Hillary Clinton is no stranger to freewheeling political analysis, gestures of indulgent flattery and myriad tech woes, as the latest batch of emails released by the State Department shows.
While the Democratic front-runner has managed to lower the temperature on the scandal surrounding her exclusive use of a private email account and server during her time as secretary of state, Clinton still must grapple with the monthly release of her communications that show the many sides of the longtime political creature.
Monday's release of nearly 8,000 pages of correspondence largely came from 2012 and 2013 and provided insight into Clinton's thinking as she wrapped up her final year as secretary of state.
From her colorful names for Republican presidential front-runners to trouble finding the right TV channel to jokes about her concussion, Clinton's inbox ran the gamut. Here are some of the gems:
1. Mittens and the Grinch
The day after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich pulled off a shocking upset in the South Carolina GOP primary, longtime Clinton family confidant Sid Blumenthal emailed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to talk about the state of the race. But instead of referring to Gingrich and eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney by their given names, the secretary opted for two nicknames: Mittens and Grinch.
"If Mittens can't beat Grinch in Florida, there will be pressure on state Republican parties to reopen or liberalize ballot access especially in the caucuses, which as we know are creatures of the parties' extremes. Tried calling but no answer so hope you and Jackie are somewhere fun," Clinton wrote on Jan. 22, 2012, referring to Blumenthal's wife.
2. Graham and Clinton
In a January 2011 email to top Clinton aide Jake Sullivan, State Department official Michael Posner recounted a discussion with Lindsey Graham on their flight home from Kabul, in which the Republican senator from South Carolina was said to have "expressed strong support for Secretary Clinton" even though it "won't help him politically" in his home state. Graham, now a long-shot contender for the GOP nomination, has said in the past that he enjoyed working with Clinton in her capacity at State.
"He expressed strong support for Secretary Clinton and said the main reason he wants to serve on Foreign Ops is to protect our budget requests against those who will advocate for severe cuts. I thanked him for his committment and encouraged him to pursue this committee assignment. He said this won't help him politically in South Carolina but these are the issues that matter most to him," Posner wrote Sullivan, who then forwarded the message to the secretary.
3. 'I am really devastated'
Anne-Marie Slaughter, Clinton's former top policy aide at State appeared anguished in an October 2012 email chain directed at her former boss' response to her widely-read piece in The Atlantic earlier that year titled "Why Women Still Can't Have It All."
Speaking to Marie Claire, Clinton expressed what the author deemed "palpable" disapproval with her piece, remarking that, "some women are not comfortable working at the pace and intensity you have to work at in these jobs ... Other women don't break a sweat."
"Is she really talking about me? I have been 500 percent supportive and loyal in every possible way I can be? Can I at least talk to her? I AM advocating for women!!" Slaughter wrote in her initial email, with the subject line "I am really devastated," sent to Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, who implored her to "[p]lease do NOT be devastated."
The Clinton campaign disputed to POLITICO the characterization of Clinton claiming Slaughter was whining in her Atlantic piece.
"There is a lot going on here and [senior adviser Philippe Reines] has been pushing back hard. I know cheryl is also calling you. Happy to talk," Abedin wrote.
Slaughter then thanked Abedin for her email, saying that she was fine "though still very much hope[d] [the secretary] and I can actually talk some of this through at some point! Not until she leaves office, of course. I'll write her over the weekend."
Abedin then forwarded the chain to Clinton, writing, "[Reines] reported you will call her. She may email you as well."
4. 'your sparkling yellow pants suit'
Longtime family friend Lanny Davis emailed Clinton in December 2012 with a preview of his op-ed reminiscing about her tenure at the State Department and the White House as first lady and wishing her well after her fall that resulted in a concussion.
"I hope you enjoy the memories - especially mom remembering your sparkling yellow pants suit! I sent you my best wishes thru cdm when I heard about your fall. Happened to me once - faint and hard knock on marble floor. Scary. But your great husband and my great wife agree we are well protected - hard-headed. Take care of yourself - and look forward to a long rest as I wrote at the end," Davis wrote.
5. In search of 'Homeland'
On a Sunday afternoon in October 2012, Clinton emailed Reines with the subject line "Stupid question," asking him on what channel she could find Showtime so she could watch the latest episode of "Homeland" later that evening.
"If you have Comcast, it's channel 339 or 340 (one is HD and one isn't) If you don't have Comcast, I can look it up," Reines responded, to which Clinton wrote back, "You won't be surprised to hear I'm not sure."
In response, Reines offered to help in case she could not figure it out on her own, checking in after the show to see if she had any success in catching up with the latest on Carrie and Brody.
6. Helping a 'cracked head'
In the days following her tumble and subsequent concussion, Clinton offered her congratulations to Sen. John Kerry on his nomination to succeed her. On Dec. 21, 2012, Clinton asked Reines to send her "the email I sent out to everyone Friday night?"
Reines responded with the statement about Kerry, adding, "Hi! Miss you!"
Clinton responded, "And I miss you too! Having a cracked head is no fun at all," before making the aforementioned request.
Reines offered to help with Clinton's "cracked head," mentioning that he had reached out to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the latter of whom "responded wonderfully and is ready to help."
"Thanks for the outreach, but I'm ok in the doctor department for now," she wrote back, causing Reines to apologize and clarify that he had meant he was enlisting the help of those who would help dispel some of the doubts cast upon Clinton's condition, given that she had missed a scheduled testimony on the Benghazi attacks because of her injury.
"Sorry, didn't mean medically. Wouldn't ever do that. I meant I enlisted their help in my ongoing efforts to undermine the John Boltons and Laura Ingraham's of the world who are belittling your health. I sent Ingraham a long note. Crafting one to Bolton now. Don't worry, no profanity," Reines said. "Not that kind of note. Just not letting these comments stand, no matter who says them."
7. 'Publicly and directly puncture conspiracy fever'
In the week following the bombshell resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus after an FBI investigation uncovered an extramarital affair and a month after the attacks on the mission in Benghazi, Blumenthal offered firm advice for Clinton for her own brewing controversy, along with a smattering of news clippings.
"Projection, madness, revenge—you pick the Shakespeare plot. Most of them truly believe in their fevered visions. McCain? Back to Shakespeare, last category. Not to mention the Dittohead FBI agent. Eric Cantor's explanation that he wanted to prevent the investigation from being 'politicized' doesn't rise to risible," he wrote of the Petraeus scandal, recounting a discussion with British ambassador to the U.S. Peter Westmacott in which he dished on Jill Kelley, who played a central role in the unveiling of Petraeus' affair.
"Even if she is just an ambitious dope (or in another jargon, unwitting asset of someone or some power), the scene is squalid. This is the center of the war on terror? Or is it the set of the next season of Homeland? My advice to you?" he said. "Publicly and directly puncture conspiracy fever on Benghazi before any closed hearing, in response to press question that you make yourself available to."
8. Not POLITICO?
Following her Senate testimony on Benghazi, Blumenthal shared what he felt was the "best analysis so far of [the] hearing," a Feministing blog post titled "How to deal with a mansplainer starring Hillary Clinton in GIFs."
Clinton was a fan ("Loved them!" she replied), and Blumenthal then volunteered that his wife, Jackie, also wears glasses and thought her fashion choice was "very stylish, attractive."
9. Give ... Me .... A .... Break
It wasn't all praise for Clinton after her testimony, a fact she shared in an email from former Clinton campaign adviser Mark Penn that she forwarded to Reines, Sullivan and Mills.
"The Republicans but not the American people have been obsessed with Libya and trying to pin the acts of terrorists on you. They have been playing this non stop on their cable tv," Penn wrote, after Clinton's "what difference at this point does it make" line reverberated. "But I don't think the emotion in the hearing works to your advantage -- looks more like they rattled you on something no one outside the crazy right blamed you for anyway."
In passing along Penn's critique, Clinton acknowledged it as such: "Ok, so here's first discordant note--just to keep it real."
Reines had something to say about that.
"I say this as someone who has never had a problem with Mark or held him as accountable as other people do - but... Give Me A Break," he wrote, breaking for another line after each word in the last phrase. "You did not look rattled. You looked real. There's a difference. A big one."
10. Daughters
In an August 2012 email chain to Clinton and daughter, Chelsea, (under the pseudonym Diane Reynolds), Reines offered his own analysis as to why Mitt Romney's candidacy was doomed to fail: he had no daughters. The senior adviser then listed every president going back through Franklin D. Roosevelt, noting that only Dwight D. Eisenhower had sons.
"That's fascinating. What did you then conclude?!" Chelsea wrote back, under her Secret Service code name "Energy."
Reines called it "hardly a valid sample size, but it's interesting nonetheless."
"And the historical pattern aside, Romney just also happens to be down 20 pts among women. It makes complete sense to me that a man with daughters would be affected in ways someone with only sons wouldn't be," he wrote.
"I guess my next step will be to look for the last person to win their party's nomination but went on to lose the general election, and see who didn't have daughters. If the pattern holds, it's further anecdotal evidence that we look for certain attributes in our Presidents, supported by the fact that no matter who won, they would have possessed that trait," he noted. "Off the top of my head working backwards, McCain, Kerry, Gore, Dole (I think), Dukakis (I think), and Mondale all had daughters. Further back will require the Google."
11. Paging Atticus Finch
In another fawning email from Lanny Davis, the longtime family friend shared the results of a Gallup survey in May 2012 that noted her "near record-high favorability numbers."
"So why am I not surprised? Am writing about the reasons why this is so in Purple Nation column -- ok? I won't embarrass you or make comparisons to others, promise," he wrote Clinton, who responded, "I'm afraid anything you write will be suspect in light of our long relationship!"
Davis responded with a frown emoticon, saying that he would not write it, but if he could, he would write that the secretary of state "is a hard worker," "is fact-driven," "is sensitive to the perspective of others ... as was said about Atticus Finch in 'To Kill A Mockingbird': 'she can walk in other people's shoes and see the world through their eyes.'" Finally, he wrote, Clinton "is a gracious person - the most important quality for a successful diplomat."
Clinton then asked for the email to be printed.
12. Counting trips and asterisks
Clinton's State Department kept a tight count of the secretary's travels throughout her four-year term, as evidenced by a June 2012 email from Reines to his boss and Abedin.
"With 7ish months left, plenty of time to run up the score on total countries. 110 is a reasonable goal. Here are the 94 countries left to choose from," he wrote, before listing each country, including asterisks "next to countries you visited prior to becoming SecState, but not since - so they would count."
13. Stargazing
Clinton could not help herself in the subject line of an email to former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson in December 2012, writing simply, "I met Naomi Watts last weekend and we talked about you and Valerie and how amazing you both are!" Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a former CIA officer whose identity as an operative was revealed in a Washington Post column in 2003.
Watts had attended the annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington the previous weekend.
14. How to get a job with Hillary
As Clinton looked to the exit at the State Department, Gary Gensler, the former head of the Commodities Future Trading Commission, sent the secretary of state no fewer than six emails asking for advice. Gensler, whom Clinton named as her campaign's chief financial officer in April, played the long game. He did not leave the commission until January 2014.
In his first message in December 2012, Gensler wrote, "[i]f we might be able to find a moment to chat, I would love to share my thoughts on possible new challenges and opportunities within the Administration.”
Gensler followed up with more emails without a response, before wishing the secretary well after he discovered that she had suffered a fall and concussion.
“My mom always recommended a bit of chicken noodle soup,” he wrote. “And please don't worry about connecting with me on the work matters until you are really up to it.”
A few weeks later after the well-wishes, Gensler wrote Clinton again, expressing that he was "[s]o glad that you are recovering," adding, "Whenever you might be free, it would be wonderful to catch up."
15. Spielberg and Israel
Ahead of his meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg wanted to speak with the secretary of state in March 2012.
"SS has lunch tomorrow with Shimon Peres and sent HRC an email to see if she has a minute to talk between now and then?" wrote Andy Spahn, who worked as head of corporate affairs and communications for DreamWorks SKG from 1994 to 2006.
Capricia Marshall, State's chief of protocol, forwarded the message to Clinton and Abedin: "Fyi - Steven Spielberg hoping to chat with you"
"Capricia - call set up for noon tomorrow," Abedin responded.
