Bill Clinton PBS Documentary: Robert Reich, Dick Morris Dish On Monica Lewinsky Scandal

Monica Lewinsky's name will likely find its way back into the headlines when PBS runs its two-part, four-hour documentary on former president Bill Clinton Monday night.

The documentary, titled "Clinton," is part of PBS' "American Experience" series and covers the domestic and international issues that marked Clinton's two-term presidency.

But it's what Clinton's closest advisors have to say about the president's 1998 affair with Lewinksy that may be of greater interest to many.

Among those interviewed are the former president's re-election campaign manager, Dick Morris, who recalls the moment Clinton confided in him about the affair.

"When the Lewinsky scandal broke, the President paged me and I returned the call," Morris says in this video preview clip. "He said, 'Ever since I got here to the White House I've had to shut my body down, sexually I mean, but I screwed up with this girl. I didn't do what they said I did, but I may have done so much that I can't prove my innocence."

Covering up the affair would ultimately lead the House of Representatives to impeach Clinton on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, but he was acquitted by the Senate after a 21-day televised trial.

If you'd like to see more of the documentary before Monday, PBS has made part one available online.

Clarification: This post has been updated to explain the sequence of events in Clinton's House impeachment and Senate acquittal.

Comments

[larrypsy]

01:30 AM on 02/25/2012

He left us with deregulated banks, Monica, "w", and last but not least Hellary!

[Willie12345]

12:49 PM on 02/23/2012

What Bill Clinton did to his family is beyond belief. Why Hillary would stay with him is hard to believe.

[eastcoastdem]

09:58 PM on 02/21/2012

The documentary never mentions Larry Flint being the reason the impeachment of Bill Clinton ended. When he requested that all political employees that had sexual relations with their boss come forward and tell their stories, the Republicans were no longer interested in raking the President over the coals because of his sexual behavior. They didn't want to discuss it anymore.

[IDIOTA]

05:41 PM on 02/21/2012

I'm old and have seen things. The rancor and animosity that the Congressional GOP had for Clinton is outpaced by the the rancor that the GOP shows for Obama. If there was any hatred for Bush 43, it came from rank and file Democrats, not Democrats in Congress who, on the whole, feared Bush and Fox News. We ordinary folks hate cowardly politicians of any party so ordinary many Democrats hated Bush 43 and the Congressional Democrats who kowtowed to him.

Those who claim that Bush received the same abuse as Clinton and Obama are wrong when it comes to the GOP Congress who went on a witch hunt with Clinton and who call the Obama a liar at the State of the Union address. If there were the same animosity towards Bush 43, then he would have been impeached over serious crimes committed by his administration.

[Ed Red]

01:19 PM on 02/21/2012

In Bill Clinton's obituary in the first paragraph it will say only second US president ever impeached. It will also talk about the fact he was disbarred. And that is what we know today.

Wonder what will learn he did 20 years from now? More women than John and Bobby combined??

[Peebs06]

01:18 PM on 02/20/2012

It's not just sex? It is the most irresponsible act imaginable. Its taking advantage of a power position with a girl that could be his or a colleague's daughter. It is adultery and lying about it with the nation's children watching. He committed perjury enough to get impeached. He was the worst president in modern history and anyone who says otherwise is a moral degenerate.He was immature and foolish.

[Christine Belon]

10:38 AM on 02/20/2012

Who cares. I did at the time, and could not get enough of People, Time, and any other magazine that would dish. But it means nothing now to me personally, and I am embarrased I cared back when the story broke. It was consensual, and many marriages have problems. I felt bad for Hilary and Monica at the time, and I wished he would man up and say "yeah I did it, that's my business". But I guess in this puritan state I guess one cannot admit they do the deed or the taliban, oops I mean the religious right, will have a cow and throw thunder bolts. I feel bad for Hilary now, who has to relive this painful episode.

[30Nx88W]

06:03 AM on 02/21/2012

Bill Clinton used the power of a governorship and the presidency to seek sexual favors, allegedly commit sexual harrassment or worse, dishonestly attack the characters of his accusers, cover it up to avoid prosecution including lying under oath. Hillary enabled his reckless personal behavior.

It is astounding that women (and men) who champion women's rights give both the Clintons a pass on behavior that is routinely not just criticized but condemned in others. It was huge failure of character and leadership, a national disgrace and disaster, not just a private matter in a marriage.

[kellehergibs]

03:25 PM on 02/22/2012

well said

[Gcock10]

03:15 AM on 02/20/2012

DICK MORRIS?
The Democrat Angel that was THROWN out of heaven?
HOW WOULD ANYONE TRUST Mr FOX TV himself?

[LarryBud]

02:04 PM on 02/20/2012

I think Bill may have had Dick Morris a couple of times.

[kellehergibs]

03:27 PM on 02/22/2012

he was bill's advisor i think he would know what happened. bill takes advantage of a 21 yr subordinate as President of the United States & dick morris is the bad guy?

[lken06880]

09:41 AM on 02/29/2012

If I remember correctly, Morris was with prostitutes and left the W/H around that.

[HunterHikes]

01:04 AM on 02/20/2012

I wouldn't trust anything Dick Morris says. He's a self-important hack who has claimed personal credit for far more than he every did.

Dick Morris is implying that he had the greatest hand in helping the President survive his Presidency, which is a freaking joke.

[Know-some-secrets]

11:39 AM on 02/20/2012

I agree. I*t really is shocking to realize that the Clintons not only counted Dick Morris as a close friend but also as a trusted advisor during the 1980s and 1990s. That says alot about their own lack of integrity and good judgment.

George Stephanopoulos, Bill Clinton's WH communications director, said famously on Frontline about Dick Morris that "Over the course of the first nine months of 1995, no single person had more power over the president". Scary.

[J M Feeney]

11:31 PM on 02/19/2012

The NYTimes nailed it: "Two of the major cataclysms shadowing our times, the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2008 credit collapse, have roots that reach back to the Clinton administration.

"The 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, which turned out to be a dress rehearsal for Sept. 11, isn’t included in the narrative. The rise of Osama Bin Laden and the failed missile strikes against Al Qaeda training camps in 1998 are noted in passing and presented almost as a pesky foreign policy crisis that briefly distracted Mr. Clinton from the more enduring Monica Lewinsky scandal.

"And there is no mention whatsoever of the repeal of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, one of several fateful steps that the Clinton administration..."

Seriously, this documentary is a waste. They could've made something interesting and compelling with this material, something that would've truly engaged everyone on both sides of the political spectrum, but instead, they blew most of it on the tawdry details of an affair that seems more and more trivial with time. You're better off reading a wikipedia page and saving yourself hours of time.

[Know-some-secrets]

11:44 AM on 02/20/2012

thanks for the link. Actually, I think the documentary serves a purpose of trying to find some truth between the extremes of right wing attacks and the self-serving Clinton PR spins. I think the huge distraction caused the nation, and the subsequent compromises Bill Clinton made with the GOP, will make the Monica affair both as a GOP excess and the consequence of recklessly irresponsible personal behavior of a president, of major significance in the record of Clinton's presidency.

[kellehergibs]

03:47 PM on 02/22/2012

correct the root of the credit default swaps was created at the end of the lame duck session of the 105th congress at the end of bill's 2nd term which added deregulation to the credit markets which set the table for credit defaut swaps

[JimK2]

06:17 PM on 06/01/2012

The federal reserve approved and allowed credit default swaps in 1987
http://youtu.be/Bfb7LIUwemw

[screwcongress]

06:28 PM on 02/19/2012

I thought this blew over!

[bootlegerr]

09:12 AM on 02/20/2012

Nothing ever just blows over in politics,your past always comes back to haunt you.

[screwcongress]

12:55 PM on 02/20/2012

it was a pun lol

[Primesuspect]

05:13 PM on 02/19/2012

What else do e really want to know about an aging president who's likable but will be judged by time not to have been particurlary important. The eocnomy was good under Clinton - not his doing - because of the technology boom. Other than Monica, the other memorable points of his administration are Clinton's failure to respond to the first bombing of the World Trade Center, his foiled attempt after the embassy bombingsn and that the seeds of the current financial crisis began in his administration. As for the big surplus in the budget - maybe he should have been spending that on education, infrastructure, better security for the U.S. (not necessarily military action) or ... fill in the blank.

[Jon Rogers]

06:18 PM on 02/19/2012

Consider suicide sooner rather than later.

[bootlegerr]

09:01 AM on 02/20/2012

Your comment is a total waste of your right to free speach jon rogers.

[CBLSoup]

04:50 PM on 02/19/2012

ugh...this is such a waste of time. Old news. There's much more pressing issues that need the attention of the American citizens.

[kellehergibs]

03:51 PM on 02/22/2012

correct its Bush fault anyway, oh wait isnt that old news too?

[IDIOTA]

04:45 PM on 02/19/2012

The GOP hated Bill Clinton. I had never seen so much hatred and obstruction for a president and his policies. I had never seen a first lady so reviled. Who knew that the GOP would turn hatred into an art? They HATE Obama and want their "country back."

[dede4007]

06:29 PM on 02/19/2012

Then you weren't watching the news when Reagan was president. The media absolutely HATED the Reagans. They made every snide remark they could about the two of them. The called the President Reagan "old and demented" and called Nancy a snob, a witch, and every other name you could think of.(many were very crude names) This happened every single day on every liberal channel, as well as every newspaper. But, now they herald President Reagan as one of the best we've had. (go figure) I hated watching the news then and I hate it now, because the media CAUSES pain, because it GETS RATINGS.

[tsgrcels]

06:30 PM on 02/19/2012

Kind of reminds me of the treatment George W Bush got from Democrats. Suck it up!

[Sanity Always Prevails]

03:57 PM on 02/19/2012

Peter Baker (starting at 43-second mark): "Aides who worked for him are...just on the floor."

Do I even need to make a joke here?

Didn't think so.