Hillaryland, By The Book(s)

By The Politico's Ben Smith.

Such are a few of the more noteworthy revelations in "Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr., and Carl Bernstein's "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton."

Longtime New York Times writers Gerth and Van Natta report on Hillary's shifting approach toward the Iraq war and lingering questions about her billing practices as an Arkansas lawyer. The book also demonstrates the then-first lady's deep involvement in working to beat back the myriad scandals that beset President Bill Clinton's administration through much of the 1990s.

Watergate sleuth Bernstein has more personal revelations, ranging from her father's exaggerations about his past to the fact that Bill considered leaving her for another woman in the late 1980s.

But the books also contain a map of Hillaryland, in the form of what Clinton friends, enemies and observers say about her — and in their very decision to speak to these biographers. And the books also illustrate some of the distinctive tics of the press and publishing industry that have grown up around the New York senator.

Here are some highlights.

Oddest Hillary interaction with a reporter: "'Anne, I thought you left Barbados,' Hillary cracked, letting (The Washington Post's Anne Kornblut) know that she knew where she had been vacationing, a level of detail that left Kornblut feeling intimidated," report Gerth and Van Natta.

Nice of Kenneth Starr to give her a break: In "Her Way," the former Whitewater special counsel complains of Hillary's "frosty demeanor" and tells the authors he actually took it easy on the first lady. "I could have dumped on her" in the Starr Report, he says.

Most tantalizing charge: "Her Way" reports that during the 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary "listened to a secretly recorded audiotape of a phone conversation of Clinton critics plotting their next attack. The tape contained discussions of another woman who might surface with allegations about an affair with Bill. Bill's supporters monitored frequencies used by cell phones, and the tape was made during one of those monitoring sessions." (Former Clinton aides say the anecdote is unfamiliar.)

Too much information: "If Hillary had engaged even in heavy necking before she got to Wellesley, no one said so," Bernstein reports.

Biggest advantage to Bernstein's eight-year writing process: He gets with Clinton friends and allies who later tired of speaking to the press (Arkansas chief of staff Betsey Wright) or passed away (Hillary friend Diane Blair).

Best double recantation: Wright waves off her own denial of her 1995 statement to writer David Maraniss that Bill Clinton had relied on state troopers to help procure women: "I know (Maraniss) didn't make anything up," she tells Bernstein, who says her original statement was made "under duress."

How to get your own footnote in a Carl Bernstein book: "(Clinton ally Bruce) Lindsey failed to respond to my inquiries over a period of several years."

Who really runs Capitol Hill: Clinton press secretary Philippe Reines, per an unhappy footnote in "Her Way": "The authors of this book encountered similar problems enlisting cooperation in the Senate. For example, Harry Reid, the Senate's majority leader, declined to speak to the authors about Hillary after Reines sent an e-mail to Reid's office in 2006 requesting that he not cooperate, according to a senior Senate aide."

Detractor from left field: ACORN founder Wade Rathke, whose liberal group Hillary battled as an Arkansas lawyer. "She was involved in a different series of calculations," Rathke says.

Astute anonymous observation: "'Hillaryland is culturally closer to Bushworld than to Bill Clintonland,' one Senate adviser observed" in "Her Way."

Flattest contradiction between the two books: "Her Way" claims that in 1992, the Clintons "planned two terms in the White House for Bill and, later, two for Hillary." According to "A Woman in Charge," "She had never really aspired to public office."

Surprised to see his name in print: Former Clinton aide Mark Fabiani — who, according to people who have spoken to him, spoke to Bernstein in the 1990s — is quoted as saying of Hillary's penchant for secrecy, "If that involved not being fully forthcoming, she herself would say, 'I have a reason for not being forthcoming.'"

Cattiest moment: "Her Way" reports, "Hillary was riding in a Capitol Hill elevator with another female senator, a fellow Democrat, when the two women caught a glimpse of Elizabeth Dole. ... After Dole was out of earshot, Hillary said, 'Did you get a look at that face?' — a reference to her suspicion that the 66-year-old Dole had undergone plastic surgery. ... Hillary added, 'To think they all talk about my hair.'"

Most welcome vindication: Gail Sheehy, mocked for "psychobabble" and for errors of fact when her book "Hillary's Choice" was published in 2000, emerges as the central source on Clinton's formative years. Her book is cited 43 times by Bernstein and 39 times by Gerth and Van Natta, according to the Clinton campaign, which counted.

Least welcome vindication: David Brock, the ex-conservative-turned-Clinton-ally, whose old outlet, The American Spectator, is celebrating Bernstein's apparent confirmation that Bill Clinton had a serious affair with an Arkansas energy company official.

Most frequent source: Clinton's own "Living History," cited 285 times in "Her Way" and 139 times in "A Woman in Charge," according to the Clinton campaign. But who's counting?

Worst pre-publication expectation-setting: "There are 25 front-page stories in this book," Bernstein told NBC's "Today."

By Ben Smith
© 2007 The Politico & Politico.com, a division of Allbritton Communications Company