Much of the reporting for this is book built upon previous reporting by many stellar reporters and authors. Though most of these writers I’ve never met, I’d like to thank Maggie Haberman, Alec MacGillis, Carol Felsenthal, Amy Chozick, Vali Nasr, Sally Bedell Smith, Michael Tomasky, John Harris, Carl Bernstein, George Stephanopoulos, Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, and many others cited throughout this book.
A big thanks, also, to Ryan Lovelace (and Ben Silver) for help transcribing interviews, and Andrew Evans for fact-checking.
Reporting and writing a book takes a lot of time, of course. And I’m very appreciative of my family for their support throughout. My in-laws, Karen and Steve, provided help and support along the way. As did my sister in-law, Kimberly, and my brothers, Yehuda and Aaron, and their spouses, Sara and Mary, who rooted for the success of this project from the start. My parents have always supported in me in whatever I’ve wanted to do—and this project was no exception.
And of course to my wife, Lauren, who makes everything possible and worthwhile. To her—and for her—I’m eternally grateful.
Notes
Introduction: Brand Management
1. Robert M. Gates, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War (New York: Knopf, 2014).
2. “Clinton Cancels Middle East Trip Because of Ill Health,” Reuters, December 10, 2012, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-12-10/news/sns-rt-us-syria-usa-clintonbre8ba04g-20121210_1_ill-health-syrian-opposition-coalition-president-bashar-al-assad.
3. “Hillary Clinton Recovering from Fall, Working from Home,” Associated Press, December 16, 2012, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1216/Hillary-Clinton-recovering-from-fall-working-from-home.
4. Elise Labott, “Hillary Clinton Treated for Blood Clot in Her Head,” CNN, January 1, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/31/politics/hillary-clinton-hospitalized/.
5. “Hillary Clinton Faints During Speech in Buffalo,” NBC, February 1, 2005, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6890519/ns/politics/t/hillary-clinton-faints-during-speech-buffalo/#.UwuqRBZZ4Rk.
6. Kevin Robillard, “NBC Reporter Raises Hillary Clinton Questions,” Politico, December 31, 2012, http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/nbc-reporter-raises-hillary-questions-85611.html.
7. Selim Algar, “Big Donor Claims Bill Clinton Told Him Hillary’s Running for Prez in 2016,” New York Post, February 14, 2013, http://nypost.com/2013/02/14/big-donor-claims-bill-clinton-told-him-hillarys-running-for-prez-in-2016/.
8. “Richard Nixon’s Quiet Foreign Policy Advice to Bill Clinton Revealed in Newly Declassified Documents,” Associated Press, February 14, 2013.
9. Christopher Hitchens, No One Left to Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family (London and New York: Verso, 1999).
10. George Stephanopoulos, All Too Human: A Political Education (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999).
11. Bill Richardson, How to Sweet-Talk a Shark: Strategies and Stories from a Master Negotiator (Emmaus, PA: Rodale Books, 2013).
12. Todd S. Purdum, “The Comeback Id,” Vanity Fair, July 2008, http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807.
13. Kim Masters, “Bill Clinton’s $20 Million Breakup,” Daily Beast, March 29, 2010, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/03/29/bill-clintons-20-million-breakup.html.
14. Amy Chozick and Nicholas Confessore, “Unease at Clinton Foundation Over Finances and Ambitions,” New York Times, August 13, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/us/politics/unease-at-clinton-foundation-over-finances-and-ambitions.html.
15. Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton (New York: Crown, 2014).
1: Hillary’s Redemption
1. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History (New York: Scribner, 2004), p. 506.
2. Christopher Anderson, Bill and Hillary: The Marriage (New York: William Morrow, 1999).
3. Sally Bedell Smith, For Love of Politics (New York: Random House, 2007).
4. Gail Sheehy, Hillary’s Choice (New York: Random House, 1999).
5. James Bennet, “The Next Clinton,” New York Times Magazine, May 30, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/30/magazine/the-next-clinton.html.
6. Hillary Clinton, Living History (New York: Scribner, 2004), p. 292.
7. Naftali Bendavid, “Hillary-Eleanor Comparison Riles Some Fans of the Latter,” Chicago Tribune, December 8, 1999 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-12-08/news/9912080093_1_mrs-roosevelt-franklin-d-roosevelt-memorial-mrs-clinton.
8. William Safire, “Blizzard of Lies,” New York Times, January 8, 1996, http://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/08/opinion/essay-blizzard-of-lies.html.
9. Alana Goodman, “The Hillary Papers,” Washington Free Beacon, February 9, 2014, http://freebeacon.com/politics/the-hillary-papers/.
10. Bennet, “The Next Clinton.”
11. “Clinton’s Trip to Martha’s Vineyard Was Hardly a Vacation from Politics,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1998, http://articles.latimes.com/1998/aug/30/news/mn-18034.
12. See, e.g., “How Bill Clinton Neutered the Feminist Movement,” Independent, April 4, 1998, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/how-bill-clinton-neutered-the-feminist-movement-1154350.html.
13. “Secretary Clinton ’73 Receives Award of Merit at the Yale Law School Alumni Weekend,” Yale Law School, October 5, 2013, http://www.law.yale.edu/news/17521.htm.
14. Taylor Branch, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), p. 496.
15. Goodman, “The Hillary Papers.”
16. Nancy Traver, “Choice Moments: Gail Sheehy on How Hillary Clinton Chose to Live Her Life,” Chicago Tribune, January 26, 2000.
17. Jerry Oppenheimer, State of a Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton (New York: HarperCollins, 2000).
18. Gregg Birnbaum, “GOP Introduces Anti-Hill Bill to Nix Senate Bid,” New York Post, March 9, 1999, http://nypost.com/1999/03/09/gop-introduces-anti-hill-bill-to-nix-senate-bid/.
19. Richard Perez-Pena, “Giuliani Aims Gibes at Hillary Clinton at an Upstate Dinner,” New York Times, May 4, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/04/nyregion/giuliani-aims-gibes-at-hillary-clinton-at-an-upstate-dinner.html.
20. Adam Nagourney, “In a Kennedy’s Legacy, Lessons and Pitfalls for Hillary Clinton; Carpetbagger Issue Has Echoes of ’64, but Differences Could Prove Crucial,” New York Times, September 10, 2000, http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/10/nyregion/kennedy-s-legacy-lessons-pitfalls-for-hillary-clinton-carpetbagger-issue-has.html.
21. Ibid.
22. Bennet, “The Next Clinton.”
23. “Home Financing for the Clintons,” editorial, New York Times, September 28, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/28/opinion/home-financing-for-the-clintons.html.
24. Michael Crowley, “Bunker Hillary,” New Republic, November 12, 2007, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/bunker-hillary.
25. Susan Dominus, “Hillary Clinton’s Biggest Backer,” New York Times Magazine, September 17, 2000, http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/17/magazine/hillary-clinton-s-biggest-backer.html.
26. Maggie Haberman, “Chuck Schumer Hatched Secret Plan to Get Obama to Run,” New York Post, January 10, 2010, http://nypost.com/2010/01/10/chuck-schumer-hatched-secret-plan-to-get-obama-to-run/.
27. Ibid.
28. Jura Koncius, “The Woman Behind the Room Behind Hillary Clinton,” Washington Post, February 1, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100469.html.
29. Ibid.
30. Louis J. Freeh, “Khobar Towers,” Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2006, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB115102702568788331.
31. John Solomon and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, “Clinton Library Got Funds from Abroad,” Washington Post, December 15, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121402124.html.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. Terry Lenzner, The Investigator: Fifty Years of Uncovering the Truth (New York: Blue Rider Press, 2013), p. 296
.
35. U.S. Government Printing Office transcript of President Clinton’s remarks, available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/WCPD-2001-01-15/html/WCPD-2001-01-15-Pg57.htm.
36. John Riley, “Holder as AG: Why Marc Rich Matters,” Newsday, November 19, 2008, http://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/spin-cycle-1.812042/holder-as-ag-why-marc-rich-matters-1.862368.
37. Ibid.
38. Jake Tapper, “Pardon Me?” ABC News, November 15, 2007, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3866786&page=1&singlePage=true.
39. Chris Matthews, Hardball, CNBC, January 25, 2001.
40. Maureen Dowd, “Liberties; Cats, Dogs and Grifters,” New York Times, January 24, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/24/opinion/liberties-cats-dogs-and-grifters.html.
41. “Sorting Out the Pardon Mess,” editorial, New York Times, February 23, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/23/opinion/sorting-out-the-pardon-mess.html.
42. Haynes Johnson, The Best of Times: America in the Clinton Years (New York: Harcourt, 2001), p. 546.
43. “Carter Calls Pardon of Rich ‘Disgraceful,’ ” Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2001, http://articles.latimes.com/2001/feb/21/news/mn-28265.
44. Peter Slevin, “A Rush to Judgment,” Washington Post, March 1, 2001, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/11/AR2008061101245.html.
2: On Their Own
1. Gallup polling, available at http://www.gallup.com/poll/116584/presidential-approval-ratings-bill-clinton.aspx.
2. Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct, filed February 21, 2001, bar number 73019, https://courts.arkansas.gov/content/200000013-suspended.
3. Ibid.
4. William Jefferson Clinton, “My Reasons for the Pardons,” New York Times, February 18, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/18/opinion/my-reasons-for-the-pardons.html.
5. “Editors’ Note,” New York Times, February 19, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/19/opinion/editors-note-985392.html.
6. Taylor Branch, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009).
7. Dianne Feinstein, “Hope for a Transformative President,” Politico, December 12, 2013, http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/women-rule-dianne-feinstein-hillary-clinton-hopes-for-a-transformative-president-101037.html.
8. Rebecca Johnson, “Hillary’s Secret Weapon: Huma Abedin,” Vogue, August 2007, http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/hillarys-secret-weapon-huma-abedin/#1.
9. Andrew C. McCarthy, “The Huma Unmentionables,” National Review Online, July 24, 2013, http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/354351/huma-unmentionables-andrew-c-mccarthy.
10. Ibid.
11. Brianna Gurciullo, “FBI Tailed Terrorist Anwar Al-Awlaki as He Ordered Pizza, Took Classes at GW,” GW Hatchet, July 3, 2013, http://blogs.gwhatchet.com/newsroom/2013/07/03/fbi-tailed-terrorist-anwar-al-awlaki-as-he-ordered-pizza-took-classes-at-gw/.
12. Johnson, “Hillary’s Secret Weapon.”
13. “Hillary Clinton Aide Tells Reporter to ‘Fuck Off’ and ‘Have a Good Life,’ ” BuzzFeed, September 24, 2012, http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics/hillary-clinton-aide-tells-reporter-to-fuck-off.
14. Jason Horowitz, “Longtime Keeper of Hillary Clinton’s Image Has Forged a Loyal Badge of His Own,” Washington Post, June 12, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/longtime-keeper-of-hillary-clintons-image-has-forged-a-loyal-badge-of-his-own/2011/05/31/AGLAu9RH_story.html.
15. Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr., Her Way: The Hope and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton (Boston: Little, Brown, 2007).
16. Janet Maslin, “Books of the Times: Clintons’ ‘Good Soldier’ Explains All Those Messes,” New York Times, May 15, 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/15/books/books-of-the-times-clintons-good-soldier-explains-all-those-messes.html.
17. David Maraniss, “First Lady Launches Counterattack,” Washington Post, January 28, 1998, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/hillary012898.htm.
18. Matt Bai, “Notion Building,” New York Times Magazine, October 12, 2003.
19. Neera Tanden, email to supporters, December 27, 2013.
20. Robert Dreyfuss, “An Idea Factory for the Democrats,” Nation, March 1, 2004, p. 18.
21. Media Matters website: http://mediamatters.org/about.
22. David Brock, “His Cheatin’ Heart: Living with the Clintons: Bill’s Arkansas Bodyguards Tell the Story the Press Missed,” American Spectator, January 1994, http://spectator.org/print/49976.
23. Noel Sheppard, “Hillary Clinton Told YearlyKos Convention She Helped Start Media Matters,” Newsbusters.org, October 1, 2007, http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/10/01/hillary-clinton-told-yearlykos-convention-she-helped-start-media-matt.
24. Kevin Hassett, “Hillary Clinton Reigns as Queen of Federal Pork,” Bloomberg, October 8, 2007, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aXWIZU3DOyr4.
25. Michael R. Blood, “McCain Says He’ll Fight Clinton’s ‘Pork,’” Associated Press, June 14, 2007.
26. Charlie Savage, “A Donor’s Gift Soon Followed Clinton’s Help,” New York Times, January 3, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/washington/04clinton.html.
27. Ibid.
28. Leslie Wayne, “From Campaign Trail to Celebrity Circuit,” New York Times, April 18, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/18/us/from-campaign-trail-to-celebrity-circuit.html.
29. Ibid.
30. “Excerpts from the Deposition of L. D. Brown,” March 13, 1998, WashingtonPost.com, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/docs/brown031398.htm.
31. http://lencolasullivan.com/about.html.
32. Accessible on Roel P. Verseveldt’s LinkedIn profile: http://nl.linkedin.com/in/roelpverseveldt.
33. Thomas M. DeFrank, Write It When I’m Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007).
34. John M. Broder and Patrick Healy, “How a Billionaire Friend of Bill Helps Him Do Good, and Well,” New York Times, April 23, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/nyregion/23burkle.html.
35. Alisson Clark, “The Gator Behind Bill Clinton,” Gainesville.com, February 4, 2009, http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090204/MAGAZINE01/902040257.
36. Alec MacGillis, “Scandal at Clinton Inc.: How Doug Band Drove a Wedge Through a Political Dynasty,” New Republic, September 22, 2013, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114790/how-doug-band-drove-wedge-through-clinton-dynasty.
37. Ibid.
38. Carol Felsenthal, Clinton in Exile: A President Out of the White House (New York: William Morrow, 2008).
39. William Jefferson Clinton, My Life (New York: Knopf, 2004), p. 11.
40. Martin Kasindorf, “Reagan’s Fall From Grace: The $2-Million Japan Tour, Nancy’s Vengeful Memoirs and Legal Battles Over the Iran-Contra Affair Have Made His Retirement Anything but Restful,” Los Angeles Times, March 4, 1990, http://articles.latimes.com/1990-03-04/magazine/tm-2327_1_nancy-reagan-foundation.
3: Charm Offensives
1. Peter Baker, The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton (New York: Scribner, 2000).
2. Raymond Hernandez, “Not the Mrs. Clinton Washington Thought It Knew,” New York Times, January 24, 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/24/nyregion/not-the-mrs-clinton-washington-thought-it-knew.html.
3. Josh Green, “Take Two: Hillary’s Choice,” Atlantic, November 2006, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/11/take-two-hillarys-choice/305292/.
4. Robert M. Gates, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War (New York: Knopf, 2014).
5. Josh Delreal, “Bill Clinton Recalls Lessons from Nelson Mandela,” Politico, December 6, 2013, http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/bill-clinton-nelson-mandela-lessons-100810.html.
6. “Gingrich Attacks Clinton on Lewinsky Matter, Foreign Policy,” CNN, May 18, 1998, http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/05/18/gingrich.clinton/index.html.
8. Baker, The Breach.
9. Phil Gramm, “Announcement of Candidacy,” CNN, February 24, 1995, http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/republican/withdrawn/gramm.announcement.shtml.
10. Hudson Union Society, “Senator Trent Lott on President Clinton,” video, YouTube, February 19, 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQH24KqHYyg.
11. Josh Gerstein, “Bill Clinton: Spec. Prosecutors ‘All Got Waxed,’ ” Politico, February 23, 2010, http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0210/Bill_Clinton_spec_prosecutors_all_got_waxed.html.
12. Bill Richardson, How to Sweet-Talk a Shark: Strategies and Stories from a Master Negotiator (Emmaus, PA: Rodale Books, 2013).
13. Ray Paulick, “Clinton with Stronachs at Preakness: Funny Cide ‘No Fluke,’ ” Blood-Horse.com, May 17, 2003, http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/15869/clinton-with-stronachs-at-preakness-funny-cide-no-fluke.
14. Robert Fife, “Rumours Abound as Clinton ‘Befriends’ Billionaire Socialite: Former U.S. President Seen Frequently with Magna CEO,” Vancouver Sun, CanWest News Service, June 12, 2003, p. D1.
15. Patrick Healy, “For Clintons, Delicate Dance of Married and Public Lives,” New York Times, May 23, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/23/nyregion/23clintons.html.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Ronald Brownstein, “Old Divides Growing in Dean, Centrist Rift,” Los Angeles Times, December 24, 2003, http://articles.latimes.com/2003/dec/24/nation/na-dlc24.
19. Maggie Haberman, “Hillary Clinton’s Shadow Campaign,” Politico, January 5, 2014, http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=F9AE51A4-3E0D-4604-B08F-2E63DE4F600A.
4: Seducing the Bushes
1. Tony Freemantle, “Bush, Clinton Form Unlikely Bond on Tsunami Tour,” Houston Chronicle, March 7, 2005, http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Bush-Clinton-form-unlikely-bond-on-tsunami-tour-1931175.php.
2. Kevin Bohn, “George H. W. Bush on Bonding with Bill Clinton,” CNN, March 5, 2013, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/05/george-h-w-bush-on-bonding-with-bill-clinton/.
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