Monica Lewinsky -
Just a few years after the sexual harassment allegations
of Anita Hill against Supreme Court nominee Clarence
Thomas, came the under-the-covers (or should I say
under-the-desk) shenanigans of married President Bill
Clinton who was accused of having a sexual liaison with
former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. With the urging
of the Republican backed Congress, (who found no
convincing evidence on their initial charges of alleged
corruption in the White Water Affair), President Bill
Clinton was impeached based on his testimony given to
independent counsel prosecutor Ken Starr concerning Monica
Lewinsky.
Although many Americans believed that Clinton
did have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, the air of
contempt for the political establishment for daring to
intrude into the private life of an individual's sexual
affairs (among other issues) helped sway the voting by a
narrow margin to acquit Clinton of the impeachment
charges.
The investigations into the President's
extracurricular activities were prompted by tape
recordings made by Pentagon employee Linda Tripp who
recorded hours of conversations she had with her supposed
friend Monica Lewinsky as she related her on-going and
later failed love affair with President Clinton.
Monica
Lewinsky's testimony revealed such intimate practices as
using cigars during their sexual interludes as well as her
many oral sex encounters she had with the President (who
revealed that in his philosophy since penetration did not
occur - a.k.a. intercourse - he therefore was not actually
having "sexual relations" with the young woman).
Clinton had insisted during his testimony that "I did not
have sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky.
After
President Clinton was acquitted of the impeachment charges
(TV Guide ran an ad for MAD TV with the banner "I
Still Got a Job!...Cigars for Everybody!"), Monica
Lewinsky appeared on a March 3, 1999 ABC 20/20 Barbara
Walter's special informing the public of her feeling on
the matter (she revealed Clinton was "a good kisser," but
offered little new information) as well as plugging her
book Monica's Story released the same week.
The
entire Clinton/Lewinsky fiasco wasted more than a year of
television air time, and became the fodder for countless
news broadcasters, talk show hosts and on-the-air magazine
programs like DRUDGE, GERALDO, CHARLES GRODIN, HARD COPY,
INSIDE EDITION, LARRY KING LIVE, POLITICALLY INCORRECT,
700 CLUB, and THE TONIGHT SHOW with Jay Leno.
And just as
the door seemed to close on this sordid scandal,
accusations from a women named Juanita Broaddrick about
sexual-assault improprieties began to peak its ugly head
through the doors of the White House in the spring of
1999.
As for Hilary Clinton, she concentrated on
more important issues and ran for the senate in New York
State (and won).