Godfather of the “politics of meaning,” a search for a more ethical, compassionate means of governing.

Hillary adopted Lerner’s rhetoric -“a sleeping sickness of the soul is at the root of America’s ills, " she said -in a speech in 1993. The press mocked her as “Saint Hillary,” and she quickly distanced herself from Lerner. The first to be tarred as a Clinton “guru,” he now publicly airs his bitterness about his White House experiences.

Rabbi and iconoclastic editor of Tikkun, a Jewish journal of culture and politics.

A former lounge singer, Williamson lectures and writes on the empowering nature of love, gratitude and forgiveness. Her 1992 “A Return to Love” sold more than 2 million copies. Dubbed by the press the “Mother Teresa of the'90s,” she’s actually a Jewish Texan who wears Armani and invokes Jesus and the Talmud.

It was Williamson, summoned to Camp David by the Clintons, who introduced Jean Houston to the First Couple.

A Hollywood fixture, she officiated at Elizabeth Taylor’s 1991 marriage to Larry Fortensky.

Nebraska psychologist whose bestselling “Reviving Ophelia, " about how negative images and overburdened families harm young women, landed her on “Oprah.”

Had coffee at the White House to discuss “the pressures confronting teenage girls today,” according to Hillary’s newspaper column.

Her speaking tour is booked solid to 1998, but she still owns only two business suits.

Rutgers political scientist Barber’s pitch for a more civil political process has earned him a halfdozen trips to the White House. The wide-ranging discussions, he says, “are a Hell of a lot more disciplined than academic conferences.”

His local education-based community-service program served as a model for AmeriCorps. Barber also consults on Clinton’s high-profile speeches.

Author of the critical hit “Jihad vs. McWorld.”

The San Diego-based “performance coach” counts the L.A. Kings, Andre Agassi and Wall Street traders among his clients, charging fees in excess of $1 million. Best-selling author of “Awaken the Giant Within,” he airs infomercials that are notoriously slick-but they’ve sold 25 million tapes.

A member of the Camp David coterie, he still stays in touch with the president, and a recent infomercial features a snapshot of him and Bill.

Teaches the underempowered to walk on hot coals.

Public TV commentator and distinguished presidential biographer, including the 1995 Pulitzer Prizewinning biography of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

After hearing Goodwin talk about her work on the radio in 1994, Hillary invited her to a White House sleepover. The women talked through half the night about –though not directly to–Hillary’s favorite First Lady.

Her popular “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys” became a frisky TV miniseries.

Styron, a well-known human-rights activist, shares Hillary’s concern for women’s issues and children, though Styron says they are as likely to swap “girl talk” as thoughts on Bosnia.

The Martha’s Vineyard denizen first met Hillary during the First Family’s vacations there.

The Vineyard’s unofficial laureate; wife of novelist William Styron.

Harvard-trained anthropologist, daughter of Margaret Mead and author of metaphor-filled books about learning from experience.

Accompanied Jean Houston to Camp David and helped with “It Takes a Village.” “[Bateson] and I spent hours discussing ways in which women in different societies attempt to fulfill their responsibilities,” Hillary says.

outed her mother’s bisexuality in her 1984 memoir.

A former management professor and a devout Mormon. Covey’s 1989 ““The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’’ spent four years on best-seller lists. Key habit: ““think win/win.’’ The Covey Leadership Center empire grossed $78 million last year.

After attending the 1994 Camp David get-together, Clinton asked Covey to the White House in ‘95 to conduct a seminar on ““conflict resolution’’ for the president’s aides.

Both sides of the political aisle tout ““Seven Habits’’ – Newt Gingrich made it recommended reading for the new Republican House.