Pamela Harriman was the seductress of the century – from Churchill to Clinton – this is how she did it

Pamela Harriman was attending the glitzy White House Correspondents’ dinner in spring 1993 when Barbra Streisand sidled up to her and whispered the question on many women’s lips: just what is your secret? open image in gallery Pamela leaving St John’s Church, Westminster, London, after her wedding to Randolph Churchill, 1939 Knowing this, Pamela fixed her large sapphire eyes on his, laughed at his attempts at repartee with her tongue pointed erotically behind her teeth and lightly stroked his forearm as he talked. She did a strokey, strokey of their forearm, saying, ‘I’d love it if you could do.’ and they all promised to do it and came away feeling terrific Sven Erik Holmes, Harriman’s former chief of staff Even when they parted after four years, the eternally grateful Agnelli called her every morning at seven for the rest of her life. open image in gallery Pamela was one of the first to spot Bill Clinton’s potential as president, both pictured here at a campaign fundraiser in 1992, even if she was aware of his flaws Now happily married, she was no longer in the business of physical conquest but nevertheless knew how to marshal her skills as a seductress to persuade politicians to do her bidding. “She did a strokey, strokey of their forearm, saying, ‘I’d love it if you could do.’ and they all promised to do it and came away feeling terrific.” Later, after Averell also died, Pamela took several younger men as lovers and enchanted many more.