Defending the American Presidency: Clinton and the Lewinsky Scandal

264 Pages·2001·0.998 MB·English

by  Robert Busby (auth.)

Defending the American Presidency
Also by Robert Busby
REAGAN AND THE IRAN–CONTRA AFFAIR: The Politics of Presidential Recovery
Defending the
American Presidency
Clinton and the Lewinsky Scandal
Robert Busby
Lecturer in American Studies
Liverpool Hope University College
© Robert Busby 2001
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2001 978-0-333-91250-8
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First published 2001 by
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Busby,Robert.
Defending the American presidency :Clinton and the Lewinsky
scandal / Robert Busby.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Clinton,Bill,1946–—Impeachment.2.Clinton,Bill,1946––
–Public opinion.3.Clinton,Bill,1946–—Sexual behavior.
4.Lewinsky,Monica S.(Monica Samille),1973– 5.United States–
–Politics and government—1993–2001.6.Scandals—United
States—History—20th century.7.Public relations and politics–
–United States—History—20th century.8.Public opinion–
–United States—History—20th century.9.Crisis management in
government—United States—History—20th century.10.Mass
media—Political aspects—United States—History—20th century.
I.Title.
E886.2 .B87 2001
973.929’092—dc21
2001031546
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
Contents
List of Tables and Exhibits vi
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
1 The Clinton Scandal Epidemic 15
2 The Lewinsky Affair 46
3 Protecting the President: Damage Limitation and
the Lewinsky Scandal 70
4 The Starr Investigation 117
5 Impeachment and Trial 137
6 The Media: Intrigue and Revulsion 170
7 Public Opinion: Reluctant Observers 187
Conclusion 215
Notes 224
Index 248
v
List of Tables and Exhibits
Tables
1.1 Modern presidential scandal: a summary 19
1.2 The Whitewater investigation: the key events 32
1.3 Congressional investigation of Whitewater: the key
events 34
2.1 Clinton–Lewinsky contact, 1995–8 56
2.2 Key events: Clinton and Lewinsky, 1995–8 59
3.1 Damage limitation: January–October 1998 76
3.2 January–September 1998: Key public statements
by Clinton on the Lewinsky scandal 83
4.1 Leaks and the Office of the Independent Counsel 122
4.2 The release of the Starr Report: the key events 132
5.1 The House Judiciary Committee: the impeachment
proceedings, October–December 1998 146
5.2 Articles of impeachment: a summary 150
5.3 Impeachment articles: the votes by the House
Judiciary Committee 151
5.4 Impeachment, 19 December 1998: the votes in
the House of Representatives 156
5.5 The Senate trial: January–February 1999 163
5.6 The vote in the Senate: 12 February 1999 165
6.1 Approval/disapproval of the media coverage of the
investigation of Clinton 182
6.2 Television access to the Senate trial 183
6.3 Opinion on the national media 185
7.1 Starr’s declining popularity: January 1998 favorability
ratings 191
7.2 Starr: partisan or impartial? 192
7.3 Clinton and Nixon: comparable scandals? 193
7.4 Popular reaction to allegations of a presidential affair 197
7.5 Clinton job approval: 16–28 January 1998 197
7.6 Clinton’s job approval rating: March 1998 200
7.7 President Clinton: lying under oath? 201
7.8 Clinton’s job approval and personal approval
ratings: 17–18 August 1998 202
vi
List of Tables and Exhibits vii
7.9 Public opinion and the Congress 204
7.10 Public interest in the Starr Report 205
7.11 The release of the Grand Jury videotape 206
7.12 Public attention to the impeachment
proceedings: December/January 1998–9 207
7.13 Viewership of the Senate trial: January 1999 210
7.14 Looking to the future: avoiding scandal politics 210
Exhibit
4.1 The Starr Report: grounds for impeachment 129
Acknowledgements
I’m most grateful to Louise Atkinson for her encouragement and
understanding during the creation of this work and for tolerating my
preoccupation with the Clinton scandals over many months.
Thanks to my parents and sister for their support during the develop-
ment of this work. Several friends and colleagues offered helpful and
constructive advice in the creation of this text and their input proved
invaluable, particularly Mike O’Grady, Kevin Felstead and Steve Perrin.
I am particularly grateful to Palgrave and its editorial staff, in particular
Alison Howson.
I’d also like to express my appreciation to Tim Grace, Dan Needs,
Rob Martell, Steve Martell, Barry Jervis and all those who took an
interest in the progress of the research into the Clinton scandals.
ROBERTBUSBY
To Louise
viii
Introduction
The presidency of William Jefferson Clinton was blighted by accusa-
tion of scandal, personal indiscretion, and inappropriate private
conduct. For all the President’s public achievements, it appears likely
that Clinton’s presidential legacy will be forever tarnished by scandal.
Whether Clinton deserves a place in infamy alongside Andrew
Johnson and Richard Nixon as only the third President to face
impeachment proceedings is debatable, each episode set against differ-
ent contextual circumstances. Nevertheless, the mere fact that Clinton
faced proceedings testifies to contemporaneous perceptions of high
crimes and misdemeanors during his time in office. The fallout from
scandal has left an indelible mark upon his personal legacy, and also
influenced the wider development of the presidency as an institution.
Clinton’s experiences in dealing with the Monica Lewinsky scandal
were, however, far from exceptional or unique. Several Presidents had
previously faced muted allegations of sexual indiscretion or had been
subjected to subtle insinuations about their private lives. Similarly,
Presidents in the late twentieth century have faced allegation of politi-
cal scandal, all, barring Richard Nixon, having survived the experience.
That said, the Lewinsky affair, as much as it reflected past episodes, was
very much a Clinton scandal. It involved sexual matters, contained
intrigue and allegations of conspiracy, and, when concluded, left
President Clinton’s job approval figures virtually untouched. On the
surface, at least, it appeared that Clinton had assumed the Teflon repu-
tation of Ronald Reagan.
Bill Clinton won two presidential elections, in 1992 and 1996. He was
the first Democrat to successfully compete in a re-election campaign
since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, and in 1992, campaigning on a
pledge of reform he convincingly fended off a third party candidate.
1
R. Busby, Defending the American Presidency
© Robert Busby 2001