In February of 2012, Hillary Clinton (then secretary of state) had a new Blackberry and couldn’t find its emojis. Longtime Clinton aide Philippe Reines wrote Hillary Clinton a detailed email, released today by the State Department, explaining why Hillary Clinton didn’t like her previous phone.

In a previous message, Clinton wrote, “I am quite bereft that I’ve lost the emoticons from my latest new old berry,” asking “Is there anyway I can add them?” Detecting the distress of his boss, Reines walked Clinton through her own emotions and thought processes in what is a very strange email: “So without having actually seen your latest new old berry, I’m guessing that the reason you like it is the familiarity of the device coupled with the familiar operating system.”

This exchange took place on Valentine’s Day.

A month later, apparently having gotten another “new old” Blackberry, Reines once more had to explain mental states to Clinton:

:) is the happy face, :| is the angry face.

Photo: AP

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