Robert Barnett, a prominent Washington, D.C., attorney who secured blockbuster book deals for presidents and media stars alike, has died. He was 79.
Barnett, who was born in Illinois, was the literary representative for Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton and dozens of other leaders and media moguls. He also represented Edward M. Kennedy, Dick Cheney and Mitch McConnell. He embodied an era when working freely with both Democrats and Republicans was commonplace.
He died Thursday night at Sibley Memorial Hospital of an “undisclosed illness,” one of Barnett’s partners at Williams & Connolly, Michael F. O’Connor, told The Associated Press. Additional details were not immediately available.
A stocky, raspy-voiced man with tortoiseshell glasses, antique cuff links and a knack for being both forthright and discrete, Barnett was a longtime Democrat who worked on Jimmy Carter’s 1976 campaign and helped Bill Clinton and other candidates in debate preparation.
He would broker contracts for such a wide range of political figures that he liked to joke that having all his clients gather in one room would result in “World War III.”
Barnett made clear he was not a literary agent but an attorney, billing by the hour instead of taking royalties, a system that left everyday writers out but delivered millions for his marquee clients.
The Clintons described Barnett as a “brilliant lawyer” who meant a lot to them.