If she wins, President Hillary Clinton's troubles would start before she is even sworn into office.
Most Americans don't trust her. Many lawmakers vow not to work with her. One already has floated the idea of impeachment. Republican congressional investigations are likely, adding to a new FBI investigation involving her personal e-mail system.
How could she govern? Clinton's three decades of experience in government, punctuated by e-mails providing revealing looks at how she operates behind the scenes and interviews with people who have worked with her or against her give some clues as to how she'd work even in such a hostile environment.
She does all of her homework and wants to know everything. She can compartmentalize her feelings enough to work with enemies if necessary. She's more willing to socialize with members of Congress than President Obama has been. She relies on staff, sometimes even for personal things. She also can be very insecure, keeps to a select few advisers, doesn't trust the media and worries constantly about her privacy.
One sign of how she might operate: As a senator from New York immediately after leaving the White House, Clinton earned a surprising reputation for working with Republicans on Capitol Hill.
In her first speech as senator, Clinton said she'd learned from her unsuccessful effort as first lady to pass a national health care law. "I learned some valuable lessons about the legislative process, the importance of bipartisan cooperation and the wisdom of taking small steps to get a big job done," she said.
Clinton worked with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — who helped manage the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton — to allow National Guard and reserve troops to buy insurance policies in Tricare, the military health care system.
Republicans and Democrats expect that she would do the same as president — meeting with lawmakers on their home turf on Capitol Hill and inviting them to the White House and Camp David.
