By Ann-Marie Imbornoni and Tasha Vincent | InfoPlease
Clinton became the 42nd U.S. president following a
turbulent political campaign that included vigorous personal attacks on his
character. The "character issue" stemmed from allegations of
infidelity, which Clinton and his wife Hillary refuted in a television
interview, asserting that their relationship was solid. Throughout his term in
office, Clinton was also dogged by allegations relating to the failed
Whitewater real estate deal, in which he and Hillary had been involved prior to
the 1992 election. Though the Clintons were never accused of any wrongdoing,
partners in the venture were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in a trial in
1996.
Following his election to a second term in 1996, Clinton
came under increasing pressure from Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who
in 1994 took over the investigation of the Clintons' involvement in the
Whitewater land deal. Over time, Starr's brief was expanded to include other
matters, such as the death of White House lawyer Vincent Foster, the handling
of firings in the White House travel office, and shocking allegations of sexual
misconduct by Clinton.
In Jan. 1998, Clinton was called to testify in a
long-pending sexual harassment suit brought against him by Paula Corbin Jones,
a former Arkansas state employee. In his testimony, Clinton denied that he had
had a sexual relationship with a young White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, and
that he had attempted to cover it up. Although a federal judge in Arkansas
threw out the Jones sexual harassment suit in April 1998, the same judge fined
Clinton $90,000 in July 1999, after finding him guilty of giving false and
misleading testimony in the Jones case over the alleged affair with Lewinsky.
Meanwhile, the Lewinsky affair became the focus of Kenneth Starr's
investigation as well as a national obsession.
On Aug. 17, 1998, after relentless media attention,
leaks, and news of Lewinsky's upcoming testimony, Clinton made history by
becoming the first U.S. president to testify in front of a grand jury in an
investigation of his own possibly criminal conduct. In an address to the nation
that evening, he admitted to having had an "inappropriate
relationship" with Lewinsky, but reaffirmed that he did not ask anyone to
lie about or cover up the affair.
Paradoxically, in spite of the scandalous outcome of
events, Clinton's overall popularity among Americans remained high. For the
most part, the country seemed willing to ignore his weaknesses in character, as
long as the economy was good, his policies were popular, and the United States
remained strong abroad.
On Sept. 9, 1998, Kenneth Starr—a conservative Republican
whose investigation was seen by Clinton supporters as a politically inspired
vendetta—delivered his report to the House of Representatives. While the report
outlined 11 possible grounds for impeachment, none stemmed from the initial
subjects of the investigation, including the Whitewater real estate deal. The
real focus of the accusations seemed to be Clinton's moral conduct, and the
"Starr Report" graphically detailed his sexual affair.
Despite the American population's general disapproval of
a trial (which was reflected in poll after poll), Congress moved forward in its
highly partisan impeachment proceedings, and on Dec. 19 Clinton became the
second president in American history to be impeached. Two of the four articles
of impeachment passed (Article I, grand jury perjury, and Article III,
obstruction of justice), the votes drawn along party lines. After a Senate
trial in Jan.-Feb. 1999, Clinton was acquitted on both counts.
On Jan. 19, 2001, the day before he left office, Clinton
reached an agreement with independent counsel Robert Ray, the special
prosecutor who had succeeded Kenneth Starr. In exchange for immunity from
prosecution on perjury charges after he left office, Clinton admitted giving
false testimony about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and he agreed to
accept a five-year suspension of his Arkansas law license and to pay a fine of
$25,000. The deal also satisfied the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee, which
had sought to disbar Clinton for giving misleading testimony in the Jones case.
Despite having settled the long-standing legal battle,
Clinton continued to stir up controversy. In his final days, he issued some 140
pardons, including one to billionaire fugitive financier Marc Rich. The pardon
outraged many Democrats and Republicans alike, and the Justice Department began
a criminal investigation to determine if the pardon was related to the $1.5
million donated to the Democratic Party and Clinton's library by Rich's
ex-wife, Denise Rich.
