As New York's junior senator, Hillary Clinton has proved herself a paragon of poise - and one of the Democrats' brightest stars. She rivals President Bush in her ability to raise cash and is frequently touted as a future President herself.
But the charismatic Clinton was not always so polished.
New York attorney Joseph Califano Jr. - a longtime Democrat powerbroker who worked for Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter between stints as a corporate lawyer - remembers quite a different Hillary.
In his soon-to-be-published memoir, "Inside: A Public and Private Life," Califano recalls the first time he met the future First Lady, on July 24, 1970, during an era of protest and turmoil.
At a U.S. Senate hearing on the plight of migrant workers, Califano was representing Coca-Cola Chairman Paul Austin, whose corporate division, Minute Maid, was under fire in Florida.
"As [we] entered the Caucus Room on that steamy Washington morning, it was so jammed with spectators that many were standing and sitting on the floor," Califano writes. "Anti-establishment fervor ... was palpable in the hearing room.
"About halfway down the aisle, a young woman with dark hair and thick-rimmed glasses abruptly came in front of me and said, 'You sold out, you motherf-, you sold out!' I kept walking, pretending to ignore her."
The potty-mouthed protester was none other than Hillary Rodham.
Califano didn't take her outburst personally. Nearly three years later, he offered her a job at the bluechip Washington law firm Williams, Connolly & Califano - but she opted instead to join future hubby Bill Clinton in Arkansas.
My request for comment from Clinton was answered this way by her press secretary, Philippe Reines: "That is not consistent with the senator's recollection."
"We still haven't talked about the incident," Califano told me.
I have a feeling that's about to change.
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