Published 15:58 IST, March 7th 2020
Bill Clinton claims he had affair with Monica Lewinsky 'to manage anxieties'
Former US President Bill Clinton said that his affair with Monica Lewinsky was to help him deal with the stress of being president and 'to manage anxieties'.
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Former United States President Bill Clinton recently said that his affair with Monica Lewinsky was to help him deal with the stress of being president and 'to manage anxieties'. Clinton made the remarks as part of a documentary series titled 'Hillary' and he opened up about the scandal that led to his impeachment. Back in 1998, he was impeached for lying to investigators about his relationship with Lewinsky and he was later acquitted at his Senate trial.
The four-part Hulu series, which was released on March 6, looks at the public life of 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The third episode of the documentary focuses on the Clintons rebound from the 25-year-old affair that almost stalled both their political careers and nearly ended their marriage. The former President had an affair with Monica Lewinsky, who was a 22-year-old White House intern.
'To manage my anxieties'
While speaking to the makers of the documentary, Clinton said, “What I did was bad but it wasn't like I thought, let's think about the most stupid thing I could possibly do and do it. You feel like you're staggering around - you've been in a 15-round prize-fight that was extended to 30 rounds, and here's something that'll take your mind off it for a while. Everybody has life's pressures and disappointments and terrors, fears or whatever, things I did to manage my anxieties for years”.
He further also called seeing a marriage counsellor 'one of the hardest things' he ever had to do. Hillary Clinton, in the episode, also disagreed with the affair being the source of her husband's impeachment. She said that he shouldn't have done what he did. She also believes that his affair wasn't an impeachable offence.
Bill Clinton's affair was a major news story in the late 1990s. The former President also denied the affair, however, he later admitted to 'inappropriate intimate physical contact'. In the documentary, the 42nd US President also reflected on how the incident had affected Lewinsky. He said that her life has been 'unfairly' defined by it.
Lewinsky has also maintained that her relationship with the former President was consensual, however, she had come to see her relationship with him as 'a gross abuse of power'. In an interview, Lewinsky reportedly said that she had a limited understanding of the consequences at the time and regrets the affair daily.
15:58 IST, March 7th 2020