I’m a lifelong Democrat or had been. I had a bad feeling about Bill Clinton from the get-go. Lip-biting, faux humble, boy-like face saying without words “You’re not really going to hold me to account, are you?” and maybe no one ever did. I watched his campaign speeches. A recurring theme was, as usual, the national budget. He repeatedly said that he’d reduce defense spending. He would say next that the savings would be used to increase funding for roads, education, national parks, or [insert name of interest group of the audience]. “Wait,” I thought. “If we’re reducing defense spending to cut the deficit, why are we then going to fund additional projects elsewhere and how is he giving the same money to every different group he talks to? Something doesn’t fit.” Maybe the budget people knew that the net result would be deficit reduction and, in truth, Clinton did have balanced budgets at the end and did significantly reduce the deficit.
When stories of his infidelity started surfacing, friends in Arkansas said they’d all known about his behavior for years. My concern was not so much the infidelities as his use of state assets to conduct and conceal the liaisons.
As president, he supported the Defense of Marriage Act and the 1994 crime bill. The one made same-sex couples ineligible for federal benefits accorded to heterosexual married couples. The other fell more harshly in penalizing black people.
So, it’s campaign summer 1996. Mama called and asked if I don’t think Clinton just needed his first term to get the hang of being president and that he’ll be a better president in his second term. “Why do you think so?” I asked. After a sentence or two, she pressed her question again. And again. And again. I deferred and deflected. Finally, she put her foot down and said, “Tell me what you think.” “No, I don’t think he’ll be better in his second term,” I finally said. “Well!” she huffed. “This will have to be something we just don’t talk about.” I thought, “Yep, that’s what I was going for.”
And then sex with a subordinate employee. But she was an adult, and the sex was consensual. Hmmm. Some say having sex with a subordinate is never truly consensual. And then the lying under oath. “Oh. It was just lying about sex.” Yes, it was, and it was still lying under oath.
The tragedy to me to this day is how great he could have been, how he squandered his incredible mind and charismatic leadership. Alas.
(Full disclosure: I did some research to confirm some of my recollections.)
— Marmar
When stories of his infidelity started surfacing, friends in Arkansas said they’d all known about his behavior for years. My concern was not so much the infidelities as his use of state assets to conduct and conceal the liaisons.
As president, he supported the Defense of Marriage Act and the 1994 crime bill. The one made same-sex couples ineligible for federal benefits accorded to heterosexual married couples. The other fell more harshly in penalizing black people.
So, it’s campaign summer 1996. Mama called and asked if I don’t think Clinton just needed his first term to get the hang of being president and that he’ll be a better president in his second term. “Why do you think so?” I asked. After a sentence or two, she pressed her question again. And again. And again. I deferred and deflected. Finally, she put her foot down and said, “Tell me what you think.” “No, I don’t think he’ll be better in his second term,” I finally said. “Well!” she huffed. “This will have to be something we just don’t talk about.” I thought, “Yep, that’s what I was going for.”
And then sex with a subordinate employee. But she was an adult, and the sex was consensual. Hmmm. Some say having sex with a subordinate is never truly consensual. And then the lying under oath. “Oh. It was just lying about sex.” Yes, it was, and it was still lying under oath.
The tragedy to me to this day is how great he could have been, how he squandered his incredible mind and charismatic leadership. Alas.
(Full disclosure: I did some research to confirm some of my recollections.)
— Marmar
How wonderful, that even as a life long democrat, you could see that candidate/president's flaws.
ReplyDeleteAnd then agree not to discuss. Arguments in our family split democratic republican were vocal and created fissures.
That was then. Today I think respectful silence is gut-wrenching if not impossible.
DeleteAh, Marmar...I do research with every prompt for my fictional characters! You're entitled to do research for something more REAL Clinton was charismatic, yes. It's odd, or maybe just shows how things have changed, that John Kennedy got away with affairs. (That wasn't the reason he was assassinated, anyway.) Sex of all sorts has been available to powerful men for centuries. For me, the Defense of Marriage Act and the crime bill are worse. (Macoff)
ReplyDeleteMy only concern - or main concern - about the sexual behavior itself is the power imbalance between Clinton and some of his paramours. DOMA and crime bill are worse and lying under oath is right up there, too. Lightbulb moment: Is Clinton's lack of consequences for that lying (I know - impeached but not convicted) a contributory causes to our present truth doesn't matter culture. There's a PhD dissertation there.
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