Scholar, mother, achiever: the woman behind Petraeus scandal

When Paula Broadwell first met David Petraeus in 2006, she was a soldier-turned-graduate student at Harvard University. The acclaimed US Army general gave her his card and offered to help her with her studies.

When Paula Broadwell first met David Petraeus in 2006, she was a soldier-turned-graduate student at Harvard University. The acclaimed US Army general gave her his card and offered to help her with her studies.

Paula-Broadwell-author-of-the-David-Petraeus-biography-All-In

Broadwell soon began trading emails with the general, and four years later she was in Afghanistan turning a dissertation about his leadership into a book published this year entitled 'All In.' Interviews for the book often took place on endurance-testing runs together, she would later say.

"That was the foundation of our relationship," Broadwell said of their runs when promoting the book on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show TV program in January.

That relationship is now at the center of a scandal that has not only ended Petraeus' short tenure as director of the Central Intelligence Agency but also badly tarnished the reputation of a revered military leader.

And it has raised awkward questions about whether the White House had any inkling of the problem before the November 6 presidential election.

Former CIA director Gen. Davis Petraeus shaking hands with Paula Broadwell, co-author of 'All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.' AP photo