''A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton'' is a biography of United States Senator and former
First Lady of the United States,
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, that was written by
Carl Bernstein
Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original n ...
and published on June 5, 2007, by
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
.
Background
Bernstein spent eight years working on the book.
He is said to have interviewed around 200 people in connection with his research.
He did not receive cooperation from the Clintons for the project.[
The existence of the work was first announced by publisher Knopf on April 23, 2007, with a scheduled publication date of June 19, 2007.][
The book came out at the same time as another mainstream biography, ]Jeff Gerth
Jeff Gerth is a former investigative reporter for ''The New York Times'' who has written lengthy, probing stories that drew both praise and criticism. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for covering the transfer of American satellite-launch technolog ...
and Don Van Natta Jr.'s '' Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton''.[ The respective publishers both moved up the release dates of their books in the act of competition,][ with in particular the Gerth-Van Natta work getting moved up from August;][ in the end the Bernstein book came out first by three days.][
Beyond scheduling, there was some ]trash talking
Trash talk is a form of insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their abilities as to win ...
between the publishers: the editor in chief of Little, Brown, which was putting out ''Her Way'', made reference to how Knopf had published Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
's quite successful autobiography ''My Life My Life may refer to:
Autobiographies
* ''Mein Leben'' (Wagner) (''My Life''), by Richard Wagner, 1870
* ''My Life'' (Clinton autobiography), by Bill Clinton, 2004
* ''My Life'' (Meir autobiography), by Golda Meir, 1973
* ''My Life'' (Mosley a ...
'' and expressed doubt as to how "objective and critical Knopf can be about Hillary when it's also publishing Bill."[
Knopf's editor said in response, "The editorial integrity of this (publishing) house speaks for itself. It's ludicrous for Little, Brown to suggest that. They should be very careful if they're going down that road."]
The Little, Brown editor said. "We eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
confident we ango up against ernstein, while the Knopf editor said that Little, Brown's "desire to link to our publication is understandable, especially since Bernstein will create a tidal wave of interest. They hope a rising tide raises all boats. But ... their book could drown in our wake."[
]
Political impacts
The book was published while Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign was underway. According to reviewers at ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', the Clinton campaign was "nervous" about new revelations from this or the Gerth-Van Natta book.[ Washington Post.] The Clintons had a less negative feeling about Bernstein's effort, given that they had a special antipathy towards ''Her Way'' due to Gerth's role in reporting the Whitewater scandal, the controversy of which had bedeviled them for much of the Bill Clinton administration.[ As for the Bernstein book's title, the '']Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' wrote that "She's not in charge yet, of course, but perhaps the title is meant to suggest that she is a take-charge woman."[
Once the books came out, while there were many items of interest, there were no blockbusters that would constitute political damage.][ A Clinton spokesman said, "Is it possible to be quoted yawning?" and that, "these books are nothing more than cash for rehash."][ ]Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a politically left-leaning 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization and media watchdog group. MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media ...
had no major objections to it compared to ''Her Way'', aside from criticizing Bernstein on some grounds, such as falsely claiming during interviews for the book that he had revealed that Clinton had failed the D. C. Bar Exam, when in fact she had revealed it herself four years prior.
The general consensus was that while the Gerth-Van Natta book was a little on the negative side towards its subject, the Bernstein effort was a little on the positive side, notwithstanding that both were mainstream works.[ As '']The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' wrote, "Unlike many harsh books about Clinton written by ideological enemies, the two new volumes come from long-established writers backed by major publishing houses and could be harder to dismiss."[
]
Critical response
Many critics reviewed this and the Gerth-Van Natta book in tandem. Reviews for ''A Woman in Charge'' were generally mixed-to-positive.
Reviewing the book for ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', historian Robert Dallek
Robert A. Dallek (born May 16, 1934) is an American historian specializing in the presidents of the United States, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. He retired as a history professor at Bost ...
asserted that the book presents "a easonablybalanced and convincing picture" of Clinton ... utalso has its limitations. ... Bernstein includes too much recounting of familiar details about the Clintons' past."[ He concluded that the Bernstein work was more neutral than the more negatively framed Gerth-Van Natta account.][
Professor ]Linda Colley
Dame Linda Jane Colley, (born 13 September 1949 in Chester, England) is an expert on British, imperial and global history from 1700. She is Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University and a long-term fellow in history at ...
of the '' London Review of Books'' said that the book was "well-written" and "considered", especially in contrast to the Gerth-Van Natta rival. Several reviewers noted that ''A Woman in Charge'' had next to nothing about Clinton's Senate career.[ The '']Rocky Mountain News
The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...
'' wrote that "Carl Bernstein's much-hyped unauthorized biography
An unauthorized biography is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after their death; as such, it is not applied to biographi ...
of Hillary Rodham Clinton, ''A Woman in Charge'', is neither a bomb nor a bombshell ... he disappoints ndevoting about 20 pages to her years in the U.S. Senate and a scant three pages to her decision to run for president. It's as if he lost steam in his eight-year labor and then rushed to print as she became a presidential front-runner."
''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' writer Elizabeth Kolbert
Elizabeth Kolbert (born 1961) is an American journalist, author, and visiting fellow at Williams College. She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning book '' The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History'', and as an observer and commentator ...
saw Bernstein as trying to prove that Clinton is "really no worse than you think she is. ... Even as he chronicles one fabulous misstep after another, he describes the former First Lady as 'well-intentioned' and 'principled,' motivated by deep religious faith and a passionate sense of caring." Kolbert illustrated with a case in point, when in pointed contrast to Gerth-Van Natta, Bernstein writes that Whitewater was "overblown almost from the moment ''The New York Times'' first wrote about it."[
]
Promotion and sales
Knopf had initially announced a first printing of 350,000 copies.[ As publication actually approached this was revised to a print run of 275,000.][
Initial sales of the book were quite modest, with ]Nielsen BookScan
BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales, owned by The NPD Group in the United States and the Nielsen Company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Sou ...
reporting 25,000 copies sold in its first 13 days (about three times what the Gerth-Van Natta book was doing but far less than Clinton's 2003 autobiography ''Living History
Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...
''). It appeared on the '' New York Times Best Seller List'' for three weeks, debuting at #7 for the week of June 24, falling to #13 the next week, and spending its last week on the chart at #14 for July 8.
A CBS News end-of-year survey of publishing "hits and misses" included ''A Woman in Charge'' in the "miss" category and implied that its total sales were somewhere in the range of perhaps 55,000–65,000 copies. Likely its sales were impinged at least somewhat by the existence of the rival Gerth-Van Natta work,[ but in any case fell far short of the size of the initial printing. Despite all the talk up front, the book had not been the major best seller that the publisher had been expecting.][
]
References
External links
Author's website page for book
Excerpt from the book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woman In Charge
2007 non-fiction books
Alfred A. Knopf books
Books about Hillary Clinton
Unauthorized biographies
American political books
Books by Carl Bernstein