A Knack for Scandal

On Aug. 17, 1998, Bill Clinton became the first American president to testify as the subject of a grand jury investigation. For more than four hours, he answered questions, all relating to a sexual encounter in the White House with a girl named Monica Lewinsky who was an intern and had apparently seduced the president, something that wasn’t difficult, according to the committee investigating Clinton.

As he drank a can of Diet Coke and clearly showed that he was hiding something and that he did not want to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, Clinton repeatedly denied having had sex with Lewinsky. To anyone who was watching, that false testimony contributed to bankrupting the image of the president who was accused of perjury and obstruction of justice, and who lost credibility for the rest of his life.

Had he frankly accepted the truth of the allegations against him, Clinton would be seen today in a different light and without the stigma of being an American version of Pinocchio.

Almost 20 years have passed since the so-called “Clinton-Lewinsky affair” and many things have changed. For example, acceptance of same-sex marriage is becoming more universal, there are countries where the use of marijuana has been legalized, transgender people do not need to hide during the day, etc., etc. That is to say, tolerance and acceptance of otherness has conquered territories.

However, when it comes to the image of the American president, puritanism still holds true. The president’s private life takes place in a limited space, so that privacy can easily be breached and questioned. Once again, the extramarital sexual activity of a president has put him on a tightrope and at the edge of the abyss.

Donald Trump has scandalized millions of his compatriots, something that seemed impossible today when many consider the scandal to be dead. The story of the president’s bedroom activity with a porn actress has revived memories of another story that took place two decades ago in which sex, puritanism and lies made for a very peculiar combination.