As the lone female lawyer on the staff of Watergate special prosecutors Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski, Wine-Banks drew commentary as much for her wardrobe of fashionable mini-skirts as for her fierce legal acumen. Her deft cross-examination of President Nixon’s personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, revealed the implausibility behind the infamous 18-minute gap in a key Oval Office tape. As tenacious and astute as her male colleagues, however, Wine-Banks was nonetheless subjected to sexist commentary throughout the Watergate trial, remarks she shut down with quick and undeniable confidence. In this sprightly and engrossing memoir of her time in those fraught, gender-challenged trenches, Wine-Banks reveals tantalizing behind-the-scenes details that bring that pivotal time in the nation’s history back to life and relevancy. Ever the trailblazer, Wine-Banks would go on, post-Watergate, to be nominated by President Jimmy Carter as the first General Counsel of the U.S. Army, serve as the first woman executive director of the American Bar Association, and provide expert commentary on legal affairs for MSNBC. A captivating and candid look back on a storied career.
— Carol Haggas