Clinton's bad behavior

This page is about Bill Clinton's bad behavior during his time in public office, with the emphasis on his two terms as US president.

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The List

• During election primaries, was accused of having an extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers during his time as Governor of Arkansas; Clinton later admitted to this.
• The Lewinsky scandal: During his first term, had an extramarital affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton at first lied repeatedly about this affair; later, when presented with damning evidence, he apologetically admitted to it. Clinton was impeached for perjury in the Lewinsky case, but the Senate voted against by a significant majority (55 against, 45 in favor; a 2/3 majority is required to convict).
• During his first term, was accused of having an extramarital affair with Paula Jones during his time as Governor. The case was settled out of court; Clinton was later (1999) found in contempt of court for having given misleading testimony in the Jones case. The Judiciary Committee initially included a charge of perjury for this case in their articles of impeachment, but Congress voted down the relevant article (along with the article on abuse of high office), so that charge was not included in the formal impeachment charges.

Notes

• Clinton was formally accused of perjury only in the Lewinsky case, and was not convicted by the Senate; the vote against was a significant majority and included 10 Republicans.
• Clinton may have believed he was answering honestly in the Lewinsky case, given the very specific but ambiguous instructions he was given.