Susan Thomases
Encyclopedia
Susan P. Thomases is a New York
-based attorney
. She served as personal counsel and an informal adviser to Hillary Clinton during the presidency of Bill Clinton
. She was a prominent witness during the Senate Whitewater Hearings in 1995. She served as the model for the character Lucille Kaufmann from the 1996 political novel Primary Colors.
. She earned a B.A. from Connecticut College
and a J.D from Columbia University
. She married William Bettridge, a construction engineer, with whom she had one son. Bettridge died January 5, 2004.
, Thomases supported Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy
's unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic Party's candidate for president
.
She met Bill Clinton
in 1970, and joined him in 1974 in Fayetteville, Arkansas
, to work on his campaign to challenge incumbent Republican congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt
. It was here that she met Hillary Rodham, who had just moved to Arkansas after having graduated from Yale Law School
the previous year. Rodham had been dating Clinton since 1971. Hammerschmidt was reelected, but Rodham and Thomases became close friends.
In 1976, Thomases got a job in the Carter Administration as an aide to Vice President Mondale. In 1978, she ran former basketball star Bill Bradley
's successful campaign to unseat New Jersey
Senator Clifford P. Case
.
. She was eventually named as the campaign's chief scheduler. Hillary Clinton retained Thomases as her lawyer so that their discussions would be protected by attorney-client privilege
.
In early 1992, Hillary Clinton sent Thomases to be interviewed by New York Times investigative reporter Jeff Gerth
about the Clintons' dealings with the Whitewater Development Corporation
(WDC). Thomases worked with Rose Law Firm
attorneys Vince Foster
and Webster Hubbell
to review the firm's records regarding WDC and Madison Guaranty
and provide documentation to the Times.
, but she continued to advise the First Lady
in an unofficial capacity. Thomases helped to arrange an office for Hillary Clinton in the West Wing
of the White House. This marked the first time that a First Lady had taken an office in the West Wing; First Ladies traditionally operated out of the East Wing. Thomases was granted a pass to enter the Executive Residence
and became known among Hillary's staff as the "Midnight Caller".
Thomases suggested the name of her friend, Zoe Baird
, for U.S. Attorney General. Confirmation hearings for Baird faltered when the story emerged that Baird had hired undocumented workers as domestic help.
, which had come under Republican control after the 1994 midterm elections
, convened the Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters, under the chairmanship of Senator Alfonse D'Amato.
Thomases was questioned by Senators D'Amato and Faircloth
and majority counsel, Michael Chertoff
, about telephone calls that she had exchanged with Hillary Clinton, Hillary's chief of staff Maggie Williams
and White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum the morning after the suicide of Vince Foster
. After the telephone calls, Nussbaum had removed documents from Vince Foster's offices before they were searched by the FBI. Thomases testified that the calls were of a personal nature and that she had not discussed the impending search of Foster's office with Hillary Clinton.
In June 1996, the committee published its report, describing Thomases, Williams, Nussbaum and Hubbell as "not candid" and concluding that they had "provided inaccurate and incomplete testimony to the committee in order to conceal Mrs. Clinton's pivotal role in the decisions surrounding the handling of Mr. Foster's documents following his death." Thomases had answered "I don't recall" 184 times during the course of the hearings. Independent counsel Kenneth Starr
rejected the committee's criminal referral against Thomases for possible perjury.
In recent years Thomases has suffered from multiple sclerosis
which compelled her to retire..
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. She served as personal counsel and an informal adviser to Hillary Clinton during the presidency of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. She was a prominent witness during the Senate Whitewater Hearings in 1995. She served as the model for the character Lucille Kaufmann from the 1996 political novel Primary Colors.
Education and family life
Thomases grew up in Englewood, New JerseyEnglewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...
. She earned a B.A. from Connecticut College
Connecticut College
Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut.The college was founded in 1911, as Connecticut College for Women, in response to Wesleyan University closing its doors to women...
and a J.D from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. She married William Bettridge, a construction engineer, with whom she had one son. Bettridge died January 5, 2004.
Early activities (1968-1978)
In 1968, at the prompting of her former boyfriend, Harold M. IckesHarold M. Ickes
Harold McEwen Ickes was White House Deputy Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton. He is the son of Harold L. Ickes, who was Secretary of the Interior under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Ickes is a graduate of Stanford University and Columbia Law School. Ickes was a student civil rights activist in...
, Thomases supported Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
's unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic Party's candidate for president
Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1968
The 1968 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1968 U.S. presidential election...
.
She met Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
in 1970, and joined him in 1974 in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
, to work on his campaign to challenge incumbent Republican congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt
John Paul Hammerschmidt
John Paul Hammerschmidt is an American politician from the U.S. state of Arkansas. A Republican, Hammerschmidt served for thirteen terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from the northwestern Arkansas district before he retired in 1993...
. It was here that she met Hillary Rodham, who had just moved to Arkansas after having graduated from Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
the previous year. Rodham had been dating Clinton since 1971. Hammerschmidt was reelected, but Rodham and Thomases became close friends.
In 1976, Thomases got a job in the Carter Administration as an aide to Vice President Mondale. In 1978, she ran former basketball star Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
's successful campaign to unseat New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
Senator Clifford P. Case
Clifford P. Case
Clifford Philip Case was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives and the State of New Jersey in the United States Senate .-Biography:Clifford P. Case was born in Franklin Park in Somerset County, New Jersey...
.
1992 Clinton campaign
Thomases joined Harold Ickes as early advisers to Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaignBill Clinton presidential campaign, 1992
Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for President of the United States was a critical turning point for the Democratic Party, which had controlled the White House for only four of the previous twenty-four years. Initially viewed as an unlikely prospect to win his party's nomination, Clinton did so and...
. She was eventually named as the campaign's chief scheduler. Hillary Clinton retained Thomases as her lawyer so that their discussions would be protected by attorney-client privilege
Attorney-client privilege
Attorney–client privilege is a legal concept that protects certain communications between a client and his or her attorney and keeps those communications confidential....
.
In early 1992, Hillary Clinton sent Thomases to be interviewed by New York Times investigative reporter Jeff Gerth
Jeff Gerth
Jeff Gerth is a former investigative reporter for The New York Times who has written lengthy, probing stories that drew both praise and criticism. He shared a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for his coverage of how American firms gave the Chinese access to sensitive technology related to satellite launches...
about the Clintons' dealings with the Whitewater Development Corporation
Whitewater Development Corporation
The Whitewater Development Corporation was a failed business venture of James and Susan McDougal with Bill and Hillary Clinton. The business was incorporated on June 18, 1979, with the purpose of developing vacation properties on 230 acres of land along the White River near Flippin, Arkansas.-...
(WDC). Thomases worked with Rose Law Firm
Rose Law Firm
Rose Law Firm is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is the oldest law firm in the United States west of the Mississippi River and the third oldest in the United States....
attorneys Vince Foster
Vince Foster
Vincent Walker Foster, Jr. was a Deputy White House Counsel during the first few months of President Bill Clinton's administration, and also a law partner and friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton...
and Webster Hubbell
Webster Hubbell
Webster Lee "Web" Hubbell , is a former Arkansas lawyer and politician. He was a lawyer in Pulaski County before serving as Mayor of Little Rock from 1979 until he resigned in 1981. He was appointed by Bill Clinton as chief justice of Arkansas State Supreme Court in 1983...
to review the firm's records regarding WDC and Madison Guaranty
Madison Guaranty
Madison Guaranty was a Little Rock, Arkansas financial trust company.Starting in 1982 and operated by Jim McDougal-Susan McDougal Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan failed in the late 1980s. On April 14, 1997, Jim McDougal was convicted of 18 felony counts of fraud conspiracy charges...
and provide documentation to the Times.
Clinton Administration transition
Once Bill Clinton was elected, Thomases did not take an official role at the White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, but she continued to advise the First Lady
First Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
in an unofficial capacity. Thomases helped to arrange an office for Hillary Clinton in the West Wing
West Wing
The West Wing is the building housing the official offices of the President of the United States. It is the part of the White House Complex in which the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room are located...
of the White House. This marked the first time that a First Lady had taken an office in the West Wing; First Ladies traditionally operated out of the East Wing. Thomases was granted a pass to enter the Executive Residence
Executive Residence
The Executive Residence is the central building of the White House Complex located between the East Wing and West Wing. This central building, first constructed 1792–1800, is home to the President of the United States and the First Family. The Executive Residence primarily occupies three floors:...
and became known among Hillary's staff as the "Midnight Caller".
Thomases suggested the name of her friend, Zoe Baird
Zoë Baird
Zoë Eliot Baird is an American lawyer who is president of the Markle Foundation. She is most known for her role in the Nannygate matter of 1993.-Biography:...
, for U.S. Attorney General. Confirmation hearings for Baird faltered when the story emerged that Baird had hired undocumented workers as domestic help.
Senate Whitewater Hearings
In May 1995, the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, which had come under Republican control after the 1994 midterm elections
United States Senate elections, 1994
The U.S. Senate election, 1994 was an election held on November 8, in which the Republican Party was able to take control of the Senate from the Democrats. In a midterm election, the opposition Republicans held the traditional advantage...
, convened the Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters, under the chairmanship of Senator Alfonse D'Amato.
Thomases was questioned by Senators D'Amato and Faircloth
Lauch Faircloth
Duncan McLauchlin "Lauch" Faircloth , served one term as a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.Before his Senate service, Faircloth was a prominent and wealthy hog farmer...
and majority counsel, Michael Chertoff
Michael Chertoff
Michael Chertoff was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush and co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. He previously served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as a federal prosecutor, and as assistant U.S. Attorney...
, about telephone calls that she had exchanged with Hillary Clinton, Hillary's chief of staff Maggie Williams
Maggie Williams
Margaret "Maggie" Ann Williams is a partner in Griffin Williams, a management-consulting firm. She was the campaign manager for Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Following Clinton's win in the New Hampshire primary in January 2008, Williams was brought onto the Clinton...
and White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum the morning after the suicide of Vince Foster
Vince Foster
Vincent Walker Foster, Jr. was a Deputy White House Counsel during the first few months of President Bill Clinton's administration, and also a law partner and friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton...
. After the telephone calls, Nussbaum had removed documents from Vince Foster's offices before they were searched by the FBI. Thomases testified that the calls were of a personal nature and that she had not discussed the impending search of Foster's office with Hillary Clinton.
In June 1996, the committee published its report, describing Thomases, Williams, Nussbaum and Hubbell as "not candid" and concluding that they had "provided inaccurate and incomplete testimony to the committee in order to conceal Mrs. Clinton's pivotal role in the decisions surrounding the handling of Mr. Foster's documents following his death." Thomases had answered "I don't recall" 184 times during the course of the hearings. Independent counsel Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston "Ken" Starr is an American lawyer and educational administrator who has also been a federal judge. He is best known for his investigation of figures during the Clinton administration....
rejected the committee's criminal referral against Thomases for possible perjury.
In recent years Thomases has suffered from multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
which compelled her to retire..