A Woman in Charge (94 page)
⢠Michael Tomasky's
Hillary's Turn
is a full-blown and well-reported account of the 2000 Senate campaign.
⢠On first ladies generally, see Carl Sferrazza Anthony's
First Ladies
and for sections on Hillary in particular, see Kati Marton's
Hidden Power.
⢠Michael Isikoff's
Uncovering Clinton
is a useful look at the journalistic process during the Clinton Wars.
â¢
The Clintons of Arkansas,
compiled and edited by Ernest Dumas in 1993 and published by the University of Arkansas Press, has contributions by old friends and colleagues of Hillary and Bill, including Diane Blair, William T. Coleman III (Bill's Yale housemate before he met Hillary), and Woody Bassett.
⢠I have commented briefly on
Living History
by Hillary Rodham Clinton in my last chapter, and more extensively about it and Hillary's book
It Takes a Village
earlier in the narrative. The principal value of
Living History
is as insight into how Hillary sees herself and wants the story of her life to be told. It is often at variance with my reporting, other books, and with newspapers and periodicals as well.
⢠The first half of
My Life
by Bill Clinton is reflective, fascinating, well-written, and often admirably candid about the early life of its author. Watching his politics evolve in those early pages is even inspiring. His admiration and love for Hillary suffuse the Arkansas and law school years. Unfortunately, he rushes through the presidential years. His account of the Lewinsky affair, Starr, and the impeachment period, makes important points about the Independent Counsel's investigation, while eliding over what was happening inside the White House from his perspective.
NOTES
Prologue
She had neverâ¦on the prowl: Author's interviews with Jim and Diane Blair, Dick Morris, Betsey Wright.
Robert S. Bennettâ¦intertwined: Author's interview with confidential sources.
Hillary, tooâ¦with Lewinsky: Author's interview with Betsey Wright.
That afternoonâ¦to resign: Author's interview with confidential source.
Chapter 1: Formation
“He was rougher thanâ¦as could be”: David Maraniss,
First in His Class
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), p. 320.
“Don't let theâ¦your way out”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“She would neverâ¦had it”: Ibid.
“golden boy”: Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Living History
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003), p. 5.
She fulfilledâ¦grandchild: Author's interview with Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.
Her favorite movies: Ibid.
“character building”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“How would youâ¦Miss Smarty Pants”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“Competitive, scrappy fighters”: Martha Sherrill, “Mrs. Clinton's Two Weeks Out of Time: The Vigil for Her Father, Taking a Toll Both Public and Private,”
Washington Post,
April 3, 1993, p. C1.
“pragmatic competitiveness”: Marlene Cimons, “Hugh Rodham, First Lady's Father, Dies,”
Los Angeles Times,
April 8, 1993, p. 7.
“Hillary's momâ¦own home?”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“I could goâ¦earn it”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“basically a Democrat”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 11.
“He was a bullshit artist”: Jerry Oppenheimer,
State of a Union
(New York: HarperCollins, 217), p. 42. And confirmed by author's interview with Oscar Dowdy.
“hard-headed, often gruff”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 4.
Hugh was afflicted by self-doubt: Ibid.
“Dad wasâ¦in my life”: Quote confirmed by Rodham's ex-wife Nicole Boxer. Appeared originally in Jerry Oppenheimer,
State of a Union
(New York: HarperCollins, 2000), p. 44.
Mother and daughterâ¦and ran: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“They eatâ¦as well”: Judith Warner,
Hillary Clinton: The Inside Story
(New York: Signet, 1993), p. 17. 20 “cheapskate”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“the SOB”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“should have completed the other one”: Martha Sherrill, “Growing Up in a Chicago Suburb: A Good Girl, Getting Better All the Time,”
Washington Post,
January 11, 1993.
“Occasionally heâ¦loved me”: Hillary Rodham Clinton,
It Takes a Village
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 156.
“not one to spare the rod”: Ibid., p. 155.
“criticalâ¦kindhearted”: Sherrill, “Mrs. Clinton's Two Weeks Out of Time,” p. C1.
Tony seemed toâ¦too physical: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling, Nicole Boxer, and confidential sources.
“Hugh wasâ¦his father”: Author's interview with a confidential source.
“Tony, on theâ¦younger child”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“They got riddenâ¦years old”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“was the girlâ¦loved that”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“âLittle Hillary'â¦about it”: Sherrill, “Mrs. Clinton's Two Weeks Out of Time,” p. C1.
“Learning for earning's sake”: Donnie Radcliffe,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
(New York: Warner, 1993), p. 205.
“Learningâ¦learning's sake”: Warner,
Hillary Clinton,
p. 13.
“Do youâ¦or do?”: Clinton,
It Takes a Village,
p. 147.
Dorothy's motherâ¦and children: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 2.
“I'd hoped soâ¦find out”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 3.
“My [step]grandfatherâ¦her mother”: Author's interview with Oscar Dowdy.
“I have nothingâ¦Rosenberg”: Seth Gitell, “Meet Hillary Clinton's Grandmother,”
Forward,
August 6, 1999, p. 1.
In the last yearsâ¦for his wife: Author's interview with Nicole Boxer.
She also seemedâ¦in himself: Ibid.
“weak and self-indulgent”⦓disengaged from reality”⦓be enchanting”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 4.
“They were bothâ¦loaned him money”: Author's interview with Oscar Dowdy.
“I realizedâ¦laugh a lot”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
Dorothy made her ownâ¦the children: Author's interviews with Betsy Johnson Ebeling, Nicole Boxer, Oscar Dowdy, confidential source.
“Mr. Difficult”: Joyce Milton,
The First Partner
(New York: William Morrow and Company, 1999), p. 15, and confirmed by family sources.
“Maybe that'sâ¦with
him
”: Martha Sherrill, “The Education of Hillary Clinton,”
Washington Post,
January 11, 1993, p. B1.
“It was drummedâ¦we did”: Author's interview with Nicole Boxer.
“children withoutâ¦seas”: Clinton,
It Takes a Village,
p. 40.
“I grew upâ¦
Best
”: Ibid., p. 20.
“the stabilityâ¦growing up”: Ibid., p. 27.
Hillary's first boyfriendâ¦or so she said: Author's interview with Geoff Shields.
As a childâ¦treatment of her: Clinton,
Living History.
“Love the sinnerâ¦have been wrong”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“kind of theâ¦down again”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“Hillary hates theâ¦puritan line”: Author's interview with confidential source.
Dorothy and Hughâ¦he became: Author's interview with confidential sources.
“Dorothy is theâ¦her daughter”: Author's interview with Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.
“be either herâ¦in different situations”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
Dorothy wanted toâ¦beekeeper in Auckland. Author's interview with Dick Morris.
“There's no roomâ¦cowards”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 12.
“I can play with the boys now”: Ibid.
“Imagine having thisâ¦bring it back”: Gail Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice
(New York: Ballantine, 1999), p. 26.
“Who is thisâ¦looked like”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
By her own accountâ¦underdeveloped: Clinton,
Living History;
Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice;
and author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“I was immediatelyâ¦with her”: Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice,
p. 26.
“absolutely politicalâ¦wasn't cool”: Ibid.
“slinging mudâ¦apple pie”: Ibid., p. 37.
“against severalâ¦elected president”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 24.
“We were ignorantâ¦like ours”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
As Hillary's school lifeâ¦on weekends: Ibid., and Clinton,
Living History.
“Sister Frigidaire”: Martin Kasindorf, “Meet Hillary Clinton: She's Raised Hackles and Hopes, but One Thing's Certain: She'll Redefine Role of First Lady,”
Newsday,
January 10, 1993.
“He didn't wantâ¦or time”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
Betsy and othersâ¦boys: Ibid.
“You don't needâ¦a bike”: Ibid.
Hillary's fatherâ¦awful driver. Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“Looking at itâ¦is so modest”: Maraniss,
First in His Class,
p. 254.
“practice date”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“[He] put herâ¦the date”: Ibid.
“She didn't likeâ¦with men”: Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice,
p. 72.
“I also understoodâ¦his heart”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 162.
“She's a prudeâ¦Chicago suburbs”: Author's interview with Lissa Muscatine.
“[My family] talkedâ¦with God”: Clinton,
It Takes a Village,
p. 171.
“rabble rouser”: Ibid., p. 23.
“Vanity asks theâ¦it Right?”: Martin Luther King Jr., Speech, “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” in Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice,
p. 36.
“Hillary's faith isâ¦a Methodist”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“She elevates herâ¦malice”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“freethinkingâ¦mind”: Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice,
p. 34.
“Can youâ¦compassionate misanthrope?”: Ibid., p. 53.
Chapter 2: A Young Woman on Her Own
“She and Iâ¦could accomplish”: Bruck, “Hillary the Pol,”
The New Yorker,
May 30, 1993.
“it is
notâ¦
both ways”: Author's interview with confidential source.
Hillary's time atâ¦prevailed: Clinton,
Living History.
And author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“February depressionâ¦middle-class America”: Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice,
pp. 53â54.
She had begunâ¦after meeting a young man: Ibid., p. 54.
Its thesis, basedâ¦their husbands and children: The description is adapted from the
Encyclopedia Britannica.
“not to beâ¦wives”: Radcliffe,
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
p. 57.
“You don't haveâ¦they don't”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“psychic space”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 29.
“There was aâ¦minor chord?”: Author's interview with confidential source.
“She was neitherâ¦take note”: Bruck, “Hillary the Pol.”
“I would argueâ¦social reform”: David Brock,
The Seduction of Hillary Rodham
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 11.
“It seemedâ¦relatively by”: Author's interview with Greg Craig.
“Hillary was inâ¦seen it”: Ibid.
“reflected what youâ¦manifested itself”: Author's interview with Peter Edelman.
“I was testingâ¦the church”: Radcliffe,
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
p. 69.
“Look howâ¦a Negro”: Ibid.
“She alreadyâ¦popular”: Bruck, “Hillary the Pol.”
“not always easyâ¦very insistent”: Radcliffe,
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
p. 65.
“not in extremism, but in moderation”: http://www.riponsociety.org/history.htm.
“extremism in the defenseâ¦no virtue”: Bart Barnes, “Barry Goldwater, GOP Hero, Dies,”
Washington Post,
May 30, 1998.
“It is reallyâ¦rest for nature”: Hillary Rodham Clinton, letter to Geoff Shields, provided by Shields.
“went steadyâ¦in love”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“two feet rule”: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 33.
“she was attractiveâ¦dancer”: Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice,
p. 45.
“The best placeâ¦about it”: Hillary Rodham Clinton, letter to Geoff Shields, provided by Shields.
“was healthyâ¦respect”: Author's interview with Geoff Shields.
“devoted to theâ¦care”: Christian Brothers Academy literature.
“my boyfriend”: Sheehy,
Hillary's Choice,
p. 69.
“an intense love affairâ¦like her father”: Ibid., p. 64.
“we always used birth control”: Ibid., p. 69.
“personally very conservative”: Maraniss,
First in His Class,
p. 256.
“for bothâ¦awakening”: Charles Kenney, “Hillary: The Wellesley Years,”
Boston Globe,
January 12, 1993, p. 65.
“She was veryâ¦decisions”: Ibid.
“adopting aâ¦political activist”: Maraniss,
First in His Class,
p. 256.
“whether someoneâ¦heart liberal?”: Ibid., p. 257.
“Some peopleâ¦civil rights”: Ibid.
“She was moreâ¦you win!”: Ibid.
“very interestedâ¦politics”: Ibid., p. 255.
“saved city”: Maraniss, Ibid.
“See howâ¦becoming”: Ibid.
“from ideasâ¦desire”: Author's interview with Geoff Shields.
“Miss Rodham questionsâ¦with them”: Kenney, “Hillary: The Wellesley Years,” p. 65.
“I can't believeâ¦happened?”: Ibid.
“They each expressedâ¦second objective”: Ibid.
“I can't standâ¦it!”: Kenney, “Hillary: The Wellesley Years,” p. 65.
“Hillary would stepâ¦to do”: Bruck, “Hillary the Pol.”
“She presented herâ¦mind”: Radcliffe,
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
p. 73.
“Fight Now, Pay Later”: Ibid.
“Instead ofâ¦be made”: Ibid.
Near the endâ¦John Wayne: Clinton,
Living History,
p. 36.
The Democratic conventionâ¦with warâ¦the twoâ¦said Ebeling: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling; Clinton,
Living History,
p. 37.
“It was kidsâ¦open”: Author's interview with Betsy Johnson Ebeling.
“that our governmentâ¦own people”: Ibid.
“She kept theâ¦discuss it”: Martha Sherrill, “Hillary Clinton's Inner Politics: As the First Lady Grows Comfortable in Her Roles, She Is Looking Beyond Policy to a Moral Agenda,”
Washington Post,
May 6, 1993, p. 1.
“the science of revolutionâ¦maximum feasible participation”: Brock,
The Seduction of Hillary Rodham,
p. 16.
“started outâ¦big difference”: Maraniss,
First in His Class,
p. 257.
“might makeâ¦difference”: Alan Schechter, cited in Maraniss,
First in His Class,
p. 257. 57 “I basically arguedâ¦years”: Sherrill, “Hillary Clinton's Inner Politics,” p. 1.
