"She has no interest in the press looking at her life. . . . . or. . . errr. . . ."

". . .Her relationship? . ."

"No, no, let me tell the story, if I can. . . She has no interest in the press or in independent biographers telling the story of her life because she has always sought assiduously to make what is known about her what she wants known. And I believe the camouflage, as each layer is stripped away, she's infinitely more interesting, more compelling, infinitely more important than her own airbrushed picture of herself. In fact she's probably more attractive with all her rough edges than in this airbrushed history of herself that she insists on being her public persona."

In the film of their prize winning book, All the President's Men, Bernstein had was portrayed by the short-onheight-and-charm Dustin Hoffman while his colleague Bob Woodward got to be Robert Redford. Despite this, he is still an intimidating intellect.

Bernstein started the 640-page biography on Hillary Clinton over seven years ago before, he thinks, she had seriously considered running for president, during the her first senate race. At first he had reason to hope that both Hillary and Bill would cooperate and allow their close friends to speak with him. but they soon clammed up. Isn't it just this sort of treatment of the press that puts people off the former first lady?

"It brings you back to what Mark Fabiani, her lawyer said.

[Her team of lawyers] actually came to call themselves 'the masters of disaster' because when Hillary ran the show with them they would try everything they could to try and do the opposite of what she recommended because usually she went about it backwards in terms of defending herself. She often is her own worst enemy when it comes to either being candid or telling her own story. Her own story is infinitely more interesting, dramatic and empathic than she is in the telling of it."

In every response Bernstein strives for a balance of judgement which several critics have not perceived in his biography. Why did he decide to single Hillary out for such focused attention, when he could have the pick of the political thoroughbred stable?

"I thought she was the most fascinating political figure of our time toward the end of the Clinton presidency. Unlike everyone else involved in the Monica Lewinsky madness . . . which is to say her husband, the Congress, the press, the Supreme Court in the US, the Republicans . . . she came out with her stature enhanced whereas everyone else came out diminished and rightly so.

"It was obvious that she thought that Bill had squandered their presidency. At the time [in 1999] it didn't look like the Clinton years were going to be remembered fondly. Now of course they seem to have a nostalgic glow at least in terms of substance that make its accomplishments, compared to the catastrophe of the presidency that we have now, huge."

On examining the intricacies of Hillary Clinton's influence and effect on her husband's political trajectory and decisions, it becomes obvious that she was always his key advisor, often stepping on the toes of chief political aides and making it clear that the Clinton presidency was a joint affair. Despite this she continued to eschew the press and shroud herself in mystery, creating what Bernstein refers to as "an airbrushed" picture of herself that he feels does her actual character little justice. She is, he maintains, "wickedly funny, thoughtful, with passionate views strongly held and determined to deal with impediments in sometimes ways that are less than pleasant to watch".

Less than pleasant would certainly describe the way she eviscerated the women who began to surface with tales about her philandering husband during his presidency. Bill at first started out as probably the most remarkable political talent of his era but Hillary was well aware that his exploits could be the downfall of them both. As Bernstein says, she "took it upon herself to contain the knowledge of these sexual compulsions and in so doing, it got 13more and more difficult. And to do it involved more and more unpleasant tasks . . . interrogating the women herself in one case. . .

savaging and smearing some of these women at times."

These actions don't sit so well with her self-promoted image as a conscientious Methodist Christian. One mantra often attached to her psyche is 'Love the sinner, hate the sin.'

"One of her closest friends and aides said to me, you have to start with her Methodism if you want to understand her . So at first I thought that might be fanciful but it turned out to be absolutely correct because her religious faith and view and belief in family are the two most elemental aspects of her character. Part of that religious faith involves forgiving the sinner but not the sin in her scheme of things. But not the same forgiveness was given to the women involved [with her husband] who she has savaged, " says Bernstein Now in her quest for the Democratic nomination for presidency, one has to wonder how that affects the views of women voters, especially considering that this time around female voters outnumber males. According to an AP analysis of data from the 2006 American National Election Study Pilot Test in the United States "women are more likely to vote for a candidate because she is female, and also more likely to dismiss a candidate because of her gender."

Women voters are thought to be tougher on their own gender expecting higher standards. A woman with John McCain's experience or Barack Obama's charisma would have a hard time, according to Marie Wilson, president of the White House Project . . . a group that encourages women to take leadership roles in business and politics.

Bernstein dislikes the gender question, pointing out that Hillary is a polarising figure and "generalising is the worst thing you can do.

"What they [the polls] seem to indicate is that her support among women is greatest among women who are less educated and have less money. She has less support among women of her own background and who you would think would have a natural affinity culturally and economically. And there also is a big difference between women who vote for democrats regularly and women who vote for Republicans regularly. Of the more independently-minded women less is known. But there is no question that she is a hugely polarising figure in a way that almost no other politician is."

When it comes to feminine issues the biggest furore surrounding Hillary for some time was why she stayed with Bill after the deep embarrassment of the endlessly detailed dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. Did she stay because she thought she had a better shot at power with him and does she?

"Whether people recognise it or not, part of this drama is that it's a love story, " says Bernstein. In the book, Bernstein characterises their relationship with a quote from a disaffected Clinton aide:

"They would constantly argue, and the next thing you know, they'd be falling all over each other with 'Oh darling. . . come here baby. . . you're adorable. . .' then throwing things at each other, and then they'd be slobbering all over each other."

Skin-crawling stuff but at least it has the ring of truth about it and if any genuine long-term relationship is laid bare it would contain similar cringe-worthy material. So Hill and Bill are still in love. He is a political asset to her.

However, Bernstein reveals that when she ran for senate she was still "pissed off" with Bill and that engendered more independence and confidence than we saw in her during the White House years when she was trying to manage and support him, sometimes using a level of secrecy, obfuscation and rigid adherence to her ideas against the accumulated wisdom of their advisers which sits uncomfortably with Bernstein.

The big question now is whether she has learned enough about compromise and herself to not only win the presidency but also make a good president.

Bernstein hates making political predictions and he's selfdeprecatory about his ability to get it right. But he thinks Hillary Clinton has the potential to be a good president . . . "probably."

She has learned about compromise, he feels. "And yet there are aspects of her that are still deeply troubling . . . not reading newspapers being one of them, and not listening to or looking at news. Seeing the press and biographers as impediments and enemies instead of being interested in helping them arrive at a contextual truthful picture of herself. The whole question of trimming the truth, her Jesuitical lying . . . as George Stephanopolous put it.

"If she can continue to move away from those tendencies she's got a much better chance of becoming president. But that's a big thing to move away from, because it's almost ingrained in her."