7/8 Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue Paperback – Large Print, October 8, 2024 by Sonia Purnell (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 4 January 2025
⏱️ 11 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.
1942 Churchill, Harriman, Stalin, Molotov
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBSI on the world. I'm John Batchel with Sonia Purnell, very generously discussing an amazing book. |
| 0:08.2 | She's just published, Kingmaker, Pamela Harriman's astonishing life of power, seduction, and intrigue. |
| 0:14.0 | Churchill's not enough. The war is not enough. Haverill Harriman's not enough. Pamela Harriman is principal in Bill Clinton's, |
| 0:22.4 | in reinvention. A defeated governor of Arkansas comes to Pamela Harriman in some fashion in the |
| 0:29.6 | 1980s, I believe in 1980 itself, and Pamela sees the future and she acts upon it. What does |
| 0:36.1 | she do for Bill Clinton? She makes him believe in himself again. I mean, he said after losing the governorship in 1980 that he thought maybe politics was all over for him, that he had messed up. |
| 0:47.3 | So badly, there was no combat. But she had this mantra, which she said to Clinton at the time, you know, you have to fail to succeed. |
| 0:54.9 | Failure helps success, ultimately, as long as you learn from it. |
| 0:58.3 | So she told him that, but she also realized that here was a man with a messy private life, |
| 1:04.5 | which she understood completely. |
| 1:06.1 | She saw that very clearly. |
| 1:07.7 | Apache electoral records, sure. |
| 1:10.3 | He wasn't well known in Washington. He didn't |
| 1:12.7 | know the right people often, although she did. But behind all of that was someone who had an |
| 1:19.9 | extraordinary charisma. I mean, really hugely powerful charisma, but also an ability to decipher |
| 1:26.3 | the political landscape, to synthesize policies |
| 1:30.3 | in a really impressive way. So she didn't see a Hicks State Governor, as some people called it. |
| 1:35.3 | She saw someone with enormous potential who needed a bit of tutoring, a mentoring, a bit of polishing, |
| 1:41.3 | and certainly fundraising, and also someone who just believed in him. |
| 1:45.7 | And she positioned herself back then in 1980 and for the next 12 years as that person. |
| 1:51.1 | They became very close, very close friends, I should add. |
| 1:56.1 | The TV part of their relationship, Bill Clinton instructed her how to conduct herself. You mentioned at one |
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