Felsenthal on NPR: Bill's Role in Hillary's Campaign

Author Carol Felsenthal was a guest on All Things Considered, May 30, 2008. She discussed the Bill Clinton's effect on the campaign of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton as she tries to get the Democrat Party's nomination. Felsenthal, a Chicago native, says the results have been less than sterling. Carol Felsenthal's book, "Clinton in Exile," was released on May 1st. You can read my interview with her in the Chicago Journal papers by clicking here. ACTUALLY, the dickweeds at Chicago Journal deleted articles by all former staff and contributors after they sold off the News-Star for a handful of nothing in March, 2009. So, without permission, I gladly reproduce that entire article below: Bill Clinton cheats at golf Local author’s book recounts Clinton’s post-presidential life By TOM MANNIS Contributing Writer Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Bill Clinton cheats at golf. Chicago author Carol Felsenthal says so in her latest bombshell biography, "Clinton in Exile: A President Out of the White House," released this month by William Morrow/Harper Collins. But don't take Felsenthal's word for it. She says that she interviewed "about 20 people who still golf with Bill Clinton. They all said he cheats at golf." One of those golfers is Leon Panetta, who was the Clinton's chief of staff from 1994 to 1996. Panetta still swings a club now and then with Clinton, and Felsenthal recalls Panetta telling her that "Bill Clinton always ends up with a good score," no matter how well-or poorly-he actually plays. Cheating at golf is just one minor, albeit amusing, anecdote in Felsenthal's "Clinton in Exile." The unauthorized biography of the former president covers Clinton's activities since leaving the White House in January 2001. One cannot write a book about Bill Clinton without getting the requisite criticism. "Clinton in Exile" is raising a lot of eyebrows, and more than a few hackles, by candidly discussing the Monica Lewinsky affair, Clinton's impeachment, and other details that Clinton insiders are usually reluctant to discuss. One chapter, "Philanderer in Chief," is making some readers apoplectic, and some reviewers are calling the book "mean spirited" because of its rehashing of Bill Clinton's sexual proclivities. Felsenthal defends that chapter and the inclusion of such material. "I don't think it's mean spirited," she says in a no-holds-barred phone interview. "What they're upset about in a blue-nosed prissy way is the chapter 'Philanderer in Chief,' but that's part of the story. Clinton is a man who was impeached over a sex scandal. I make no apologies for that. That's one chapter out of, what, fifteen chapters, and I would have been remiss to leave it out." Not all reviews have been negative. "Two journals that review advance book copies," Felsenthal said, "are Library Journal and [the American Library Association's] Book List. Both of them loved my book." Felsenthal's web site (www.carolfelsenthal.com) describes "Clinton in Exile" as "a candid, objective look at Bill Clinton's post-White House years." She insists that the book is indeed objective, and cites the chapter "Bill Clinton Fixes Africa," which praises Clinton's work to fight disease and poverty. Surely, fans of Bill Clinton will find something to love in this chapter. Felsenthal interviewed over 160 people for the biography. Some spoke willingly, some did not want to speak with her at all. Others strung her along. Bill Clinton's former communications director, Jay Carson, is one example. Carson is currently a spokesman for Hillary Clinton. Felsenthal recalls obtaining Carson's cell phone number and contacting him. "After promises that I should call him back at certain times.... he picked up the phone and I heard Bill Clinton in the background," Felsenthal said. "They were in Africa. They were in a restaurant. 'I can't talk to you right now, the boss wants to go.'" She says Carson never did call her back. Felsenthal taught "Writing Profiles," a course that drew on her experience writing magazine profiles of luminaries ranging from Ann Landers to Don Rumsfield, at the University of Chicago in 2005 and 2006. "That was fun," she says, "The students were great. But when I took this book contract in the spring of 2006, I really had to focus on it full time. I am still in touch with my students. One is a producer at CBS in New York. Others are freelancers. I would love to teach again." The publisher, Harper Collins, originally wanted the book in July 2007. "But," says Felsenthal, "I wasn't going to do the book without fresh material, and wanted the book to be based on interviews." So she set off on her string of 160 interviews, all without an assistant. Hundreds of e-mails and uncounted phone calls went into to setting up the interviews. "The manuscript was 80,000 words longer than the finished book is," Felsenthal says. "I way overwrote it, which is my eccentricity. Cutting the manuscript was tough. The most challenging thing was that Bill Clinton was constantly in the news. He was a moving target in a way. It's easier to write about somebody who is dead or retired than somebody who is trying to establish his legacy." Despite some critics who have called the book "catty" and "salacious," Felsenthal says she tried to be fair to all of her sources, both detractors and admirers of the 42nd president. "But some people just don't understand the difference between 'off the record' and 'not for attribution,'" Felsenthal says. "You have to let the material take you where the reality is and the extreme ends of the story will fall away. Somewhere in the middle you come up with an accurate story. I want the reporting to take me to a fair assessment rather than having an agenda." "Clinton in Exile" is not Felsenthal's first effort. Her biography of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, "Power, Privelege and the Post: The Katharine Graham Story will be produced by HBO this year. "Filming will start in the fall," she said. "They were negotiating that for years. The director (Tom Hooper) is the same one who did the John Adams miniseries. I think I will have exceptionally little input, but my contract makes me a consultant on the script." Felsenthal recalls how Ted Turner originally picked up the rights to produce the bio. Married to Jane Fonda at the time, who was friends with one of Graham's children, Turner ended up dropping the project because of pressure from the Grahams. "Around 1994, my agent told me, 'This will get made when Kate Graham dies.' Graham died on July 17, 2001," Felsenthal says, "and by August 2001 we had a deal with HBO." Felsenthal was born and raised in West Ridge. She attended Rogers Elementary School, then Decatur Classical School "when it was first built." She graduated from Sullivan High School in 1967, and then went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. From Illinois, Felsenthal went to Boston College in Cambridge, Mass., where she earned her master's. Loyal to Chicago, she moved back with her husband, attorney Steven Felsenthal, in 1974. "I've never lived in the suburbs, never ever, ever," says Felsenthal, who resides in Old Town. "I have nothing against the suburbs, but I love being in the city. It's great for freelance, better than New York, where writers are a dime a dozen." With her full schedule of media appearances, Chicago is convenient for her. She often walks to radio or television appearances in downtown Chicago. "I love walking in Chicago. Interviewing in New York is tough, it's too dense. Chicago has a nice sense of openness. I was very fond of Boston, but I'm glad I came back to Chicago."