Editing Clinton–Lewinsky scandal (section)

==Aftermath==
===Effect on 2000 presidential election===

The scandal arguably affected the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 U.S. presidential election]] in two quite different ways. [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] candidate and sitting vice president [[Al Gore]] said that Clinton's scandal had been "a drag" that deflated the enthusiasm of their party's base, and had the effect of reducing Democratic votes. Clinton said the scandal had made Gore's campaign too cautious, and that if Clinton had been allowed to campaign for Gore in [[United States presidential election in Arkansas, 2000|Arkansas]] and [[United States presidential election in New Hampshire, 2000|New Hampshire]], either state would have delivered Gore's needed [[electoral votes]] regardless of the effects of the [[2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|Florida recount controversy]].<ref>{{cite news| title= Bill Clinton on Lewinsky Affair: 'I Cracked' | first= Brian |last= Montopoli| work=Political Hotsheet |publisher= CBS News |date= September 21, 2009 |url= http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/21/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5327644.shtml |access-date= September 21, 2009}}</ref>

Political analysts have supported both views. Before and after the 2000 election, John Cochran of [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] connected the Lewinsky scandal with a voter phenomenon he called "Clinton fatigue".<ref>{{cite book |title=Missed opportunity: Gore, incumbency and television in election 2000 |first=Edwin D. |last=Dover |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-275-97638-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/missedopportunit00eddo/page/130 130] |quote=John Cochran on ABC described this phenomenon as "Clinton fatigue." He said voters were happy with the policy agenda and direction of the country but were tired of Clinton and wanted to forget him. Casting their votes for Bush and not for Clinton's surrogate, Gore, was one way to bring about this preferred change, Cochran concluded. |url=https://archive.org/details/missedopportunit00eddo/page/130 }}</ref> Polling showed that the scandal continued to affect Clinton's low ''personal approval'' ratings through the election,<ref>{{cite book| title= The 2000 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective | series= Volume 2000, Part 3 |first= Robert E. Jr. |last= Denton |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group |year= 2002 |isbn= 978-0-275-97107-6| pages=92, 98 }}</ref> and analysts such as [[Vanderbilt University]]'s John G. Geer later concluded "Clinton fatigue or a kind of moral retrospective voting had a significant impact on Gore's chances".<ref>{{cite book| title= Public opinion and polling around the world: a historical encyclopedia| volume= 1 |first=John Gray |last= Geer |publisher= ABC-CLIO |year= 2004 |isbn= 978-1-57607-911-9 | page= 138}}</ref> Other analysts sided with Clinton's argument, and argued that Gore's refusal to have Clinton campaign with him damaged his appeal.<ref>{{cite journal| url= http://www.greens.org/s-r/25/25-03.html | journal= [[Synthesis/Regeneration]] |number= 25 |date=Summer 2001 | title= Gore's Defeat: Don't Blame Nader | first= Manning| last= Marable |access-date= May 9, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.slate.com/id/1006450/ |title= Why Gore (Probably) Lost |first= Jacob |last= Weisberg |work= Slate |date= November 8, 2000 | access-date= May 9, 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://www.cairn.info/revue-francaise-d-etudes-americaines-2001-4-page-10.htm Beyond the Recounts: Trends in the 2000 US Presidential Election], Cairn.info</ref>

===Collateral scandals===

During the scandal, supporters of former president Clinton alleged that the matter should remain private, and called some  supporting Clinton's impeachment hypocritical. A highly publicized investigation campaign actively sought information that might embarrass politicians who supported impeachment. According to the British newspaper ''[[The Guardian]]'',

{{blockquote|[[Larry Flynt]]{{nbsp}}... the publisher of ''[[Hustler (magazine)|Hustler]]'' magazine, offered a $1{{nbsp}}million reward{{nbsp}}... Flynt was a sworn enemy of the Republican party [and] sought to dig up dirt on the Republican members of Congress who were leading the impeachment campaign against President Clinton. [...{{nbsp}}Although] Flynt claimed at the time to have the goods on up to a dozen prominent Republicans, the ad campaign helped to bring down only one. [[Bob Livingston|Robert Livingston]]—a congressman from Louisiana{{nbsp}}... abruptly retired after learning that Mr. Flynt was about to reveal that he had also had an affair.<ref>Goldenberg, Suzanne. [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jun/04/pressandpublishing.usnews "Porn king offers $1m for US political sex scandal"] ''The Guardian'', London. Retrieved September 21, 2009.</ref>}}

[[Henry Hyde]], Republican chair of the [[House Judiciary Committee]] and [[House manager|lead House manager]], also had an affair while in office as a [[State legislature (United States)|state legislator]]. Hyde, aged 70 during the Lewinsky hearings, dismissed it as a "youthful indiscretion" (he had been 41).<ref>Talbot, David. "This hypocrite broke up my family", ''Salon'', September 16, 1998.</ref>

Republican congressman [[Bob Livingston]] had been widely expected to become [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] in the [[106th United States Congress|next Congressional session]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/10/us/robert-livingston-the-heir-apparent-with-a-black-belt.html "Robert Livingston, The Heir Apparent With a Black Belt"]. ''The New York Times'', November 10, 1998, p. A24. Retrieved September 21, 2009.</ref> Then just weeks away after Flynt revealed the affair, Livingston resigned and challenged Clinton to do the same.

[[Bob Barr]] (R-GA) another Republican House manager, had an [[Affair|extramarital affair]]. Barr had been the first lawmaker in either chamber to call for Clinton's resignation due to the Lewinsky affair. Barr lost a primary challenge less than three years after the impeachment proceedings.<ref name="Spoiler">McCaffrey, Shannon. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-bob-barr-be-the-ralph-nader-of-08/ Will Bob Barr be the Ralph Nader of '08?], [[Associated Press]] (via [[CBS News]]), June 22, 2008.</ref>

[[Dan Burton]] (R-IN) said, "No one, regardless of what party they serve, no one, regardless of what branch of government they serve, should be allowed to get away with these alleged sexual improprieties{{nbsp}}..."<ref>Baker, Russ. "Portrait of a political 'pit bull'", ''Salon'', December 22, 1998.</ref> In 1998, Burton admitted that he himself had had an affair in 1983 which produced a child.<ref name="Indy-Fact">[http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/people/b/burton_dan/burton.html "Rep. Dan Burton—Member of Congress representing Indiana's 5th District"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523132319/http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/people/b/burton_dan/burton.html |date=May 23, 2013 }}, ''Library Factfiles'', ''Indianapolis Star'', updated January 2007. Retrieved February 25, 2007.</ref>

[[Newt Gingrich]] (R-GA) US Representative, Speaker of the House and leader of the [[Republican Revolution]] of 1994,<ref>"Gingrich Expects 'Republican Revolution'", news4jax.com, October 28, 2010.</ref> admitted in 1998 to having had an affair with then House Agriculture Committee staffer [[Callista Gingrich|Callista Bisek]] while he was still married to his second wife,<ref>Jacobs, John. "The Gingrich affair: Hypocrisy and betrayal", http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-Gingrich-affair-Hypocrisy-and-betrayal-3057206.php,
 November 22, 1999</ref> at the same time as he was leading the impeachment of Bill Clinton for perjury regarding an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky.<ref>Schneider, Bill. [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/09/gingrich.schneider/index.html "Gingrich confession: Clearing the way for a 2008 run?"], CNN. March 9, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2009.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Gingrich admits having affair in '90s|agency=Associated Press| publisher= MSNBC |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17527506|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311042500/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17527506/|url-status=live|archive-date=March 11, 2007|access-date=June 7, 2009}}</ref>

[[Steven C. LaTourette]] (R-OH) US Representative, voted to impeach Bill Clinton for the [[Lewinsky scandal]] while he was having a long-term affair with his chief of staff, Jennifer Laptook.<ref>Falone, Michael. CBS News. July 2, 2009, Politico, "[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gops-unlucky-class-of-94/ GOP's Unlucky Class of '94"] Retrieved June 21, 2010.</ref>

Republican [[Helen Chenoweth-Hage]] from Idaho aggressively called for the resignation of President Clinton and then admitted to her own six-year affair with a married rancher during the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2009/06/25/sex-scandals-through-the-years-both-parties-even.html | title= Sex Scandals Through the Years: Both Parties Even | work= Newsweek |date= June 25, 2009}}</ref>

===Personal acceptance===

Historian [[Taylor Branch]] implied that Clinton had requested changes to his 2009 biography, ''[[The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President]]'', regarding Clinton's revelation that the Lewinsky affair began because "I cracked; I just cracked." Branch writes that Clinton had felt "beleaguered, unappreciated, and open to a liaison with Lewinsky" following "the Democrats' loss of Congress in the November 1994 elections, the death of his mother the previous January, and the ongoing [[Whitewater controversy|Whitewater investigation]]".<ref>{{cite news| title= Secret interviews add insight to Clinton presidency | first= Susan |last= Page |newspaper= USA Today | date=September 21, 2009 |url= https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-09-21-clinton-tapes_N.htm |access-date= September 21, 2009}}</ref> Publicly, Clinton had previously blamed the affair on "a terrible moral error" and on anger at Republicans, stating, "if people have unresolved anger, it makes them do non-rational, destructive things".<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/20/clinton.book/ |title= Clinton: Lewinsky affair a 'terrible moral error'| publisher= CNN |date= June 21, 2004 |access-date= May 9, 2013}}</ref>