policy An outgrowth of Beijing, the Vital Voices initiative brought together representatives of our government, NGOs and international corporations to promote progress for women in three areas: building democracy, strengthening economies and working to achieve peace. In too many countries, women were still denied the right to participate in the political arena, derive an independent income, own property or enjoy legal protections from abuse and violence. With help from the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, the Inter-American Bank and other organizations, Vital Voices provides technical assistance, skills seminars and networking opportunities that give women the tools and resources they need to advance civil society, free market economies and political participation in their own countries.

I thought personal attention to political and individual development was missing in our own diplomatic rhetoric about democracy and free markets. Women and children suffered disproportionately during the difficult transition from communism to capitalism and democracy because they no longer could rely on fixed incomes common to centralized economies or on free education and health care provided by the state. Vital Voices encourages women’s entrepreneurship in places as diverse as South Africa and the Baltic states, supports efforts to involve women in the political sphere in Kuwait and Northern Ireland and galvanizes women to combat trafficking of women and children in Ukraine and Russia. Through an effective, nonprofit global partnership, the organization continues to educate and train women around the world, many of whom have become political leaders in their own countries.

Our hectic schedule finally slowed down enough for us to return to Martha’s Vineyard in August for summer vacation. It was a place where we felt comfortable and relaxed.

One day, I was persuaded to try a round of golf with Bill, whose leg had healed enough to permit a return to his favorite pastime. Frankly, I don’t like golf. And I’m a terrible player. I side with Mark Twain: “Golf is a good walk spoiled.”

I can trace my aversion to the sport back to an incident that took place the summer before ninth grade, when the only way I could convince my mother to allow me to date a certain high school boy was to let him take me golfing in the middle of the afternoon. I was blind as a bat, and of course I was too vain to wear my glasses. I couldn’t see the golf ball, but I decided to hit anything white. So I took a mighty swing and the ball exploded into powder. I’d hit a big white mushroom. Two rounds of professional lessons and corrective contact lenses didn’t improve my game. I preferred reading and swimming in the surf while Bill perfected his swing with Vernon Jordan and his other