Bill Clinton was a president that made headlines for many reasons. However, one of his most infamous moments was his scandalous relationship with Monica Lewinsky. President Bill Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky began a relationship shortly after she began working at the White House. Two years later, in 1998 news of their scandal would break headlines everywhere.
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Now, Lewinsky is speaking out about how that moment shaped her entire life. Not only does she share how it affected her, but she also discloses how she feels the situation should have been handled. One thing is for certain: she believes that President Clinton should have resigned over the affair.
Monica Lewinsky Shares Her Side Of The Story
" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;margin: 1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:99.375%;width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px);width:calc(100% - 2px)">Recently, on the Call Her Daddy Podcast, Monica Lewinsky spoke out about the affair that changed her life. The Daily Mail shares how the now 51-year-old mentions that she "lost her future" over that event. Host Alex Cooper was sure to frame some details from the situation when she was interviewing Lewinsky. She stated, "You were 22 years old, he was 49. You were an intern, he was the president of the United States."
Lewinsky agrees that the power dynamic was completely shifted in President Clinton's favor. She told Cooper, "Because of the power dynamics, and the power differential, I never should've been in that f***ing position." From there she dives into how she was easily cast as the villain in the story.
"I was very quickly painted as a stalker, mentally unstable, not attractive enough," Lewinsky recalled. From there she discussed how she felt the way the media treated her caused a lot of damage for women of her generation. She discussed all the ways that she was hounded and torn apart. Lewinsky states she was torn apart for "my [her] sexuality, for my [her] mistakes, for my [her] everything."
Lewinsky Says Clinton Should Have Resigned Over Affair
Furthermore, she admits that her suffering wasn't just immediate. It extended many years later on. She said, "I was in my early 30s, I had nothing. That was the point when I realized how much had been taken from me. I lost my future." From there, Cooper asked Lewinsky how she thinks the situation should have been handled.
"Good question, I haven't been asked that before," Lewinsky began. From there, she shared that she believed Bill Clinton should have resigned over the affair. "I think the right way to handle a situation like that," Lewinsky began, "would have been to probably say it was nobody's business and to resign." From there she adds, " Or to find a way of staying in office that was not lying and not throwing a young person, who was just starting out in the world, under the bus."
Monica Lewinsky And Bill Clinton Backstory
" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;margin: 1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:99.375%;width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px);width:calc(100% - 2px)">In case you needed a refresher, here is a brief timeline of the relationship between Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton. In 1995, a then 21-year-old Lewinsky took an unpaid internship in the White House. A government shutdown at the time left interns doing a lot more work than was typical, which lead Lewinsky to more face time with the President.
The Standard shared that "She characterized these encounters as 'continued flirtation,'" and so it began. Later that year, the then 22-year-old Lewinsky admitted to continued flirting and beginning a relationship with the president. She testified that she was called into President Clinton's private study where they each confessed attraction for one another. Also, they kissed and exchanged numbers. Later that same day, she was asked to return to the study and the pair began their sexual relationship.
Their affair went on for 18 months and consisted of 10 sexual encounters, according to The Standard. Although they shared lengthy phone calls and exchanged gifts, Clinton ended his relationship with the intern in 1996. However, one month after ending their relationship they resumed it and had yet another sexual encounter.
How The World Found Out
People began to notice how Monica Lewinsky spent too much time around the Oval Office. In an attempt to prevent what was already happening, she was moved to the Pentagon. There she formed a friendship with Linda Tripp and she began to disclose details of her relationship with the president. Ms. Tripp began recording their conversations without Lewinsky's knowledge and had come forward with a sexual harassment charge against the president in regards to another colleague of hers.
After finally breaking things off for real with Lewinsky, President Clinton was hit with a sexual harassment charge by Paula Jones. Monica Lewinsky was named as a potential witness in the case. Both denied the affair in 1998. However, Ms. Jones's lawyers found out about Ms. Tripp's recordings and convinced her to wear a wire and continue getting information. The gossip began to spread like wildfire.
This led to Bill Clinton's famous words, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." However, the world would soon find out that he indeed did.
