President Bill Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, in 1995. Later in 1998, when confronted with questions in regards to an affair with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton lied under oath in front of a grand jury. This, however, was not his first lapse in judgment as viewed by the Senate and Congress. The President and his wife, Hillary, found themselves involved in the Whitewater scandal beginning in 1978. In addition, during his campaign, Clinton was accused of draft dodging and rumors were spread in regards to his possible marriage infidelity. President Bill Clinton continued to find himself caught in the middle of scandals involving: Whitewater, Paula Jones, and most notably, Monica Lewinsky. The way Clinton handled …show more content…
Following the hearings on Whitewater, Monica S. Lewinsky began working as an unpaid intern in the White House chief of staff’s office. In August of 1995, Monica attended a surprise birthday gathering for the President on the South Lawn. While there, the President shook her hand as she wished him a happy birthday. Monica would later describe this encounter to the Office of Independent Council, in the presence of a grand jury, as the beginning of a “flirtation that went on at a distance.” (Gormley 235). On November 13, 1995, Monica received a promotion to a paid position in the Office of Legislative Affairs located in the East Wing. Two days later, Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich issued a government shutdown. Monica reported to work during the shutdown and at one point during the day, Monica and the President’s paths crossed. Monica passed by the door to the inner office of the West Wing and saw Clinton standing by himself. Lewinsky then lifted her jacket to show Clinton the straps of her underwear. Clinton invited her into his private study where they kissed for the first time. Monica Lewinsky testified: “We talked briefly and sort of acknowledged there had been a chemistry that was there before and that we were both attracted to each other and then he asked me if he could kiss me” (The History Place). Later that evening, they had a more
The first reason why Clinton was the worst President is because of the scandals of his extra marital affairs that came out to light. Clinton impressed people with the idea of a family man in office. In the face of allegations that he committed adultery and maintained a twelve-year love affair with Gennifer Flowers, Clinton used five strategies: denial, bolstering, attack accuser, transcendence, and differentiation (Blaney & Benoit, 2002). His strategies would not work again when the media brought to light another affair. It was a slap to the face of the Americans when in 1995 Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern (Blaney & Benoit, 2002). Clinton lied about his relationship with Lewinsky and he allowed his family, cabinet and staff to repeat his lies for seven months while he remained silent (Blaney & Benoit, 2002). Pandora’s Box was open and the reason for his impeachment is that he lied under oath during the testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment suit, and to the grand jury during the Monica Lewinsky investigation. So, the question arises, “Do we want our Chief Executive and Commander-in- Chief distracted by scandal when facing decisions of great domestic and foreign importance?” Regardless of one’s ideological learnings the answer ought to be “no,” because potential problems affecting all Americans might develop without recourse to the best possible decisions (Blaney & Benoit, 2002).This brought doubt among the American people that his
This trial took place in 1999. Before Clinton was ever elected as president he had an encounter with a women by the name of Paula Jones. Paula Jones would come out about the encounter after Clinton was elected to presidency. In July of 1995, women by the name of Monica Lewinsky would be hired as an intern for Clinton. Months later they would begin having sexual relations. Mr. Kenneth Starr was put in charge of the investigation of Clinton and Lewinsky’s relationship. Clinton denies the fact that he had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky at all times. In October 1998, the House would vote to have an impeachment trial and would win with a vote of 258 to 176. By the time the trial ended, Bill Clinton would not be kicked out of the office by the
The worries did not stop at the Jones case though. In 1995, Clinton allegedly started to have an affair with one of his interns, Monica Lewinsky who was 21 years old at the time. No one
The reason why he faced impeachment is because in November 1995, Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, she was a 21 year old unpaid intern. In April 1996, Lewinsky was transferred to the Pentagon. In the summer, Monica confided in Pentagon co-worker Linda Tripp about her relationship with the president. In 1997, the relationship was over, Linda began to secretly record conversations with Lewinsky, so she would get details about the affair. In December, lawyers for Paula Jones brought Monica. In January 1998, allegedly under the recommendation of the president, Monica denied having a relationship with the president. Five days later, Linda contacted the office of Kenneth Starr, the Whitewater counsel, to talk about Monica and the tapes she made of their conversations. Linda, who was wired by FBI agents, met with Monica again and Monica was taken by FBI agents and U.S. attorneys to a hotel room where she was questioned and was offered immunity if she cooperated. Few days later, the story was out and Clinton denied the allegations saying, “I did not have a relationship with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.” Clinton spoke a live television to a grand jury in a nearby federal courthouse. He was the first sitting president to testify before a grand jury investigating his conduct. Clinton gave a four minute televised address to the nation which he admitted he had a relationship with Lewinsky. On December 11th, the House Judiciary Committee
One of the things Clinton is most famous for, but not the proudest of, is his affairs. The issue of Clinton having an affair with Monica Lewinsky is purely personal. It should have been discussed within his family and in his family alone. Many people seem to forget that Presidents before him have done the exact same thing. John F Kennedy is probably the best known with his affairs. This doesn't diminish the fact that Clinton took it one step farther and lied about the affairs.
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman." was one of Bill Clinton’s famous political one-liners. In the past decade, many people have made it their mission to prosecute Democratic President William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton for committing real estate fraud known as the Whitewater scandal and his involvement in numerous illicit sex scandals like the Paula Jones lawsuit and the Monica Lewinsky lawsuit to name a few. The significance of the Whitewater trials and the impeachment of the president is that it served as an example for future presidents and assured the people that the president is subjected to the law, not above it. If he
In the 1980’s, the United States was in a recession. Clinton’s presidency helped America get out of the red and was finally out of debt. During this time, crime rates rose as well as poverty and unemployment. Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 as a Democrat, and ran again in 1996 to be re-elected. Clinton’s Presidency consisted of many improvements within the nation, but also the collapse of his reputation. Throughout his presidency, Clinton was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice due to an affair with Monica Lewinsky. Although Clinton was a member of the Democratic Party, he worked with the Congressional Republicans throughout his presidency, in order to unite the two parties while he was in office. Both Clinton and the Republican
The United States' 42nd president, Bill Clinton, became notorious after his scandal with his secretary, Monica S. Lewinsky. He was asked on multiple occasions about this affair, but he lied, stating he did not have a intimate relationship with Lewinsky. However, he eventually confessed in an interview about the affair. Clinton displayed disloyalty to his wife, but he also led people to question his loyalty to the country because of his deceit. According to Michael Isikoff, “...That’s when I knew this was an earthquake. Washington was about to explode…”(“Politico”). Loyalty is an issue that is tested and questioned numerous times throughout history, and it is also a common theme in books and movies.The Odyssey is an acclaimed story that displays
As President Clinton’s second term came to an end his time in office would be seen as one of the most disgraceful and embarrassing presidencies in American history. For only the second time in presidential history the United States of America had impeached their president, and for the first time in history the president went to court for sexual allegations. At the end of the trial Clinton had only one thing to say, “I am profoundly
Hilary went on to be highly involved with the presidential impeachment inquiry during the Watergate
Everything was going great until the media found out about a secret affair between the president and white house intern Monica Lewinsky. Once this story hit newsstands across the nation the president was the only name people were talking about. It has been heard of before about former president John F. Kennedy with celebrity actress Marylin Monroe, but the nation found out about it after his death, so Americans didn’t take it to heart so severely as they did with Clinton. Because of this incident he was looked at more thoroughly by all government officials, so he was taken to court on accounts of perjury and obstruction of justice for that same incident with Monica
There was an unpaid intern who was seen to be flirting with Bill Clinton during an informal birthday party.
While it is too early to accurately judge the presidency of Bill Clinton, most would agree that he was successful in office. He was the first democrat to successfully be reelected since Franklin Roosevelt. Yet, when a sufficient amount of time has passed and historians attempt to categorize and analyze Bill Clinton’s presidency, his legacy will ultimately be tied to scandal. The numerous scandals that Clinton faced – and survived –were an important aspect of the Clinton presidency. On one hand, they showed the well-documented weakness of Clinton’s personal character – his infidelities, his evasiveness, and his lack of integrity. Yet, Clinton’s ability to survive these scandals are a true testament how politically cunning and brilliant the man was.
President Clinton was a man entangled in his own ruins. He went from one lie to another and eventually was so caught up in them, that he was trapped. These lies brought on his downfall as a great leader. He was flawed like everyone, yet being a representative of the people, you need to keep these flaws hidden so that weakness is not shown. His failings were revealed to the whole world and his pride and integrity fell with them. The world no longer saw a leader, but a broken man. This was his ultimate failure. However, another big failure Clinton had while in office was his failure to
There was an issue in 1998 that involved personal indiscretions with a young woman White House intern, which cause Bill to be the second U.S. President to be impeached by the House of Representatives.