The Tough Words Hillary Clinton Had For Bill Before He Admitted To Monica Lewinsky Affair

The truth about Hillary Clinton is that she remains one of the most influential voices in American politics, despite not running for any major office since the 2016 presidential election. Even some of her comments from her time as first lady continue to resonate decades later. In the summer of 1998, her husband, President Bill Clinton, was under fire for allegations that he'd committed perjury and obstructed justice in an effort to cover up an affair between himself and White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On August 17 of that year, he agreed to provide testimony to prosecutors during an interview in the White House. Afterward, he made a speech to the American people to address the firestorm — and admit that he had, in fact, had an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky.

Bill was surrounded by his circle of trusted advisors, as well as his daughter, Chelsea, as he tried to figure out exactly what to say to the nation. Hillary, however, was not in the room, at least not initially. As she recalled in her 2003 memoir, "Living History," "I didn't much want to help Bill compose his public statement on a matter that violated my sense of decency and privacy." Eventually, though, she made her way upstairs where she discovered that her husband was still agonizing over his speech. She was still angry with him, but she also found herself empathizing with his struggle. With that mix of emotions, she told him, "Well, Bill, this is your speech. You're the one who got yourself into this mess, and only you can decide what to say about it."

Most Americans in 1998 could not have possibly known what Hillary Clinton said to her husband right before his speech, but it was nevertheless clear that she must have said something. After the president admitted that he had "a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate," he also admitted, "I misled people, including even my wife. I deeply regret that." While there are many weird things about the Clintons' marriage that people ignore, their relationship survived the infidelity, but fallout from the scandal has stuck to them in the years since. The former first lady addressed the matter once again in the 2020 Hulu documentary "Hillary" (via "TODAY"), and she sounded just as conflicted as she had all those years ago. As she explained, "I defended and stood by him because I thought the impeachment process was wrong, but that wasn't the necessary answer to what I would do with my marriage."

And despite dodging decades of rumors about the Clinton scandal, Monica Lewinsky has not exactly retreated from the spotlight. Far from it, in fact. Instead, she has taken back control of her own narrative, launching the podcast "Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky," in which she interviews her guests "about what it means to reclaim what's been lost or taken in the broadest sense." And in a 2018 essay for Vanity Fair she addressed the scandal directly, admitting, "If I were to see Hillary Clinton in person today, I know that I would summon up whatever force I needed to again acknowledge to her — sincerely — how very sorry I am."