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Carl Bernstein Book: Hillary Clinton is 'Soulless'
Hillary Rodham Clinton has the makings of a strong president but she is losing the personal passion and authenticity that could make her a stand-out in the U.S. political scene. That's the picture that emerges from a new biography, "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton," by Carl Bernstein, who rose to fame with fellow reporter Bob Woodward covering the Watergate scandal that led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon. Among the book's revelations are details of Bill Clinton's affair with an Arkansas woman that led the former president to want to end his marriage in the late 1980s. According to Bernstein, Hillary Clinton refused to get divorced. The book also describes her deep fears that she would be indicted in the scandals involving her Whitewater land deal in Arkansas or the missing billing records from the law firm where she worked.
Story Continues Below Juicy tidbits aside, the book outlines a journey that took the former first lady from being a passionate advocate of deeply held causes to an insincere, soulless politician. "The key to understanding what kind of president she might be is the past, and that's what biography is," Bernstein said. "There's plenty in there that might make someone vote for her, and I think there's plenty in there that might make someone vote against her." Bernstein sees Clinton as having lost much of the advocacy and genuineness that early in her career made her a passionate attorney and campaigner. Now, he says her tenure in the U.S. Senate has been "poll-driven, focus group-driven and devoid of controversy." "As she becomes more and more soulless, the less attractive she is," he said. "Could she be a really strong, effective president? Yes, if she could recover that authenticity. "Could she be a captivating and a great leader? Perhaps. That's the big question in this election." The 628-page book, both critical and sympathetic to the former first lady, took eight years to report and write. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, it goes on sale on Tuesday. Bernstein said he started the project after the scandal over Bill Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, when it seemed clear Hillary Clinton would run for the U.S. Senate from New York but long before she would try to become the first female U.S. president. His book hits the market as Clinton makes headlines as a Democratic front-runner in the 2008 bid for the White House. "I get to tell this great story at this great moment in American history. Like Watergate, I got to tell this great story at this great moment in American history, and now I got a second shot at it," Bernstein said. He interviewed more than 200 people close to the former president and his wife, particularly Betsy Wright, Clinton's longtime chief of staff in Arkansas, and Diane Blair, a friend of Hillary Clinton who assembled notes for a book she never got to write before she died in 2000. The book joins scads of books written about Clinton, from her own autobiography to hatchet jobs by political foes. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines dismissed the book as old news. "Americans are interested in Sen. Clinton's plan for improving health care, lowering gas prices, and bringing our troops home from Iraq - not an author's agenda to take old stories and rehash for cash," Reines said. Bernstein said if he could ask Clinton a direct question - she did not cooperate with the book - he would ask why she would not talk to him. "She hates the press. Well, if you're not capable of seeing the press is not a monolith, then you're not capable of making some very elemental discerning decisions," he said. "Get over it. That's what I would say because it's silly, it's immature and you're better than that."
© Reuters 2007.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2008 Presidential Race
Inside Cover Stories
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