Jill Wine-Banks
Throughout her career, Jill Wine-Banks has blazed a trail as the first woman in a series of professional positions. She was the first female trial attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, and from 1973 to 1975, she was the only woman on the Watergate special prosecutor’s trial team. Soon after the conclusion of the Watergate trials, she became the first woman to serve as General Counsel of the Army. In her debut book, of justice, Jill Wine-Banks will take us inside her trial by fire as a Watergate prosecutor. At once a cautionary tale and an inspiration for those who believe in the power of justice and the rule of law, The Watergate Girl is a revelation about our country, our politics, and our society.
After the Pentagon, Wine-Banks returned to Chicago, her hometown, as a partner in Jenner & Block before serving as the first Solicitor General of Illinois, the first female Deputy Attorney General, and first female executive director of the American Bar Association. She next held international business roles at Motorola and Maytag and went on to become CEO of Winning Workplaces, a nonprofit dedicated to helping small businesses. From there, she became Chief Officer for the Chicago Public Schools’ career and technical education program, where she helped to create the DeVry University Advantage Academy, an early-college high school.
Wine-Banks is now an MSNBC Legal Analyst, a sought-after speaker, and a debut author. She appears frequently on radio, foreign television, and as an expert and opinion writer in print media. She has been featured in several documentaries (ABC 20/20, NARA oral history) and in two movies, Academy Award winner Charles Ferguson’s Watergate, Robert Redford’s All the President’s Men Revisited, and Michael Moore’s 11/9. She is a member of the Chicago Network and the International Woman’s Forum and a board member of the Better Government Association and Governor’s State University. Her speaking engagements include Google; the ABA; universities and law schools across the nation; the League of Women Voters; the NY Society of Ethical Culture; and numerous civic, political, and nonprofit organizations.
She has received numerous awards, including several from the United States Department of Justice and the highest civilian award given by the United States Army, as well as awards from the YWCA, the Girl Scouts, the Women’s Bar Association, Chicago Illini of the Year, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Who’s Who in America.
Trade Paperback
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Obstruction of justice, the specter of impeachment, sexism at work, shocking revelations: Jill Wine-Banks takes us inside her trial by fire as a Watergate prosecutor.
It was a time, much like today, when Americans feared for the future of their democracy, and women stood up for equal treatment. At the crossroads of the Watergate scandal ...Read More
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The Watergate Girl
A memoir of Jill’s time as a young lawyer and the only woman on the trial team of the Watergate Special Prosecutor, recounting her key role in breaking open the case against Richard Nixon.
From Watergate to Trumpgate
Applying the lessons of the Nixon era to today’s political scene.
Protecting Democracy in the Time of Trump
How to safeguard our treasured institutions when the foundations of society are threatened by those in power.
Sexual Harassment Then and Now
Perspectives on sexism in the workplace from the 1970s to #MeToo.
Watch Jill Wine-Banks on CNN speak on her experience with Watergate.
NPR interviewed Jill Wine-Banks about the Mueller Report.
Vogue wrote about the pins Jill Wine-Banks wears on television.
Watch Jill Wine-Banks’s past television appearances.
Follow Jill Wine-Banks on Twitter, like her page on Facebook, and check out her personal website.
Praise for The Watergate Girl
“Riding the crest of the #MeToo movement, Wine-Banks describes the mostly workaday sexism she encountered on the job. . . . The book’s fast-moving narrative and crisp prose should hook readers.”
—Boston Globe“An intimate, powerful personal story. Jill Wine-Banks is not afraid to share and tell all her experiences and opinions. And I promise you she does.”
—Bob Woodward“A lively and engrossing account and a timely reminder of how an able and dedicated lawyer and her colleagues held a president and his minions accountable—and why it was vital to do so. It is also an important story of how a young woman confronted a ‘man’s world,’ and dealt with her own vulnerabilities and personal crises at the same time.”
—Elizabeth Holtzman, former member of the House Judiciary Committee“Such a wonderful book! Jill Wine-Banks makes the Watergate scandal seem as current as today. She has written a fascinating, intimate account of her role as a young assistant special prosecutor—and also her #MeToo experiences in a series of groundbreaking jobs.”
—Susan Page, Washington bureau chief, USA Today, and author of The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty“Come with Jill Wine-Banks back to a time when women were ‘girls,’ accomplished professionals were mistaken for prostitutes, and a determined figure that one headline identified as ‘The Leggiest Watergate Lawyer’ rose above it all to do something heroic: bring down a criminal president. A riveting and wonderfully crafted memoir for our time.”
—Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan“What Jill Wine-Banks did in the early 1970s is the stuff of legend: She got the goods on a corrupt president and used the power of the law to call him and his henchmen to account. The Watergate Girl tells an inspiring story for our troubled times—bravely, wittily, and wisely, with piercing insight and bracing literary verve.”
—John Heilemann, host of Showtime’s “The Circus,” editor in chief of The Recount, and coauthor of Game Change“A timely reminder of a notorious scandal that resulted in a president’s impeachment. . . . An absorbing debut memoir . . . [and] a penetrating, firsthand view of history.”
—Kirkus Reviews“Sprightly and engrossing . . . Wine-Banks reveals tantalizing behind-the-scenes details that bring that pivotal time in the nation’s history back to life and relevancy. . . . A captivating and candid look back on a storied career.”
—BooklistBook This Speaker
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