Posted on 07/10/2004 3:50:33 PM PDT by wagglebee
In perhaps his most revealing interview since leaving office, former president Bill Clinton said Wednesday that during the early days of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, he felt he had no choice but to lie about his relationship with the former White House intern, because if he had told the truth, "the overwhelming likelihood is that I would have been forced from office."
In the past, Clinton has said he lied out of intense shame over his conduct and to spare his family the embarrassment such an admission would bring. He has also said he lied because of his concerns about the virtually unchecked powers of independent counsel Kenneth Starr.
But Wednesday night, in an extensive interview with PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Clinton offered another reason for his actions. It came in response to Lehrer's questions about the January 21, 1998 interview in which Lehrer was the first journalist to question Clinton about the Lewinsky matter. During that interview, Clinton said a number of times that, "There is no improper relationship....There is not a sexual relationship" — a use of the present tense that suggested he was trying to hide an earlier relationship with Lewinsky. On Wednesday, Lehrer asked the former president whether that answer had been "an intentional dodge."
"It was an intentional dodge," Clinton said. "I didn't want to lie to you, and I thought that I had to, as I said in the book, buy two weeks time for things to calm down in order to avoid having Ken Starr and his boys win this long fight that they were fighting against me."
As the scandal moved through its first week, however, Clinton's denials became more assertive and more definitive, culminating in his "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky" statement on January 26, 1998.
At times during those early days, before the White House gained traction in its counterattack against the independent counsel, Clinton appeared to have a tenuous hold on office. Even First Lady Hillary Clinton, in her famous "vast right-wing conspiracy" interview on January 27, said that if the allegations against her husband were proven true, "I think that would be a very serious offense." The worst-case scenario for the president was that he would lose the support of some Democrats in Congress, who might then join Republicans in pressing Clinton to leave. At that point, he might have found it very difficult to hold on.
Clinton conceded as much in the NewsHour interview Wednesday, when Lehrer asked Clinton, "If you had, in that interview with me, said, 'Yes, I did have an improper sexual relationship with this young women. I'm so sorry I did it. It was a terrible — and all the things you say now about it — 'It was a terrible mistake in judgment. It's an awful, awful thing,' what do you think would have happened?"
"I think that people would have said, 'He probably committed perjury at his deposition,'" the former president answered, "which I maintain to the present day that I did not."
"But the allegation is that you did," Lehrer said.
"That's correct," Clinton said. "And I think with — given the media hysteria and the fact that people were saying all the things that were said one more time, I was dead as could be, I think the overwhelming likelihood is that I would have been forced from office, because I think the Democrats would have — some Democrats might have abandoned me."
In his best-selling memoir, My Life, Clinton tells the story somewhat differently, leaving out the explicitly political calculation that lay behind his decision to deny a relationship with Lewinsky. "I was misleading everyone about my personal failings," Clinton writes on page 775. "I was embarrassed and wanted to keep it from my wife and daughter. I didn't want to help Ken Starr criminalize my personal life, and I didn't want the American people to know I'd let them down."
No doubt those matters did concern Clinton. But throughout the scandal, his most pressing consideration was keeping the support of congressional Democrats. At key points in the controversy — its first days, the week in August when Clinton testified before Starr's grand jury, the days leading up to impeachment — a loss of even a few key Democratic lawmakers might have been terribly damaging. But in the end, Democrats stayed in lockstep behind him, and Clinton survived.
http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/books/electivedecisions.shtml.
Stupid, literal computers...!
Clinton survived and the Democrats lost everything!!!They might have stayed in power had they kicked his butt out.
Everything I saw at the time indicated that Gore was already talking to people about who to nominate for VP. As much as I despise the Clinton's, the job their spin-machine did in the first few weeks was brilliant.
Thank you. That works. I'm just used to putting a period at the end of things. No matter how hard I try. I find myself doing it. Over and over. :)
...or is that really only one...?
Writing his book opened up a wellspring of regret and self-doubt and now that he has a website, Clinton muses on a daily basis, about all these previous battles: http://www.billclintondailydiary.blogspot.com/
Na! Just one. There's only one room for the original. :)
There is still a large (stupid, IMHO) segment of the population (Howie Carr refers to them as "Clinton R*mp-swabs") who would still worship the Sinkmeister -- even if he performed a live Bill/Monica scene in one of Jabba-the-Moore's Crock-a-mentaries...
This is OK but I'm still waitying for a full Jimmy Swagger out of this guy!
"narcissistic sociopath"
Sounds about right. On his blow-up interview on the BBC he got mad about Ken Starr runing the lives of the little people back in Arkansas. What about the women's lives he ruined with Carville's smear campaigns? Do they not count? Any CEO in the country would be forced to resign immediately if he sexually harassed an intern. They would do it out of shame if for no other reason. Clinton doesn't feel emotions like shame. When he said, "I feel your pain" he should have worded it, "I have been told you are in pain and I would like to use your pain to get elected." But that would have required honesty, which a sociopath doesn't see a need for. At least his actions show that philosophy classes are still teaching Machiavelli. "The Prince" could be his favorite book.
Slick Willie is one step up on the moral ladder from OJ Simpson. I think.
ping
He didn't have to worry. He had Trent Lott and several other Republican senators in his back pocket ready to bend over one more time - which they did, at the same time screwing over the House Republicans. Disgusting.
I lost faith in our society after this one. Up until then I truly believed that even the Left would dump this piece of trash. Not even close.
After hearing AlGore's lunatic rants last week; I can finally appreciate Clinton not resigning from office.
I asssume he is thus prepared to die for his country in light of his various offenses to the freedoms he has betrayed. Does he have a sword he can fall on, or was that among the various historically invaluable property items taken from the White House? /sarc.
First thing or President Bush did was replace the carpet!...
Replaced it after the whole house was scanned with a black-light. I'm sure there were 'stains' all over the place.
What the Senate did was jury nullification at the highest level. The OJ jury might have gotten confused, but I would hope our Senators would be smarter than that. Governing by opinion polls doesn't say much for any of them. The Democrats weren't just supporting 'their man' they were acting illegally by ignoring the proven charges. Now the Republicans who voted to acquit are really pathetic. They couldn't even cite party loyalty for why they ignored their sworn duty to uphold the law. A real sad time for everyone who would think that justice should truly be blind.
<< Bill Clinton Finally Comes Clean >>
Would that be that time in the oral orifice hand-basin?
Clinton will never come clean, he is a lawyer and a democrat, lying is second nature to them.
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