Leaders and Their Lies
Uploaded by kaitiedoo06 on Apr 10, 2005
Merriam-Webster defines morality as “conformity to ideals of right human conduct”—so what could have raised eyebrows thirty years ago may very well be commonly acceptable today. Scandals are framed in the context of what is socially acceptable behavior. The majority of presidents of the United States have endured or faced some sort of scandal during their terms of office. One recent wrongdoing, however, stands out in the minds of many Americans.
William Jefferson Clinton faced what is probably the most notorious presidential offense in recent history. His presidential campaign was tainted when Gennifer Flowers came forward and confessed to having an affair with the then governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. Clinton was known to have sexual relations with women on a regular basis during his term as governor of Arkansas. In December of 1993, these escapades became public in Troopergate, the scandal that surfaced when “a group of Arkansas state troopers told stories about soliciting women and facilitating extramarital trysts for Clinton while he was governor.” (Isikoff p.4) One of the women involved in the Troopergate scandal was Paula Corbin Jones, a woman whose persistence and persecution later proved vital to the impeachment of President Clinton.
Jones worked at the registration desk in the Excelsior Hotel—the location of her first encounter with Clinton. He asked her to accompany him to his room and exposed himself to her. When she went public with these allegations against Clinton, he vehemently denied ever meeting with Jones. Clinton’s denial infuriated Jones, causing her to pursue a civil case against him, but after his denial, her case lost public interest.
Perhaps the most infamous of all Clinton’s affairs was his relationship with the young intern, Monica Lewinsky. Her repeated encounters with the President probably would have never surfaced if it weren’t for Linda Tripp. Tripp had become a motherly figure to Lewinsky, consoling her and becoming her confidant. Tripp recorded several phone conversations between the two regarding her relationship with Clinton. These conversations were some of the strongest evidence against Clinton’s denial of his sexual relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.
On January 20, 1998 “news [broke] that President Clinton may have had a sexual relationship with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky” (presidential). Clinton had denied these accusations under oath in the Paula Jones trials, but Tripp had evidence that...