If you hold one of the most powerful posts in one of the most powerful governments in the world, you need to know how to make a happy face in an email and you need to know now.
Sadly, Hillary Clinton had just gotten her hands on a “new old BlackBerry” and was “quite bereft” to have lost her emoticon library.
The release of thousands of the former secretary of state and current Democratic presidential candidate’s emails was meant to shed light on what she was saying in emails stored on a private server in her home.
Clinton, who initially said she didn’t think she was doing anything wrong by using a non-government email server to do government business, now admits it was a “mistake.”
And although her email server is now the subject of an FBI investigation, as well as figuring into the House Select committee inquiry into her handling of the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, her emails have also shed some humourous insight into the inner workings of Washington.
In this latest email dump last week, the first after she appeared before the House Select Committee on Oct. 22, Clinton’s emoticon troubles were thrust into the spotlight.
READ MORE: Clinton uses Benghazi hearing to set foreign policy framework for campaign
A Clinton staffer advised her the lack of emoticon options was due to a switch to the “latest new old berry” with the old operating system.
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But, her emoticon troubles didn’t end there. Her savvy staff members had to inform her, just two months later, how to type out a smiley face in an email.
It may all sound insignificant, but Clinton’s emails have given a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of Washington and revealed that the secretary of state is just like your mom or dad when it comes to responding to messages.
Take, for example, an email titled “Gunmen try to assassinate head of Libyan army (AP).”
Clinton’s most trusted aide, Huma Abedin, forwarded the headline on Dec. 10, 2011. Clinton’s response:
READ MORE: Clinton used private email while the State Department’s cyber security suffered on her watch
And despite having a private email server, Clinton still had to deal with those pesky invitations to connect on LinkedIn.
That request to connect was from Susan Kennedy, the former chief of staff to former California governor and Terminator franchise star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But Clinton didn’t need LinkedIn to connect to celebrities.
She wanted to write a note to Lady Gaga after the pop superstar called out Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn, while the latter was guest hosting the daytime talk show The View in August 2011, saying he was a bully for criticizing the former first lady and self-declared pantsuit aficionado’s style.
Clinton also wanted to respond to actor-director Ben Affleck, who wrote the secretary of state on behalf of his Eastern Congo Initiative.
And one of her aides thought it would be a good idea to get celebrities Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey to sign a letter to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.
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