Clinton advisers sought to soften her image

WASHINGTON (AP):Hillary Rodham Clinton's advisers sought to "humanise" what they saw as her stern, defensive public image during her husband's White House days and as she embarked on her groundbreaking Senate campaign in New York.

"Be real," wrote adviser Mandy Grunwald in a July 1999 memo as Clinton prepared for a Senate campaign. In the memo, the adviser urged the first lady to "look for opportunities for humour. It's important that people see more sides of you, and they often see you only in very stern situations."

Thousands of pages of documents released last Friday by the Clinton Presidential Library reveal the first lady's struggles with the health care plan during the 1990s, "an aversion" to the Washington press corps and her transition into a political candidate in her own right as the Clinton administration ended.

Clinton is the leading Democratic contender to succeed President Barack Obama, though she has not said whether she will run.

Extensive records

The nearly 4,000 pages of records, the first of more than 25,000 expected to be released in the next two weeks, underscore her attempts to appeal to average Americans and her aides' advice that she show a more human side, reminiscent of problems that surfaced in her 2008 primary loss against Obama.

Clinton's public image has been a hotly debated topic throughout her career and could linger into any presidential campaign in 2016.