The Clintons

Remembering the titans: Bill Clinton

As we celebrate our 250th birthday as a nation, it is important to reflect on some of our past leaders and their contributions to our society and world.

I set aside a few nights recently to reflect on some of our more memorable presidents of the past hundred years: Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt; Ronald Reagan; and Bill Clinton. Two Democrats, two Republicans.

Working in reverse, here is a recent documentary about the Clintons that one may find interesting as it pertains to more recent events, particularly the Epstein Files – it can be argued that Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the 2016 presidential election can somehow trace its origins to the conspiracy theories that began their embryonic journey during the Clinton years. This week, we begin with a review of an excellent documentary series.

THE CLINTON AFFAIR (A&E, Amazon Prime)

My first presidential election in which I could vote was in 1992, the three-way contest between George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot. 

Bill Clinton presided over what, in retrospect, was an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity in American history during the 1990s. For those who fuss and cuss about government spending, it must be pointed out that the last time the United States actually had a budget surplus was during the Clinton years. This was at the dawn of the World Wide Web, and what we thought was the twilight of communism around the globe. Clinton is remembered for many things, but perhaps the budget surplus and the peace agreement between Israel and the PLO with what was called the Oslo Accords.

It has often been said, if you like sausage then don’t go to the factory to see how they make it. Watching this series was fascinating as one traveled back in time to see how the sausage was made! This documentary aired over six nights on the A&E Network, but is also available to binge watch on Amazon Prime. The first episode covers William Jefferson Clinton’s backstory and rise to power as Governor of Arkansas in the 1980s. He emerged as a nationally known figure who had an uncanny gift for making you feel like you were the only person in the room when he was talking to you; he also could be folksy and funny, and often appeared on talk and variety shows playing his saxophone.

And yet, Clinton’s win in 1992 marked the end of the dominance of the Greatest Generation that shaped history from the Depression through World War II and the end of the Cold War, and brought with it a “me decade” sensibility for those who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s.  Clinton’s rise happened alongside talk radio and cable news, both with insatiable appetites for 24/7 opinions. And, as the second and third episodes get rolling, the viewer finds that Clinton’s charisma just about caused his undoing when past indiscretions were revealed. It could also be argued, and this series makes a point to inform the viewer, that Hillary Rodham Clinton may have been the President’s greatest asset – as well as his greatest liability. Hillary is shown to be even more aggressively aspirational than her husband, but coldly calculating and absent of the cool charm possessed by her husband.

In the 1990s, the Whitewater investigation led by Kenneth Starr dominated news cycles alongside the O.J. Simpson trial. Watching the middle episodes of this series will jog your memory: the Rose Law Firm, Vince Foster, and Jim and Susan McDougal are all there. And for all the conservative conspiracy theories born in that era, nothing would stick to the Clintons except rumored skullduggery.

The final two episodes focus on Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, Juanita Broaddick, and Monica Lewinsky. Ms. Lewinsky is a full participant in the documentary and is remarkably clear-eyed about everything that happened all those years ago once she revealed her affair to co-worker Linda Tripp, who was tape recording their conversations. Lewinsky admits the things she did to entice President Clinton, such as wearing a thong and making sure that she bent over where he could see it, so that he would notice her during a meeting.

It is worth watching the series, however, just to hear her version of the story since the “vast right-wing conspiracy” (to quote Hillary Clinton at the time) did such a good job of “slut-shaming” and “fat-shaming” (to quote Monica herself) Ms. Lewinsky that her place in history might have been a tawdry footnote. Instead, President Clinton’s involvement with the intern almost took him out completely and ended with an impeachment vote.

And yet, in the end, after the investigations were concluded, lies debunked, and the blood sample matched the DNA evidence, it seemed that nobody really cared after all except for the talk show hosts and partisan politicians. After watching this series, I was left feeling pity for Monica Lewinsky and how her life was ruined by the media as well as high-ranking people who had promised to love her.