“The soft bigotry of low expectations” was George W. Bush’s take on the problems involved in asking too little of people, but it was left to Hillary Clinton, his predecessor’s wife and his would-be successor, to show us just how much harder the cost of hopes pitched too high can become.

From her early days as a sensation at Wellesley at the very dawn of the feminist era, she had been surrounded by people, usually women, who assured her that not only could she have a splendid career if she wanted, but that she could, and deserved to, reach ANY level she chose. Betsey Wright, Bill Clinton’s chief aide in Little Rock, saw her from the start as the more likely president, and many women appeared to agree.