2/8 Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue Paperback – Large Print, October 8, 2024 by Sonia Purnell (Author)1
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 3 January 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
by Sonia Purnell (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Kingmaker-Harrimans-Astonishing-Seduction-Intrigue-ebook/dp/B0CQJHTHGY/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=mGORW&content-id=amzn1.sym.bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&pf_rd_p=bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&pf_rd_r=131-1534402-8294242&pd_rd_wg=oGjro&pd_rd_r=28fc36b7-6eda-4621-b633-8a670774f5f4&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk
When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were predictably scathing – and many were downright sexist. Written off as a mere courtesan and social climber, her true legacy was overshadowed by a glamorous social life and her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes – on both sides of the Atlantic - remained invisible and secret. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, interviews and newly discovered sources, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how she left an indelible mark on the world today.
At age 20 Churchill’s beloved daughter-in-law became a “secret weapon” during World War II, strategically wining, dining, and seducing diplomats and generals to help win over American sentiment (and secrets) to the British cause against Hitler. After the war, she helped to transform Fiat heir Gianni Agnelli into Italy’s ‘uncrowned king’ on the international stage and after moving to the US brought a struggling Democratic party back to life, hand-picking Bill Clinton from obscurity and vaulting him to the presidency.
Picked as Ambassador to France, she deployed her legendary subtle powers to charm world leaders and help efforts to bring peace to Bosnia, playing her part in what was arguably the high-water mark of American global supremacy.
There are few at any time who have operated as close to the center of power over five decades and two continents, and there is practically no one in 20th Century politics, culture, and fashion whose lives she did not touch, including the Kennedys, Truman Capote, Aly Khan, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem, Ed Murrow, and Frank Sinatra. Written with the novelistic richness and investigative rigor that only Sonia Purnell could bring to this story full of sex, politics, yachts, palaces and fabulous clothes, KINGMAKER re-asserts Harriman’s rightful place at the heart of history.
1963 Randolph Churchill and POTUS JFK
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Baxter visiting with Sonia Pernell, the author of a book I highly recommend to fill in the parts of 1920 to 2024 that are not from the point of view of war fighters, |
| 0:17.5 | but from the point of view of being a teenager whose ambition is to be with other people |
| 0:23.6 | and not live solitary life on her mom and dad's estate. Sonia, they marry within days of the |
| 0:31.6 | proposal at a church that was later, I believe, wiped out by the Blitz. They exit the church under the cross |
| 0:39.2 | swords of Randolph's regiment. Her father, Kenny, is in a uniform. It's all very splendid, |
| 0:45.1 | except the Randolph's secret, not very secret. He drinks too much, way too much, and he's a philanderer. |
| 0:52.5 | Does she know any of this when they walk under |
| 0:54.7 | the swords? Well, a lot of people warn her, hoping she will pull out of the engagement. But in a way, |
| 1:02.0 | Pamela's one of those people that the more you warn her of something, the more she wants to do it. |
| 1:05.6 | And she didn't ever really like changing her mind about things. She's pretty stubborn really, even as a young woman. |
| 1:12.0 | And I mean, what's the alternative to go back to Dorset, which she really doesn't want to do? |
| 1:16.6 | And so she takes a gamble. It is a really big gamble, but she doesn't want to lose face either. |
| 1:22.0 | So she marries him and it pretty quickly becomes clear what he's like, that he drinks too much, that he, |
| 1:29.3 | for landers, he is abusive. |
| 1:31.6 | Even their first night, their wedding night, he stays up all night reading out loud to her |
| 1:37.3 | from books and then asking her questions about them. |
| 1:40.7 | There's history books and things to make sure that she's been paying attention. |
| 1:44.4 | I mean, he's not someone who's really given her any, you know, thought of what she might like |
| 1:50.5 | or any kind of romance. He wants to shape her into his ideal wife and not really listen to what |
| 1:58.0 | she would like. There is the suggestion that we can go down the pathway of figuring out that Churchill's at |
| 2:04.3 | home, but there's too much ahead of us, so we will not pursue that. |
| 2:08.2 | Clementine and Winston meet their young daughter-in-law. |
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