8/8 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
⏱️ 9 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.
1947 Harriman in the Cabinet
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchel. I'm visiting with Sonia Pernell, the author of Kingmaker. |
| 0:05.0 | Bill Clinton is elected. There's a big party at the N Street address. |
| 0:09.0 | I remember the New York Times made a big splash about it. I puzzled at the time. |
| 0:13.0 | You've now explained it. |
| 0:15.0 | This is gathering at the feet of the woman who inspired this victory. |
| 0:21.6 | And the expectation is she will be rewarded. |
| 0:24.6 | Not right away, but then Paris comes up. |
| 0:26.9 | Does she want to be the ambassador to Paris? |
| 0:29.6 | Oh, yes, she does. |
| 0:31.2 | I mean, people used to talk about her becoming ambassador to London, for example, |
| 0:34.6 | but she knew the tabloid newspapers would be obsessed with her past. |
| 0:38.3 | She thought, and this was a gamble that paid off, that in Paris, her sort of erotic adventures, as it were, would be celebrated rather than frowned upon. |
| 0:48.3 | And to a large extent she was right. In fact, one of the papers said that she had made the scandal of her past into an ornament. |
| 0:56.1 | And I think Paris was rather flattered that President Clinton had sent them Mrs. Harriman. |
| 1:01.1 | After all, she was obviously very close to the president, and she was also super glamorous. |
| 1:05.4 | So this went down mostly. |
| 1:07.6 | There were some detractors, some critics, but mostly extremely well in Paris and she was very pleased indeed, but also very nervous. |
| 1:15.6 | She knew that unlike most ambassadors, she had no high school education, she had no university education, she had no formal diplomatic experience. |
| 1:26.6 | Obviously she had enormous informal experience, and so she |
| 1:29.9 | studied really hard before she went out there. Mitraan loved her. Shirak loved her. I don't think |
| 1:36.0 | the French hesitated, did they? Was there those catty remarks? Were those French remarks, or were those |
| 1:43.1 | English? Largely not French. |
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