The challenge for Clinton and her loyalists is what to do with this appeal, capitalizing on her political martyrdom without quite appearing to do so. At the talk with Kristof, her enumeration of the reasons she lost (Russia, Comey, etc.), is accurate though it may have gone to the very edge of whining. “It's a fine line because it could become easily an ‘I-told-you-so’ tour, which no one has any appetite for,” the Clinton loyalist continues. “People don’t want to hear it, and they don't want to hear it from her. If you move too quickly, you look political. You lose your stature as an elder statesman. You look like a chronic politician. If you move a bit more strategically—target your appearances, target your messages at your appearances, craft your messages appropriately for your appearances—you can keep on an elder stateswoman status. You can have an impact on the dialog where it won’t look self-serving. That’s her challenge, to re-emerge as a stateswoman, an important commentator and activist without looking self-serving or without looking political. Not easy to do.”

Rather than a memoir (she’s already written one about her time as secretary of state, the 2014 Hard Choices), Hillary is writing a book of essays, in part about the 2016 election, while searching for other ways to stay relevant. Part of the job is to reconfigure her ambition—it won’t simply go away. “There are a lot of people who have had an enormous impact on history that didn’t become president,” this insider continues. “In many respects, maybe she’s running for history now, or she’s running to fulfill a legacy.”

That approach was on full display at the Women in the World Summit, which was billed as her first interview since her stunning November defeat, which she admitted surprised her because she had expected to win, and indeed was already mapping out her transition. She spoke about the horrible events in Syria and whether it was a blemish for her when she was secretary of state and for President Obama. She spoke about how popular she seemed to be when she left the State Department only to find that popularity dissipate when she became a candidate for president. She said she became like “Typhoid Mary” throughout the campaign and noted that Typhoid Mary had been unfairly shunned too. But, mostly, she stuck to the script of encouraging young people to enter politics, especially young women. “We need you,” she said.

Part of the problem for Clinton at the moment could be whose advice she should take. Bill Clinton remains an important adviser, of course. “They are a team,” the insider continues. “They are really that significant. Whatever she does, she’ll do it with his consultation.” Another Clinton confidant tells me that Bill Clinton remains an important part of her calculus. “Should Bill speak up more, and more regularly?” is a question being asked. There is also Chelsea Clinton, who has taken to Twitter with a vengeance to attack Trump and to defend her mother, and there are the usual array of close advisers, including Cheryl Mills, Philippe Reins, and Huma Abedin, who herself returned to the headlines with the news that she and her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, were allegedly trying to make their marriage work at least one more time.

The Clinton Foundation, which caused the campaign so much trouble, won’t be the locus of her new life, as the The Hill reported last week and the Clinton insider reiterated to me. She’s moving on from day-to-day responsibilities. “It’s about history now,” this person concludes about the Clintons. “It's about rebuilding, and they do this very well. They may not get there the first time, but they’re great at their comebacks. That’s one thing you can never doubt about them: they do comebacks better than anybody. The stakes are bigger here than just basic politics. This is about defining their life’s work and their life’s mission.”