Bill Clinton didn't think Hillary Clinton should have apologized for her private email server

(Image credit: Steve Pope/Stringer/Getty Images)

published 11 September 2015

It's probably not a shock that Hillary Clinton didn't want to apologize for her private email server — although she finally did on Tuesday — but it might be a little curious to hear that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was staunchly against the idea of her apologizing, too.

The Clintons apparently both agreed that an apology would legitimize the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address and server while she was serving as secretary of state (Clinton, for her part, has said that her actions were fully within the law). The New York Times reports that while at first her staffers agreed an apology wasn't necessary, the increasing rumblings of disapproval eventually made the lack of an apology look bad. But Bill apparently disagreed:

Frustrations came to a head during Mrs. Clinton's late August vacation in the Hamptons, where she and former President Bill Clinton took walks on the beach, socialized, and raised money for her campaign.Mr. Clinton was adamant that his wife, who is not accused of breaking any laws or rules, had nothing to apologize for, according to people he spoke to. But he also repeatedly urged her aides to try harder to explain Mrs. Clinton's actions to voters in a way that would persuade them she had done nothing wrong.A number of her friends, meanwhile, separately suggested to Mrs. Clinton during the vacation that she needed to change her approach. [The New York Times]

It seems that at the end of the day, her friends won out over the former president.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.