Clinton Agonistes

On August 17, 1998, Bill Clinton became the first sitting President of the United States to be forced to testify in a criminal case of which he was the target. He was alleged to have lied about an affair while under oath. The interrogation by prosecutors went on for four hours in the Map Room in the White House, and the entire thing was videotaped and broadcast to the nation. Many of the questions were of a probing, extremely personal nature, which no one watching on television could imagine being expected to answer themselves. Clinton answered the questions anyway. His national approval ratings, already above 70 percent, went even higher. He was 51. He and Hillary had been married for 23 years and are still married.