The Clinton Scandal Analysis

The Clinton scandal with monica lewinsky was similar to Nixon's in several ways. Linda Tripp first discovered the scandal when she spoke with Monica Lewinsky, who told Tripp of her ongoing sexual relationship with the Bill Clinton. Tripp went onto investigate the situation by taping her and Monica's conversations during October of 1997 (Cohen 28-29). Lewinsky was later called into another Clinton sex scandal, the Paula Jones case. Lewinsky told Tripp over the phone before this, that she was going to deny everything and lie (Cohen 37). Lewinsky stating this to Linda created the assumption that Lewinsky was going to lie under oath in order to protect the president. Lewinsky was soon detained by Kenneth Starr and other FBI members for questioning at the same time Clinton was being questioned about Paula Jones (Cohen 47). Clinton several days later when questioned on Lewinsky stated “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” (Cohen 56). This was highly similar to Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech as it would be proven a
lie. After this statement Clinton, like Nixon's scandal, became the center of news, every little story about the scandal became the headline (Cohen 62). Likewise Monica Lewinsky became the center of attention as several reporters, from all over the country, formed what became known as “Monica beach” across from the courthouse. Here media would i take pictures as if they were paparazzi (Cohen 59). Clinton testified later to congress about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, two days later congress released them to the public creating more of a widespread fascination with the case. However, throughout the course of these trials and testimonies, Clinton's approval rating stayed relatively high (Cohen 70). After a while, congress had to vote whether or not to impeach Bill Clinton. Ultimately, congress voted to impeach Clinton on the crime of perjury; Clinton was accused of telling Monica lewinsky to lie, and he supposedly gave her a job to keep quiet about their relationship (Cohen 85). This charge was the exact same as Richard Nixon; however, Richard Nixon resigned from office before congress officially impeached him. Clinton unlike Nixon would have to face the penalties of impeachment. The trial lasted about a month and several witnesses were interrogated including Lewinsky (Cohen 90). However, in February 1999, congress voted in a 50 50 tie to impeach the president (Cohen 94). Although Clinton was not proven guilty of his perjury, his political career took a dramatic hit since he was the only president in the twentieth century to be impeached. And Clinton also, would no longer be considered credible in the public eye. Overall the Nixon and Clinton scandals were highly similar downfalls to their very successful careers.

Ultimately, Nixon and Clinton had somewhat different careers that ended in similar fashion.
Both presidents were accused of perjury and essentially impeached, Nixon was technically not impeached but he would have been had he not resigned. Also, both scandals included a large media presence that contributed to the public's opinion of the situations. Both of these presidents were one of the first few politicians to have their private life criticized by media. Plus, although neither presidents career matched up completely they shared similar issues. One being the Foreign policy in which both presidents became involved in conflict they should not have. Another issue being the overcoming of scandals, both men faced several scandals in their career but overcame them to have successful careers up until their downfall. Overall, both of these men went into american history as lying corrupt leaders despite their once successful
careers.