Carl Bernstein and the Woman in Charge

Posted on April 24, 2007

Carl Bernstein, the other half of the Woodward-Bernstein reporting duo that took down a presidency during Watergate, is back in a big way. His new biography of Hillary Clinton is due out in June. The new book, called A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, will be published in June, according to Sonny Mehta, Chairman and Editor in Chief of the Knopf Publishing Group. The book, a biography of Senator Clinton that covers her life up through her decision to run for president, will go on sale nationwide on June 19.

Bernstein shared a Pulitzer Prize with Bob Woodward for their reporting on Watergate for The Washington Post, but hasn't been in the public eye as much as Woodward has. Bernstein spent the last eight years working on the book. He interviewed more than two hundred people, including friends, colleagues, and adversaries of Hillary's, both on and off the record.

According to Mehta, Bernstein's book "reveals Senator Clinton's complex relationship with her disciplinarian father, examines the early development of her deep religious feelings, and looks at her time at Wellesley and Yale Law School, where her political ideals took shape."

Mehta also says the book looks at her courtship with Bill Clinton and the "amazing dynamic of their marriage." The book also discusses trouble periods, such as Whitewater, Troopergate, and Travelgate. It also discusses Hillary's successful run for Senate and her rise to a dominant role in the Democratic party. The book even examines Hillary's time at Wellesley and Yale Law School, where Mehta says Hillary's "political ideals took shape."

You know an election is on the horizon when the candidate biographies start rolling out. This one should be pretty interesting with Bernstein writing it.