WASHINGTON – She worries about being excluded from meetings.
She looks forward to a few days away from the office to catch up on sleep and her favorite TV shows, "The Good Wife" and "Parks and Recreation."
She's constantly in search of someone to explain the latest technology.
The portrait of Hillary Clinton that emerges from her tens of thousands of recently released e-mails — including 7,825 pages of e-mails released Monday — is different from what people see on TV. More than her stump speeches and campaign events, her e-mails from her term as secretary of state often show how one of the most scrutinized women in the world behaves when she thinks only trusted friends and aides are tuning in.
"This travel gig is never ending — can't wait for Thanksgiving for a few days off," Clinton writes Nov. 4, 2009, from Cairo to a friend.
The e-mails do not show how she made specific decisions — much of that was likely done in person or by phone. And they do not include thousands she deleted that she said were entirely personal. These are being released as required by a lawsuit.
Those that are being opened up are full of the mundane logistics such as a schedule of conversations with foreign leaders and talking points for speeches and meetings. But they also include tidbits that show her personality. She can't keep track of her daily schedule. She has a dry sense of humor that doesn't always take diplomacy into account. And she tries to keep up with politics in what is supposed to be a nonpolitical job.
Clinton was often looking for additional information and asking to be more involved.
"I heard on the radio that there is a Cabinet mtg this am," Clinton wrote to aides at 5:52 a.m. June 8, 2009. "Is there? Can I go? If not, who are we sending?"
She is constantly looking for help with new technology.
She wants to know how LinkedIn works after getting a request to connect on the website. She struggles repeatedly with how to receive a fax. And after receiving a new Blackberry, she e-mailed aides on April 3, 2012. "Here's my question," she said, "on this new berry can I get smiley faces?"
Clinton could be short with her staff. After showing up for a meeting at the White House on June 12, 2009, only to find out it was canceled, she wrote her aides. "This is the second time this has happened," she wrote. "What's up???"
But she also offers staffers birthday or holiday wishes, plans get-togethers with friends or helps a stranger.
As she prepared for a trip to India and Thailand, Clinton wrote Jake Sullivan, deputy chief of staff and policy adviser, a note on July 16, 2009: "Jake - i told you yesterday, but it bears repeating - you're doing a wonderful job. Not just on the speech, but all the work to establish and implement the priorities it represents. I'm very grateful - Hillary."
