It's hard to believe that noone at the Kennedy school picked up on how easy it was for Paula to get so close to gen. Petraeus. She herself expressed surprise and was so evidently pleased. That stood out in an interview I did with her in 2009 about leadership qualities of US military officers for the Danish newspaper I work as the US correspondent for. At the time, I remember thinking how odd it was that he would open so much up and give so much access to an unproven bookwriter, someone who had never published a book.

Paula told me they would go jogging together and I thought - amazing!

”He has been incredible in letting me interview him. We speak almost on a daily basis. I interview him weekly and I jump on a plane and talk to him. In our last interview last week we were jogging in Washington, D.C. I got a call at 1:00 pm. from somebody telling me that gen. Petraeus would like you to run with him this afternoon. I was in middle of meeting.”

She was fawning in describing Petraeus as a leader, almost bordering on the absurd. On the other hand, she did not seem to be scheming to get him, she was just plainly fascinated by this famous general.

Here is how she described Petraeus:

”He has magical ability… whether you are subordinate or superior, he is so charming and so knowledgable and so humble, he knows he can’t do it alone and he is not cavalier. But he is also unstoppable, if he has an idea that he knows is right he pushes very hard. So, I dont know how he deals with Obama if they dont agree. He is so dedicated to our national security that he would sacrifice his reputation to do what is right.”