Did Bill really do it, Hillary?

With the release of a much-hyped book by former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, we’re all about to revisit the 1999 presidential impeachment hearings. In many ways, it was a much simpler - and pettier - time. Whereas today’s headlines refer to heavy issues of war and peace, interspersed with the continuing worry about terrorism, back when Hillary Clinton was first lady instead of a US senator from New York, our paramount concern was of a more salacious matter: Did Bill do it with that intern or not? It’s amazing to recall how the nation agonised over the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, the first US president in 130 years to be subjected to such a trial. For many of us, the strongest memory remains one of extreme befuddlement. Even as the months-long. Monica Lewinsky scandal played itself out in headlines and on TV, it was hard to believe the entire nation was brought to a standstill over nothing more than sex between consenting adults. Sure, the attack dogs in Congress behind Kenneth Starr’s investigation of Clinton’s alleged perjury insisted their motives were of loftier stuff, but most reasonable folks understood the nature of this particular witch hunt.

Clinton’s political enemies caught him in a lie. Because of that, they wanted nothing less than his forced departure from the highest office in the land. With the release of   “Living History” on   Monday, Hillary Clinton invites us to return to those not-so-hallowed days as she travels the nation’s airwaves to plug her new book, a memoir of her life in the White House during the Clinton administration, including the impeachment. The memoir itself - the result of an astounding  $8 million book deal - isn’t that unusual; former first ladies such as  Betty Ford,  Rosalyn Carter,  Nancy Reagan and  Barbara Bush have all written books about their time in the White House. But this is Hillary Clinton, the only first lady in history to go on to win a congressional seat. The Hillary Clinton who was half of the “Buy one, get one free” strategy that made her and her husband arguably the most admired and reviled couple in American political history. Not only that, it’s Hillary Clinton as the beleaguered wife of the cheating husband speaking for the first time about Monica Lewinsky. The juiciest stuff is already out there. Several newspapers and TV shows have run excerpts of Hillary’s account of her reaction to news that Clinton had an affair with Lewinsky.

A short tease

“I felt nothing but profound sadness, disappointment and unresolved anger,” Hillary writes about her reactions after her husband confessed his (latest) infidelity. “I could barely speak to Bill and when I did it was a tirade. I read. I walked on the beach. He slept upstairs and I slept downstairs.” OK. For any more, you’ve got to buy the book. In typical Clinton fashion, there’s already some reported discrepancies over Hillary’s account. According to the Washington Post, previously published accounts by former White House staffers differ on whether Bill actually told his wife himself or let an underling do it. And the timeline is fuzzy, at best. Whatever. It’s her book. Revisionist history is a part of any political memoir. And “Living History” has everything to do with politics. By most accounts, Hillary Clinton plans to run for president in 2008 if the Democrats don’t win in 2004.