I needed a drink that night. I do most nights, but that night especially. It was June 3, 2008, and Barack Obama was giving his victory speech in St. Paul, Minnesota, announcing he had gained enough delegate support to secure the Democratic nomination. The possibility of a first-ever black president thrills me, I’ll admit, but that night I couldn’t see that far. I kept thinking about Hillary Clinton and what could have been.

After six years of captivity in the Colombian jungle, the Colombian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt has been freed. Betancourt was kidnapped in 2002 by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) while campaigning for the Colombian presidency in San Vicente del Caguan, Colombia—an area of high guerrilla presence. She is said to have been the highest-profile captive held by the FARC guerillas.