On Today, Bernstein omitted key fact in purported disclosure of Clinton's D.C. bar exam failure: It's not news
On the June 1 edition of NBC News' Today, Carl Bernstein suggested that he, in his upcoming book A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton (Alfred A. Knopf), is the first to disclose that Hillary Clinton failed the D.C. bar exam in the 1970s. Co-host Matt Lauer asked whether Bernstein believed it was "love" or "strategy" that caused Clinton to "move to Arkansas with Bill." In response, Bernstein stated, "They love each other. They always have," later adding: "But at the same time, this is a person who failed her bar exam, another great secret that she kept for 30 years ... in Washington D.C., where she wanted to make a life, and her friends were flabbergasted at this." Also, during the June 1 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Mika Brzezinski described the fact that Clinton failed her D.C. bar exam as a "new nugget" that Bernstein "revealed" in his book. But, as Media Matters for America has noted, Clinton acknowledged in her autobiography Living History (Simon & Schuster, 2003) that she failed the D.C. bar exam and suggested that this event influenced her decision to go to Arkansas. Bernstein himself cited Living History while discussing this fact in his book.
From Living History (Pages 64-65):
I had taken both the Arkansas and Washington, D.C., bar exams during the summer, but my heart was pulling me towards Arkansas. When I learned that I had passed in Arkansas but failed in D.C., I thought maybe my test scores were telling me something. I spent a lot of my salary on my telephone bills and was so happy when Bill came to see me over Thanksgiving. We spent our time exploring Boston and talking about our future.
[...]
We agreed that I would come down to Arkansas after Christmas 1973 so we could try to figure out where we were heading.
Further, in his book, Bernstein referred to Living History while discussing Hillary Clinton's friends' reaction to her disclosure that she had failed the D.C. bar exam (Page 92):
On November 3, the District of Columbia Bar Association notified Hillary that she had failed the bar exam. For the first time in her life she had flamed out -- spectacularly, given the expectations of others for her and even more so her own. Of 817 applicants, 551 of her peers had passed, most from law schools less prestigious than Yale. She kept this news hidden for the next thirty years. She never took the exam again, despite many opportunities. Her closest friends and associates -- Webb Hubbell, Jim Blair (Diane's husband), Nancy Bekavac, Betsey Write, Sara Ehrman -- were flabbergasted when she made the revelation in a single throwaway line in Living History. "When I learned that I passed in Arkansas but failed in D.C., I thought maybe my test scores were telling me something."
Those who knew her best speculated that she must have felt deep shame at her failure, and that her self-confidence -- always so visible a part of her exterior -- was shattered by the experience (though many first-rate lawyers, even Yale Law graduates, had flunked the bar on their first try). There can only be conjecture about what turn her life -- and the nation's -- might have taken had she not failed the exam.
From the June 1 edition of NBC News' Today:
LAUER: You know what people say about Hillary Clinton. They say people either love her --
BERNSTEIN: Right.
LAUER: -- or they hate her, but they definitely have an opinion of her. So what can you accomplish with a book like this if people have already formed an opinion of her?
BERNSTEIN: Well, this is a woman who has led a camouflaged life and continues to, and this book takes away the camouflage from her childhood, in an abusive family situation -- her father humiliated and abused her mother, her mother had a horror of a childhood, through her -- the opposition of Bill Clinton's closest advisers like Donna Shalala and Lloyd Bentsen -- to her becoming the head of health care. They were adamantly opposed to it. This is a wholly new account that shows us in a real, biographical way who this person is for the first time.
LAUER: Let's talk about ambition. Mid- to early 1970s, Hillary's on a roll in Washington, destined to do great things. She had a great academic resume with Wellesley and Yale. She had participated in the Watergate impeachment hearings for the House Judiciary Committee. Everybody thought she was going to do great things. She decides at that moment to put her own ambition to the side and move to Arkansas with Bill. And her friends -- you write in the book -- her friends said, "You're crazy. Why are you giving this up?" Why, in your opinion, did she give it up? Was it love or was it strategy?
BERNSTEIN: Look, this is a real love affair. They love each other. They always have. They're each other's closest advisers. They've had huge troubles. She -- Bill did want to leave the marriage. He fell in love with another woman, or so he thought. There's an account of that from Betsey Wright, his chief of staff at the time, who helped cover it up. But at the same time, this is a person who failed her bar exam, another great secret that she kept for 30 years --
LAUER: In one state.
BERNSTEIN: -- in Washington D.C., where she wanted to make a life, and her friends were flabbergasted at this. So that helped push her toward Arkansas.
LAUER: Here's what you write about her. You write that this is a woman who has put up a wall around herself. You refer to it more as a "shell." She's put herself in a shell.
From the June 1 edition of MSNBC Live (2 p.m. ET hour):
BRZEZINSKI: You talk about some of the new nuggets in the book that Bernstein revealed. And I know one of them is that Senator Clinton failed to pass the D.C. bar, that she moved to Arkansas and decided that his [Bill Clinton's] ambitions would be hers too. But would Hillary Clinton be where she is now were it not for her marriage to Bill Clinton, regardless as to what you think of the marriage?
Even if she hadn't disclosed it in her book, it's still not news. Is the bar exam supposed to be a cakewalk or something?
I guess by MSM standards, it is news. It's a "nugget", which is just the sort of thing they like to report. Nothing in depth, nothing nuanced, simply a "nugget". A "morsel" of information that can be milked and manipulated, twisted and distorted with flavoring and additives, just the way a "MCnugget" is made.
Tomorrow the Faux News crowd will be crowing that she is not qualified to be President because she failed the DC Bar Exam. Hannity probably won't even mention that she passed the one in Arkansas.
Wow, nothing is sacred when it comes to discussing Hillary, but Newt thinks we shouldn't be discussing his past marraige issues.
Time for the trollin song!
Keep trollin', trollin', trollin', never really knowin', if what you're repeatin', been said! Don't try to get yer facts straight, once you post it's too late, your lies and those deflections, will decide. spread those rumors thick, Let's see what will stick, obtuse observations will abide.
Spin it up, spread it thick, Keep repeatin', make it stick, Lay it on, Obfuscate Dittohead! Set it up, claim it's fact, Who will check? Grey is black, Get yer facts - from faux news, Dittohead!
On the other hand, if Newtie's past is subject to review by MSM, then should not HRC (or HC) be subject to the same scutiny? And who brought this up, Newtie or Bernstein?
Wouldn't Newtie's infidelities and multiple marriages be way more interesting than a number 2 pencil test?
Maybe in the "National Enquirer" or like. Neither have any relevancy to the Presidential race. We need to know more about their positions on issues affecting us now, not what happened 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago. But, that being said, that's not the way political campaigns are run or even have been run, here or in any democracy. Dig up what you can on your opponent and spin it to your advantage, get the voters riled up about some meaningless indignation rather than focusing on the issues. So, as issues concerning the marital escapades of Newtie and JulieAnnie (thanks to unknown for that handle) come forth, look for other issues to keep coming regarding each of the other candidates.
Mitt Romney can be questioned about his sex life before marriage but no one has the right to point out the fact that Hillary wasn't bright enough to pass the bar exam (incidentally, more than 500/800 did pass it).I guess the fact that she is a Democrat makes her immune from all criticism, right? The MSM has actually been treating the Democrat Party with kid gloves. Another prime example - a Democrat candidate (Barack Hussein Obama) whose close friend and spiritual advisor (Rev. Jeremiah Wright) is an anti-Semite and a terrorist sympathizer who blames 911 on "White racism." Some spiritual advisor indeed!!
the only bar exam baby bush could pass is at a wet bar. Passing an exam requires study. Maybe she was not motivated to study or was destracted or whatever. It is meaninless. baby bush was memorizing the fine print on a Jack Daniels label and reading razor blade packages (blades used to "chop up" cocaine right before he snorted it). Ithink baby bush should write a book when he gets out of office. "HOW TO DRINK AND DO HARD DRUGS AND BECOME PRESDENT" (Just make sure your father was a president) By geo. w. Busch opps, bush
Berstein was correct...regardless of the strawman framing that it is "new" information. The fact remains that she flunked the DC bar exam...
Just because Hillary finally revealed this fact in "her" book doesn't mean that no one else can bring up the subject...
Weak strawman from Hillary's auxillary campaign office at mmfa...it matters not whether it's new or old news...it's a fact...she flunked the bar exam.
So she flunked the DC bar exam. What's next, an in depth interview with her dentist about her flossing?
I agree pretty much, Wesley.
Bernstein: " ... Failed her bar exam, another great secret she kept for 30 years." Well, if Living History came out in 2003, isn't that 30 years? (What year was the exam?) Also ... Nowhere has MM shown that Bernstein has said that this is his exclusive "new" news.
However, MM is correct about Mika Brzezinski incorrectly saying it's a "new nugget."
But to be honest, I follow politics pretty closely, and I never heard that Hillary had not passed the D.C. bar exam before this week. I know I didn't buy Living History, but I also don't remember the MSM reporting this during all the media hoopla when the book came out a few years back!
I was also unaware that she had flunked the bar. As someone who is opposed to Hillary's politics...it would not be something learned and forgotten.
It was a secret held under lock and key by Clinton for 30 years...and the MSM for 4 years. Right or wrong, it will be a campaign issue since Hillary wants to be the leader of the greatest country in the world.
Oh Hillary...it's just getting started.
Yeah, in the same way that it was a campaign issue that W flunked his bar exam twice before finally passing it. That issue lasted about 17 minutes. It's not that uncommon to fail the bar exam. I heard that Gore failed his also. I'm certain upon checking, we could find that many politicians failed the bar first try. JFK Jr. faild a couple times if memory serves me correctly. The real problem for Hillary is that Republics will beat this to death because they always go after the person instead of the issues. That is their only chance of winning. Issues cause them great problems.
To what "W" are you referring when you say, "W flunked his bar exam twice before finally passing it? George W -- No. 43? He was never admitted to law school much less allowed to sit for a bar exam. (Not that he ever applied for either one.) If by "bar exam" you mean the one the bartender gives customers before letting them drive, I dare say he failed many more than two of those. And, from the way he's been acting lately, he might not be able to pass one such an "exam" today.
the mainstream media held it "under lock and key" for 4 years? i think the book was there for anyone to read.
Mefirst, can't you read? LOCK AND KEY !!! Probably in a catacomb guarded by snakes.
A campaign issue??!?!! You kid, right? If not, you know nothing about bar exams, pass rates and the significance (or rather insignificance) of failing one. Bar exams are as much about physical endurance and test-taking skills as about knowledge of the law. Failing one is a blow to the ego to be sure, but not to your legal career or to any other career you want your law degree to take you to. And you forget, Senator Clinton passed the Arkansas bar.
Wonder if Bill used the good old boy network to get her through. How very convenient - she flunks the bar exam and then conveniently passes the exam (in Arkansas of all places!!) after she starts dating Bill.A marriage of convenience? You betcha.
Jesus, you are an IDIOT.
It was a secret kept under lock and key except she WROTE ABOUT IT IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY? You are a joke.
Wake up...her autobiography was written 30 years after the fact.
So she kept it a dark secret then wrote about it in her autobiography? YOU need to wake up not me. It really isnt relevant to much so no one talked about it but that isnt keeping it under lock and key THEN WRITING ABOUT IT IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
You are an even bigger idiot. Since it probably took you 3 or more tries to pass your GED, you should probably understand the difficulty of test taking you neo-con key-tooth missing redneck ass.
Hillary passed a pregnancy test so it is 50/50. Character assasination seems to be all the republicans have now. What successes does bush haveSorry to brag about? Please list them. Sorry, illegal wiretaping, invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, lowering taxes for the wealthiest Americans, and finishing "My Pet Goat" does not count.
Okay, back to elementary school with you.
Did you even read the above?
This was not new info.
Hillary mentioned it in her book.
Sure, others can talk about it. No one suggested that they should not talk about it. I've seen this false meme on this site repeatedly over the last few days, and it's been false every time I've seen it! People talking about it is not the issue, and never has been. People claiming it's new info is the issue.
But it's not new news. It's old news. It's not a new nugget. It's an old nugget.
Do you get it now?
It's old news, because it happen 30 years ago.
It's a new nugget because even though it was in Hillary's book in 2003, it's just now being reported and discussed. Had Bernstein not written about it, it probably would have never been discussed.
Why the media never mentioned it 4 years ago is odd, but one would guess that very few reporters combed through Hillary's book or even read it. It also means that the right-wing opposition researchers either weren't doing their jobs or had squirreled the tidbit about Hillary flunking the bar away for a rainy day.
Many people flunk the bar exam first time around, so this is hardly some earth shattering revelation. Even Hillary not telling friends is not a huge deal. But the press will jump on just about anything if they think it might discredit the Clintons.
So Bernstein's new nugget, which technically is old news, is just one more instance of the media's feeding frenzy when it comes to anything about Bill and Hillary Clinton.
As usual it is YOU that are weak. INCREDIBLY WEAK. It doesnt matter if he brings it up but he claimed she kept it a secret when in fact she wrote about it in her autobiography. How is THAT keeping it a secret. Straight out misinformation. And weak snivelling from you.
- How is THAT keeping it a secret - solon
She failed to mention it for 30 years...that's a pretty good secret.
See peevish.co.uk for dumbass.
Was she supposed to take out an ad in the NYTimes I mean it was relevant to WHAT? On the other hand it makes sense that she kept it a dark secret for thirty years gaurding it with attack dogs then wrote about it in her autobiography makes sense HOW? Look up moron in the dictionary. See that blank square? Its waiting for YOUR picture
- On the other hand it makes sense that she kept it a dark secret for thirty years - solon
Thanks for the confirmation...
As to its relevance...it matters not to me whether she flunked the bar. It is a silly strawman for mmfa to deflect with the issue of whether it's new or not...who cares...unless your mission is to defend all things Hillary...and that is obvious with this article.
Not even a good try you cropped off the end so lets add that part shall we
she kept it a dark secret for thirty years gaurding it with attack dogs then wrote about it in her autobiography makes sense HOW?
Stop chanelling Bozo the clown and try to make sense
It's relevant because if it came out she was hiding it she would have had to answer for it during the campaign. So she unleashed a minor skeleton.
Its only your talking point she was hiding anything. I never talk about my ex-wife, does that mean I am hiding her or our short marriage or it just isnt something I enjoy talking about? You guys have got to be kidding.
Again, stupid. Why don't you tell us about a test you failed at some point. Any test. It's the same freakin' thing. Many lawyers fail one or more bar exams, but are they required to wear a Scarlet F in court? No. Plus, she PASSED the bar in Arkansas, and that is where she decided to go and practice law, so there was no need for her to re-take the DC bar.
The DC bar, by the way, is one of the toughest in the country. I think it's a big touch of the previous article regarding the MSM treatment of Dems. Bush never even showed up for National Guard duty, yet a bigger story will be made of Hillary failing a test that she was not required to take in the first place.
And it's brainless nitwits like Wesley who will pass it on. I always feel like the trolls on MM just are in desperate need of a woman or a man to spend time with. They all seem so GD lonely and pathetic.
WESLEY:
Yes, she failed her DC bar exam, and passed the one in Arkansas. OK. So she started practicing law in Arkansas.
Is this important somehow? The LEGAL hoops one must jump through? If it IS important, why do we now have a President who applied to Law School at the University of Texas, and was refused admittance? See, the "Gentlemen's C's" he got from Yale were not sufficient to come CLOSE to competeing with people who did WELL in school. Even Poppy couldn't pull enough strings to get Junior admitted, and that's really saying something (never any mention of Bush's LSAT score ... it must've been miserable).
But yet, Bush has had two terms as president, a law school wanna-be but not GOOD enough to even get in the front door. So Hillary failing one and passing one is IMPORTANT? How?
I thought the MSM liked idiot presidents...
Only idiots you'd like to have a beer with.
Only idiots you'd like to have a beer with but can't because the idiot is a friend of Bill W.
Baby bush is studdying for his peanut vendor exams for by the TX Rangers stadium. Laura is helping him as you read this.
"Carl Bernstein suggested that he...is the first to disclose that Hillary Clinton failed the D.C. bar exam in the 1970s."
This MMFA post is unfair to Bernstein. Where does Bernstein suggest that he is the first to disclose this "nugget"? Sen. Clinton failed the DC bar in 1973 and Living History was published in 2003. Doesn't that mean she kept this information private for 30 years as Bernstein suggested? It is Mika Brzezinski that passed on misinformation, not Bernstein.
I'm also not sure how much Bernstein was suggesting that he was the one who finally uncovered this information, but I don't think it matters a whole lot. To me, what's more offensive is the suggestion that this was some deep dark secret that Hillary kept under wraps until she could figure out how to spin it.
People fail bar exams all the time. It is not some lifelong pockmark - it's a bummer. I don't know the situation at the time, but nowadays, D.C. is considered among the toughest. At the time she took it, bar exams in general were more difficult than they are now. I've met several extremely intelligent people who failed the bar on their first try.
The bottom line is that this was far too mundane a fact to "keep secret," and it's so mundane that I don't think it's worth talking about it. Which makes me wonder why I'm talking about it now, so I'll stop.
Of course, I passed on my first try. Just sayin'.
For the DittoHeads...did you ever consider that if she had PASSED the D.C. Bar exam that she may have been President years ago.
Someone help me out...Prior to Black Rovember the DittoHead and the wannabes all were demanding that HRC be the Democratic nominee for President. They were so sure that she would be defeated by any Republican. It now seems that they are scared(obsentity omitted, sorry) and attack, attack and attack the Senator from New York. Why? Shouldn't they be pressing for her nomination? Or did the destruction of the Republican Party this past November open the eyes of those hanging onto the lifeboat to the obvious demise of this party in November of 2008. How can there be so much angst against a woman who failed a test. You Republicans are so confused and are imploding. You still have a chance to grab a lifeline. Just start listening to ALL sides of a story and stay away from Fox news.
Think Rush when he says we gotta learn how to tell when he is baiting us. They were just baiting us, cause they really wanted to skewer her some more!
Who the hell cares? We've got a draft-dodging alcoholic squatter in the White House who thinks he's God's anointed and doesn't believe in evolution. Lord knows what he'll do before he's gone. So we should worry that Hilary flunked a bar exam 30 years ago? Bernstein is just another parasitic desperate disgusting despicable deranged demagogue making bucks by disparaging Hilary Clinton.
Right on!! baby bush sobered up as a result being "born again". This is a BIG LIE. Self knowledge and religious conversion NEVER kept anyone sober for long. Ask a specialist in alcoholism. Laura put her foot down. baby bush has all the symptoms that drove him to drink in the first place. He is white knuckling it or is drinking secretly. He never got treatment. Once an alcoholic always an alci. That should not be held against him but not getting treatment is a problem for us all until he is out of office. In comparison, Hillary not passing a test is meaningless. baby bush has proven to be dangerous even sober. He is a liar and a phoney. It is obvious he has "wet-brain" from drinking. His verbal skills (lack of) are an indication of how his brain works. Example: throw a bucket of water in the back of your TV set and turn it on. Hey LEMOC, sock it to me. baby bush is a perfect example for researching retroactive birth control.
I don't see what the problem is here. If you were an upwardly mobile politician, why would you caasually mention to ANYONE except your intimates, that you failed a bar exam early in your career? That would not be hiding it, just like not telling people that you have had your appendix out.
On the other hand i think it is entirely appropriate to mention it in a memoir.
Dubbya couldn't even SPELL bar exam, Bushbots, so STFU.
Thats not the issue. Criticize her if you want. Lets find out how many ReNAMBLAcan candidates from the ReNAMBLAcan party failed their bar exams the first time. Saying she was keeping it a deep dark secret when she wrote about it in her autobiography is the point. You guys are always trying to change the frame of every debate. Probably because you are wrong so much.
I try to follow your points, but sometimes your invective simply washes out everything else? What on earth are you referring to with the term "ReNAMBLAcan"?
Do you think Sophomoric putdowns carry any weight with anyone besides fellow kool-aid drinkers. Don't you realize that NAMBLA supports the liberal/progressive positions on abortion, gay rights, and gay marriage?
So besides being infantile, your comment is also stupid and counter productive as it only shows your weakness for intelligent conversation.
So, for the slow learners around here, an author who is making the rounds to promote his new book, selects some "salient" points to pique potential buyers' interest. One thing he brings up in his very limited time is a fact that the subject has already written about. He might as well have said, "you know, she's married to Bill..." BFD!
And, even if it were news, I'll say it again, BFD. As someone who has sat for a professional exam, (passed 5 sections on the first try, and the 6th on the second -- well above average) it's pretty common to not pass on the first round. While I've never seen a study on it (and there well may be), some of the best practitioners I know didn't pass on the first try. I'm sure it's the same for the bar.
I'm no fan of Hillary. I hope she doesn't get the nomination. But anyone who would criticize her for not passing the WA bar when she passed the AR on the first try is someone who already doesn't like her and is just shopping for additional justification. And it's pretty petty justification.
I agree with you regarding your point about passing the bar the first time. Many don't. The same is true for CPAs and Surveyors. No biggie. Bernstein is simply trying to sell books. He is trying to create interest by tossing out this morsel as indicative of what else is to be found in the book.
I didn't know about the failure and the only interesting point to me is that she didn't take the test again. It seems a bit hard-to-believe that she would decide to chuck the bar simply because she was planning on moving to Arkansas. However who knows? It could very well be. it is ancient history as far as I'm concerned.
But then again I already have decided not to vote for her in the general election.
Didn't Edwin Meese, former Attorney General, fail the bar twice? Yet, he is revered by Federalist Society type Republicans. As for failing the bar, I am an attorney and, although I passed mine, I do not know a lawyer who did not think he or she failed after taking their respective bars. And, I know a number of accomplished people who did fail a bar, either because they succumbed to the pressure or because they simply did not study enough. The guiding motivation behind most bar exam takers is fear because nobody wants to go through the process again.