New York Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday agreed to accept an $8 million advance for a memoir of her eight years as First Lady. The advance, from publishers Simon & Schuster, falls just short of the record $8.5 million received by Pope John Paul II in 1994.
A source close to Mrs Clinton said the book would include "a dignified discussion" of her marriage and her husband's impeachment. Mrs Clinton will take 18 months to two years to write the book, which is expected to be published in early 2003.
The deal was brokered by Washington lawyer Mr Robert Barnett, who represents the Clinton family in literary endeavours. Simon & Schuster has published the First Lady's other books, including It Takes a Village and Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets. A source close to Mrs Clinton said that an undetermined portion of the proceeds of the memoir would go to charity. All profits from her previous White House books went to charity.
An auction was conducted to determine a fair market value for the book, the source said, adding that the advance was not unusual for a book by the "most famous woman in the world".
The New York Daily News has reported that Senator John McCain (R-Ariz) has suggested that the contract be reviewed by the Senate Ethics Committee.
Under Senate ethics rules, senators are allowed to receive payments for book deals "so long as such fees" are "in accordance with the usual and customary contractual terms" governing book contracts.
When then House speaker Mr Newt Gingrich was offered a $4.5 million advance six years ago to write two books for a publishing company controlled by Mr Rupert Murdoch, Democrats kept up a daily barrage of criticism on the House floor.
Finally, a bitter Mr Gingrich decided to forgo the advance and accept a $1 contract and standard royalties, not to exceed 15 percent. At the time, Mr Murdoch had billions of dollars at stake in telecommunications business pending before the federal government. The affair hardened the battle lines in the House, where Republicans had just swept Democrats out of office.
The Senate, which sees itself as the more cerebral and dignified chamber of Congress, has produced many authors, including Mr McCain and Mr Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the man Mrs Clinton is replacing in New York.