A Woman in Charge
The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, by Carl Bernstein (published June 5, 2007)


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

"A Woman in Charge" is the definitive unauthorized biography of Hillary Clinton for the 2008 presidential season. It's written by Carl Bernstein, the reporter who (with Bob Woodward) broke the Watergate story in the Washington Post, earning a Pulitzer Prize, and thereby becoming the country's leading journalist.

Bernstein's method in this book is simple. He goes through Hillary's autobiography, "Living History", and investigates the veracity of each incident. Bernstein investigates incidents from several other sources as well, but "Living History" is his basic framework -- hence Hillary has her version; and here Bernstein tries to present a fuller truth. Sometimes he confirms what Hillary wrote; sometimes he adds to it; sometimes he disconfirms it. Overall, Bernstein goes deeper than any other biographer into his background analysis, and maintains a journalistic neutrality along the way.

If you're only going to read one book about Hillary this campaign season, this is the one to read. (We would prefer if you read all of our excerpts, of course -- a lot less reading for a lot more coverage!). It's actually better to read than "Living History," because Hillary's autobiography is obviously biased, especially towards what Hillary thinks she needs to present for her presidential run. If you'd like to check out all of our Hillary book excerpts, here they are, grouped by bias:

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, August 2007

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Bill Clinton: 1993: Undid draconian family planning policies.     Hillary Clinton: 1993:Early action on abortion rights ended Right’s dominance.     Hillary Clinton: Personally would never abort; but deeply values choice.

Budget & Economy     Bill Clinton: First modern Pres.to use fiscal discipline to balance budget.

Civil Rights     Bill Clinton: 1978: Supported ERA peripherally in first Governor race.     Hillary Clinton: Developmental thread: tragedy of race must be made right.

Corporations     Hillary Clinton: Corporate lawyer at Rose Law while Bill was Attorney General.

Education     Hillary Clinton: 1983: Teacher testing as part of AR education reform.

Environment     Bill Clinton: 1981: Dumbest mistake: paid for roads by car tag fees.

Health Care     Al Gore: 1992: Desire to head healthcare reform usurped by Hillary.     Bill Clinton: 1993: Advisers urged scaling back Hillary’s healthcare role.     Hillary Clinton: 1979: Named by Bill as AR healthcare head; program worked.

Principles & Values     Bill Clinton: Despite critics, fervent believer in policy solutions.     Bill Clinton: Founded “New Democrat” message in 1980 Convention speech.     Bill Clinton: 1982 theme: “My daddy never had to whip me twice”.     Bill Clinton: 1987: Declined chance to run; some say due to affairs.     Bill Clinton: Promise of ethical reform invited harsh unceasing scrutiny.     Bill Clinton: $52M Whitewater investigation began on real estate; not sex.     Bill Clinton: When he set the agenda, he won; but scandals interfered.     Bill Clinton: From mother Virginia came stamina & gregariousness.     Bill Clinton: Monica & impeachment propelled him to highest approval.     Bill Clinton: Monica affair was “inappropriate” but not sex in legal terms.     George Bush Sr.: Pardoned 6 officials in Iran-Contra scandal.     Hillary Clinton: Childhood of parsimonious parents; favored equal opportunity.     Hillary Clinton: Father a rock-ribbed Republican but ran for office as Dem.     Hillary Clinton: Has a Jewish step-grandfather.     Hillary Clinton: Tolerating Bill’s foibles echoes mom’s Methodist forgiveness.     Hillary Clinton: As Goldwater Girl in 1960s, canvassed Chicago slums.     Hillary Clinton: A mind conservative and a heart liberal.     Hillary Clinton: Staff attorney on Watergate/Nixon impeachment investigation.     Hillary Clinton: Taught at AR Law School using “all business” style.     Hillary Clinton: 1978: “Name issue” of Rodham raised in Bill’s first race.     Hillary Clinton: Despite critics, fervent believer in public service.     Hillary Clinton: Suffers from endometriosis; Chelsea’s conception difficult.     Hillary Clinton: 1980: Synthesized basic principles into “New Dem” concept.     Hillary Clinton: 1982 campaign: served as Bill’s de facto campaign director.     Hillary Clinton: 1992: Keep press on the issues, not on personal destruction.     Hillary Clinton: 1992: Attacks as radical feminist backfired into sympathy.     Hillary Clinton: In Arkansas and Washington, subject to unprecedented vitriol.     Hillary Clinton: Like Eleanor Roosevelt, pushed boundaries of First Lady role.     Hillary Clinton: Turned to prayer when father dying, & anytime under duress.     Hillary Clinton: Travelgate: Office WAS sloppy; firings looked like cronyism.     Hillary Clinton: Vince Foster suicide due to public bashing in editorial.     Hillary Clinton: Whitewater deal: maybe conflict-of-interest; but not illegal.     Hillary Clinton: Could have weakened right wing conspiracy by honest answers.     New Testament: Love the sinner, hate the sin.

War & Peace     Hillary Clinton: At Wellesley in ‘68, steered anti-war movement within system.

Welfare & Poverty     Hillary Clinton: Wellesley thesis: Saul Alinsky & people over bureaucrats.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Al Gore Bill Clinton George Bush Sr. Hillary Clinton New Testament