The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk: Why I Refused to Testify Against the Clintons & What I Learned in Jail

by Pat Harris, Susan McDougal, Helen Thomas, et al.

Book Overview

The New York Times bestseller and Book Sense 76 pick is now in paperback. This is the book by Whitewater warrior Susan McDougal that created a media sensation, with author appearances on Today, The O'Reilly Factor, Larry King, Crossfire, FOX Morning News, and The CBS Early Show; and a controversial review in The New York Times that generated chat all over the Internet, and the newspaper's own printed correction. Breaking her silence...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 078671302X
• ISBN13: 9780786713028
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.6" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Political Prisoner Turns the Tables on Her Tormenters

Very bad things can happen to good people when the power of the U.S. government is arrayed against them in court. Ms. Susan McDougal (of "Whitewater" fame) tells a cautionary tale about what happened to her and others who found themselves at odds with overzealous prosecutors. Reading her story reminded me of the show trials in the U.S.S.R. during Stalin's reign in which prisoners were broken and used to implicate others who were in turn broken and used to implicate still others. If you want to get past the right and left wing propaganda concerning the Whitewater investigation, The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk is a great source. Briefly, Ms. McDougal was brought up in a large family with strict rules . . . which she followed. At a strict college, she met an out-of-control professor who successfully persuaded him to become his wife . . . and found that he was soon off prowling for other young women. Jim McDougal was a manic-depressive who was usually in his manic phase. He was also obsessed with being in control, and made all decisions in their marriage and business activities. You'll be sure to believe that after you read the story about the "home" he bought and decorated for them. Along the way, he dreamed of making an area where political movers and shakers would fly into for weekends in Arkansas. He found a beautiful stretch of land, and recruited as his co-investors Bill and Hillary Clinton. The project failed. Later, McDougal founded and rapidly expanded a savings-and-loan to help pursue his land development deals. With little experience in the business and driven by his psychological problems, the business failed after a spectacular temporary rise. Shortly before the marriage collapsed, McDougal arrange for a loan to his wife to be used for a new investment project. She picked up the check, and he used the money for other purposes. She left for California, they divorced, and she started up a new life with former co-worker, Pat Harris (who assisted in the writing of this book). In the new life, she eventually found herself living a claustrophobic existence as the 24/7 assistant and bookkeeper to Ms. Nancy Mehta, wife of conductor Zubin Mehta. The stories she tells make Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous seem modest by comparison. At the end of this experience, she is falsely accused of embezzling $150,000.At the same time, Kenneth Starr took over the investigation into possible wrongdoing by President and Mrs. Clinton. The "investigation" turned into a witch hunt in which potential witnesses were offered blanket immunity if they could provide the "goods" on the Clintons. The prosecutors knew what story they wanted, and would settle for nothing else. After David Hale and Jim McDougal decided to play ball, their testimony veered into misstatements about Ms. McDougal. Soon, she found herself facing a two-year prison term. Immediately thereafter, she was subpoenaed to testify before the Grand Jury. She realized that if she told

Ken Starr's and the OIC's obiturary

Susan McDougal, a truly remarkable woman, has written a remarkable book. One is not often treated to examples of moral heroism in this day of "what's in it for me", but McDougal's story deserves to be read by every person in America who has ever wondered why they should do the right and painful thing in the face of powerful enemies and overwhelming temptation to save one's self at the expense of another. This is a tale of heroines and heroes, of good friends and false friends, of villians and the lowest scum to ever stride a court room. Ken Starr and his cronies, and those in various jails and federal prisons who tried to assist him in breaking the spirit of this courageous and honest woman, have much for which to answer. If there is a god who metes out punishment and reward at the end of our days, I would not want to occupy Ken Starr's, or any number of other OIC prosecutors' and FBI agents' coffins. Buy this book and read it. Read it to your children and your grandchildren. It will make you all better people, and it is a hell of a good read and a lot of fun!

This book should be compulsory reading

This book is one of the most important books I've read in years and I urge everyone to read it. What Susan McDougal tells us about the right wing zealots who threw her in jail because she refused to lie about Bill Clinton is truly a story that needs to be heard loud and clear throughout our land. Surely there is a special section of hell reserved for Ken Starr and his henchmen and women. McDougal's voice rings true and clear, and she is laugh-out-loud funny. Clearly, her sense of strong humor was one of the many great character traits that helped her survive in the various prisons that the Office of the Independent Council dragged her through in their quest to make her tell lies to suit their own self interests. And the stories she shares of the women she met while encarcerated are truly heart-rending and equally deserving of your attention.Most of all, this is the story of a woman who finds her own strength in the most harrowing of circumstances. Even if you're not interested in politics one way or the other, you should read this book

The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk

The writing in this book is lucid and devoid of exaggeration or self-pity. It is honest and sane, while covering a truly dishonest and insane period of American history. Through the painful experiences of author, Susan McDougal, Whitewater is revealed to have been a shameful witch-hunt, a ruthless attempt to bring down a popular American president. Susan describes her life with Jim McDougal, her early friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton, the uncomplicated facts of the Whitewater land deal, and her ensuing persecution by the Independent Council, Kenneth Starr. Her descriptions of life in prison are disturbing, yet there is light and hope on every page in this book. Susan is a woman who has been "stoned in the square" for refusing to bear false witness against another human being, yet she has retained her decency, softness, intelligence, and even her sense of humor. Read this book!!!

Great book by a true hero!

Susan went to jail for 21 months rather than play ball with a crooked monster named Ken Starr. She knew doing the right thingwould put her in prison, but she stuck to her guns. This book reads like she's sitting there talking to you.Get this book!Read about a real hero who doesn't throw or catch a ball.Read about the meaning or courage, and standing up against the biggest bully on the planet - the out-of-control US federal government. Susan - great book! You rock!bartbartcop.com