Spitzer Walks Long Road to Redemption

As he returns to the public eye, Eliot Spitzer is working on being a normal person—a daunting task for a man long accustomed to power, Jonathan Darman writes in a Newsweek cover story. He’s grown less image-conscious, often spotted jogging around New York in sweatpants. And he makes no bones about having disgraced himself and his family. "No question about that," Spitzer says, admitting he knew hiring a prostitute was wrong.

Some may be ready to forgive Spitzer the man. When he’s recognized on the street, “it's a full range of emotions: I love you. I hate you,” says a friend. But “Spitzer the politician will always have to answer for being Client No. 9,” Darman writes. For now, he’s content as a political commentator with a unique perspective. As for the future: “I know what I'm running from," he says. "What am I turning toward, that's the bigger problem."
(Read more Eliot Spitzer stories.)