Hillary Clinton fascinates 'President's Men' writer

Carl Bernstein, who with Bob Woodward was a key reporter in the Washington Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1970s coverage of Watergate and the fall of Richard Nixon, remains best known for "All the President's Men," which he co-authored with Woodward. (In the film, he was portrayed by Dustin Hoffman.)

Unable to parlay his newspaper popularity into television news with ABC (he was awkward in front of a camera), Bernstein went on to co-author a book about the pope and continued to write for such magazines as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and The New Republic.

In 1998, he became fascinated to discover that there was one person whose stature was enhanced by the impeachment of President Bill Clinton: Hillary Clinton. "On impeachment day, Hillary was upstairs in the White House looking at a New York map, while thinking about running for the U.S. Senate," Bernstein said by phone from Denver. "It was an audacious moment. I thought, 'This is one hell of a story!'

"And as I started to do research, one of her friends said, 'If you do a book on her, you have to start with her Methodism.' I found that among the surprises about Hillary are her focus on religion and the family. And so I dwell on that in the book — 'A Woman in Charge' — while talking about her childhood and the White House years."

Bernstein was initially excited when both Clintons agreed to talk to him for the book. "Then when it came close to her announcement for the presidency, they both reneged on the deal. They said they didn't want to favor one author over another. It was not too convincing to me."

On the other hand, Hillary apparently told her friends it was their decision as to whether they talked to Bernstein — "and that she had no objection. So most of the narrative of the book is based on 'on the record quotations.' When people say things on the record, it is very revealing."

In fact, Bernstein does not hesitate to rate his own book "the best book on Hillary. She might be the next president. No woman has ever gotten this far. She occupies a unique place in our culture as the most famous woman in the world."

Bernstein said his book "calls on the reader to abandon preconceived notions, and that is a huge problem. I don't think people have forgotten about her problems as first lady. But in the Senate, she has been a compromiser and less passionate, sometimes to the point of being wishy-washy. She is a very capable politician, and she wasn't during the White House years."