The iconic phrase "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" is one that is etched into many Americans' memories. The scandal between President Clinton and his sexual affair with Ms. Lewinsky was not only troubling to the nation but also led to him almost being impeached from office.
Their relationship began in 1995 and in the summer of 1996 Lewinsky told an employee by the name of Linda Tripp about her relationship with President Clinton. On December 17, 1997, Lewinsky was subpoenaed for a case by Paula Jones, someone else suing President Clinton for sexual harassment charges. She denied ever having a relationship with the president. However, her colleague Ms. Tripp made recordings of Lewinsky talking about the affair, and the tape was given to Ken Starr, the head of the investigation team. During this time, Lewinsky was contacted by the FBI and U.S. attorneys and offered immunity in exchange for cooperation the investigation.
The news of the possible affair broke in January of 1998, and President Clinton responded with his iconic line to the American people over television. Later that year, Lewinsky testified in front of a grand jury. Contradicting his denial of his actions in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, President Clinton admitted to having an affair. He ended up being the first sitting president to ever testify before a jury that was investigating his conduct. In that same evening, he admitted to the American public that he had previously lied that he indeed had an affair. Shortly thereafter, Starr submitted his evidence to the House of Representatives. With the evidence, there was a potential impeachment case against the president in regards to perjury, obstruction of justice, etc. In October, Congress called for an impeachment inquiry. Congress followed in December by actually impeaching President Clinton. At the start of 1999, the trial of President Clinton was underway in the Senate. On February 12th, the Senate voted if he should be removed from office. Both articles of impeachment that Clinton was acquitted did not receive enough votes to warrant a conviction.
In the aftermath, Clinton's license to practice law was suspended and he was disbarred from presenting cases to the Supreme Court. He expressed his regret to the American people. Despite it all, Clinton was still able to finish his term, but Ms. Lewinsky's reputation was destroyed as a result of the publicity.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/resources/lewinsky/timeline/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-clinton-impeached
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/clinton081898.htm
This was really well written and easy to understand! I liked how it wasn't overly long and concise but informative. This incident is often told in different ways and has created confusion about the truth, but this post helped me understand the details on what actually happened. I see a similarity with Nixon's Watergate Scandal where upon taking one immoral action, the president's career and reputation are ruined, regardless of previous presidential actions that have benefitted the society. Why didn't Senate reach the 2/3 majority they needed for forced resignation? I think that the Democrats in the Senate did not want to ruin their image by being the first party to get pulled from office.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I think this was an excellent topic to write about because it is something that everyone has heard of but that no one really knows the full story. I really like how you provided where the evidence of Clintons accusations came from. It was something really interesting to learn about.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think that this was one of the most important issues in American history because it eroded America's trust in Clinton and Democrats in general. After Clinton, Bush was elected for two terms in a row. It also negatively affected the public perception of Clinton's wife, even though she the actions were not her own. Whether or not the Lewinsky scandal caused Hillary to lose the election, it certainly played a part in the public's distrust. Whether it is fair or not, personal affairs rather than policies are universal in influencing voters.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post! I like how much information you included in a blog that wasn't so long that made the reader lose interest. One of the more interesting aspects of this scandal is what happened when it was proved to be true. One might expect the public to lose trust and the president to lose support, but instead Clinton's popularity rates rose. This is possibly because the scandal made him more relatable to the public. I wonder if reliability is a factor politicians should play into.
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