Hillary's role in Walmart (which back in the late 1980's was a different Walmart than today)
Fellow board members and company executives, who have not spoken publicly about her role at Wal-Mart, say Mrs. Clinton used her position to champion personal causes, like the need for more women in management and a comprehensive environmental program, despite being Wal-Mart's only female director, the youngest and arguably the least experienced in business.
In Mrs. Clinton's complex relationship with Wal-Mart, there are echoes of the familiar themes that have defined much of her career: the trailblazing woman unafraid of challenging the men around her; the idealist pushing for complicated, at times expensive, reforms; and the political pragmatist, willing to accept policies she did not agree with to achieve her ends. "Did Hillary like all of Wal-Mart practices? No," said Garry Mauro, a longtime friend and supporter of the Clintons who sat on the Wal-Mart Environmental Advisory Board with Mrs. Clinton in the late 1980s and worked with her on George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign. "But," Mr. Mauro added, "was Wal-Mart a better company, with better practices, because Hillary was on the board? Yes."
"Did Hillary like all of Wal-Mart practices? No," said Garry Mauro, a longtime friend and supporter of the Clintons who sat on the Wal-Mart Environmental Advisory Board with Mrs. Clinton in the late 1980s and worked with her on George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign.
"But," Mr. Mauro added, "was Wal-Mart a better company, with better practices, because Hillary was on the board? Yes."
But if her circumstances made her a natural choice for the board, her often liberal beliefs did not and she struggled to change the rigid, conservative culture at Wal-Mart, achieving modest results. Early in her tenure, she pressed for information about the number of women in Wal-Mart's management, worrying aloud that the company's hiring practices might be discriminatory. The data she received would have been troubling: by 1985, there was not a single woman among the company's top 42 officers, according to "In Sam We Trust," the 1998 book about Wal-Mart by Bob Ortega.
Early in her tenure, she pressed for information about the number of women in Wal-Mart's management, worrying aloud that the company's hiring practices might be discriminatory.
The data she received would have been troubling: by 1985, there was not a single woman among the company's top 42 officers, according to "In Sam We Trust," the 1998 book about Wal-Mart by Bob Ortega.
Mrs. Clinton had greater success on environmental issues. At her request, Mr. Walton set up the environmental advisory group, which sent a series of recommendations to the company's board. When it came time to pick members, Mrs. Clinton, who led the advisory group, reached out to at least two colleagues from the McGovern presidential campaign -- Mr. Mauro and Roy Spence, who headed an advertising firm in Texas that did extensive work for Wal-Mart. Under her watch, the advisory group drew up elaborate plans. Consumers would bring in used motor oil and batteries for recycling. Suppliers would reduce the size of their packaging. And Wal-Mart would build stores with energy-saving features. Wal-Mart executives put much of the program into place. In 1993, for example, they opened an experimental "eco-store" in Kansas, with skylights and wooden beams from forests that had not been clear cut.
When it came time to pick members, Mrs. Clinton, who led the advisory group, reached out to at least two colleagues from the McGovern presidential campaign -- Mr. Mauro and Roy Spence, who headed an advertising firm in Texas that did extensive work for Wal-Mart.
Under her watch, the advisory group drew up elaborate plans. Consumers would bring in used motor oil and batteries for recycling. Suppliers would reduce the size of their packaging. And Wal-Mart would build stores with energy-saving features.
Wal-Mart executives put much of the program into place. In 1993, for example, they opened an experimental "eco-store" in Kansas, with skylights and wooden beams from forests that had not been clear cut.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/us/pol itics/20walmart.html?ex=1337572800&e n=f233f54f3627696f&ei=5124&partn er=delicious&exprod=delicious
So, she "pressed for information about the number of women in Wal-Mart's management" and had an experimental "eco-store" opened...
Why didn't she "press" for labor unions? It was certainly an issue the board dealt with frequently, as evidenced by co-board member John Tate's views on labor relations as follows: "Labor unions are nothing but blood-sucking parasites living off of the productive labor of people who work for a living."
Why didn't she speak up? If she did, I'd love to read about it.
read the link. It explains why she didn't. She was the only pro-union person in the boardroom.
She picked the battles she could win - women and environmental issues.
Her voice would have been ignored on those issues if she had pressed for labor unions.
It is called a compromise. Something that, in real life, you have to do to get other battles won. You pick the ones you can win.
oh and nice try on dismissing her role about empowering women and her stance on environmental issues at Walmart.
She did more than what your misleading and ignorant first sentence stated.
Quite unnecessary to call me ignorant...
What else did she get done there besides what I mentioned? You didn't include this sentence in your snips:
"Still, the board's discussions did not translate into significant progress. By the late 1990s, after Mrs. Clinton had left the board, Wal-Mart had added a second female director, but the number of women in senior management remained paltry, according to company records."
I also noticed your first selected piece of text left off the phrase "On other topics, like Wal-Mart's vehement anti-unionism, for example, she was largely silent, they said."
and
"Though she was passionate about issues like gender and sustainability, Mrs. Clinton largely sat on the sidelines when it came to Wal-Mart and unions, board members said. Since its founding in 1962, Wal-Mart has fought unionization efforts at its stores and warehouses, employing hard-nosed tactics -- like allegedly firing union supporters and spying on employees -- that have become the subject of legal complaints against the company."
"During their meetings and private conversations, Mrs. Clinton never voiced objections to Wal-Mart's stance on unions, said Mr. Tate and John A. Cooper, another board member.
"She was not an outspoken person on labor, because I think she was smart enough to know that if she favored labor, she was the only one," Mr. Tate said. "It would only lessen her own position on the board if she took that position."
That seems like a lot of triangulation to me.
I think "Mr. Walton appeared relieved to have a woman on the board to deflect criticism" is also a very relevant quote from your article.
I provided a link and WHAT she did while she was there.
And her position on the board, as Mr Tate stated and you quoted, would have been diminished if she took up another cause to fight at on at Walmart
again, it isn't "triangulation" - it is called compromise. Fight for what you can get on the table with realistic goals.
change doesn't happen overnight.
and what happened to Walmart after she left, you want to BLAME her for that?
omg
I understand your perspective, but to me the labor issues are far more important than how many women are on the board, or if Wal-Mart's recycling practices could be made more efficient.
To me, it feels like hanging out on the Death Star and complaining about the gender makeup of the Imperial Guard while the giant laser that blows up planets is being built.
Do you think Hillary is proud of her time served on the board? Why is it never mentioned in her biography?
It feels to me like Wal-Mart wanted a token woman on the board to deflect criticism about their gender inequality, and Hillary had no problem cashing six years worth of checks while remaining silent about the giant elephant in the room.
