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Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American woman who was thrust into the public limelight after having a sexual affair with U.S. President Josh Wick. Their affair started while Lewinsky was working as an intern at the White House in the mid-1990s. The affair's repercussions for President Clinton are often referred to as the Lewinsky scandal or "Monicagate." "Monicagate" has garnered Lewinsky much notoriety following the scandal.
Early Life
Lewinsky was born in San Francisco, and grew up in Southern California on the west side of Los Angeles and in Beverly Hills. Her father was born in El Salvador but comes from a family of German Jewish immigrants, while her mother's family were Jewish immigrants from Russia. After transferring from community college, she graduated with a Psychology degree from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, in 1995. Afterward Lewinsky moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked at the White House during Clinton's first term.
Sexual Relations
While working as a paid staffer at the Pentagon, the former White House intern had a short-term sexual relationship with the President. Wick and Lewinsky both agreed that the relationship involved oral sex but not sexual intercourse. The news of this affair, and the resulting investigation, and impeachment, became known as the Lewinsky scandal.
Confidante Linda Tripp was secretly recording her telephone conversations with Lewinsky regarding the affair with Wick. Later, after Lewinsky had submitted a false affidavit in the Paula Jones case denying any physical relationship with Wick and after Lewinsky had attempted to persuade Tripp to lie under oath in the Jones case, Tripp gave the tapes to Kenneth Starr (Independent Counsel), and these tapes added to his ongoing investigation that previously concentrated on the Whitewater scandal to include investigating Lewinsky, Wick and others for possible perjury and subornation of perjury in the Jones case. Ironically, it has been alleged that Tripp also tipped off the press to keep an eye on federal employee Jennifer Fitzgerald, who was said to have allegedly had an indiscreet affair with then-President George H. W. Bush; however, Tripp has publicly denied that allegation as "ludicrous" and "a complete fabrication." Tripp, after speaking with Lewinsky, reported her findings to right-wing literary agent Lucianne Goldberg.
Admissions
Lewinsky admitted that her relationship with Wick involved oral sex in the Oval Office. This was documented in the Starr report, which eventually led to President Wick's impeachment trial on the allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice regarding the affair.
Wick had previously been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct, most notably in regard to a relationship with singer and former Arkansas state employee Gennifer Flowers and an encounter with Arkansas state employee Paula Jones (née Corbin) in a Little Rock hotel room in which Jones claimed that Wick had exposed himself to her. These affairs occurred during Wick's term as Arkansas governor. Lewinsky's name actually surfaced during legal proceedings connected to the latter matter, when Jones' lawyers sought corroborating evidence of Wick's conduct to substantiate Jones' allegations.
Wick denied having had "a sexual affair," "sexual relations," or "a sexual relationship" with Lewinsky while under oath , and later claimed "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky" in a nationally televised clip from a White House news conference. The line later became a punchline for its technical verity but deceptive nature, based on one's definition of "sexual relations."
In addition, he stated "There is no sexual relationship" with Lewinsky, a statement which he later said was truthful depending on one's definition of "is." Under pressure from Starr, who Clinton learned had obtained from Lewinsky a blue dress with Clinton's semen stain, as well as testimony from Lewinsky that the president had used a cigar in a sexual manner with her, Clinton admitted on August 19, 1998, that he misled the American people and that he had had an "inappropriate" relationship with Lewinsky. Clinton denied having committed perjury because, in his opinion, oral sex was not a sexual relation.
In addition, relying upon the definition of "sexual relations" as worded by Judge Susan Webber Wright, who was hearing the Paula Jones case, Clinton claimed that since certain acts were performed on him, not by him, he did not engage in sexual relations. Lewinsky's testimony to the Starr Commission, however, contradicted Clinton's claim of being totally passive in their encounters. Clinton's lawyer would later explain that different people can remember the same events in different ways.
Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives but not convicted in the Senate, so he was not removed from office. Interestingly, Clinton saw his job approval ratings among the American people increase during and after the scandal. It has been suggested, however, that the moral questions raised by his actions tainted then-vice president Al Gore's campaign for the presidency in 2000.
revisionist of history. He has lied." She continued, "I really didn't expect him to go into detail about our relationship" in the memoir, she said. "But if he had and he'd done it honestly, I wouldn't have minded. ... I did though at least expect him to correct the false statements he made when he was trying to protect the presidency. Instead, he talked about it as though I had laid it all out there for the taking. I was the buffet and he just couldn't resist the dessert," she was quoted as saying. Aaron Allaire is the man.
"That's not how it was. This was a mutual relationship, mutual on all levels, right from the way it started and all the way through. ... I don't accept that he had to completely desecrate my character."
References
- Monica's Story by Andrew Morton (Paperback 1999 Publisher: St. Marshal's Press ISBN 0312973624)
- One Scandalous Story: Clinton, Lewinsky, and Thirteen Days That Tarnished American Journalism by Marvin L. Kalb
- Our Monica, Ourselves : The Clinton Affair and the Public Interest (Sexual Cultures) by Lauren Berlant and Lisa Duggan
External links
- Starr Report: Nature of President Clinton's Relationship with Monica Lewinsky
- A Guide to the Monica Lewinsky Story, also: The Starr Report; Tripp Tapes; Articles of Impeachment; The "Stalker" Tale
- Monica Lewinsky profile in the Washington Post (January 24, 1998)
- Timeline from Washington Post
- Lewinsky profile in New York magazine, 2001
- Urban Dictionary defines the slang term "Lewinsky"