Bill Clinton: Remarks at Annual Prayer Breakfast

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Clinton addressed the 1998 annual prayer breakfast at the White House just as the details of the Lewinsky scandal became public. Monica Lewinsky, an intern who worked for a brief time at the White House, was subpoenaed to testify in Paula Jones's sexual harassment lawsuit against the president. Rumors began circulating in the media of a sexual relationship between Clinton and Lewinsky. In January 1998 Clinton publicly denied any sexual relationship or that he had asked Lewinsky to lie in her testimony in the Jones case. Although the Jones case was dismissed, the independent prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, pursued his investigation into perjury and obstruction of justice, and, in exchange for immunity, Lewinsky testified that she and Clinton had had a sexual relationship, although he had not told her to lie. On August 17, Clinton testified before a grand jury investigating the case, and he went on television that same day to admit that he had had an “inappropriate relationship” with Ms. Lewinsky.

Facing a room full of religious representatives as well as political leaders from around the world on September 11, 1998, Clinton made the embarrassing scandal the centerpiece of his address. His apology of August 17 was judged by many to be insincere; in this speech, Clinton agrees that he “was not contrite enough” and confesses that he has “sinned.” Much of his emphasis is thus on the recognition of his own moral failings and on his repentance, or determination to rectify the damage he has done. Given that the venue is a prayer breakfast, it is not surprising that Clinton uses the language of sin, repentance, and forgiveness to apologize for an extramarital affair.

Although he speaks as a repentant sinner, Clinton also uses the voice of the statesman, walking the line between private and public throughout this address. It is interesting to note how, while he acknowledges the impact of the scandal on the nation, he distinguishes between healing the country and healing himself. In part, this reinforces the validity of his repentance; Clinton states that he “cannot move beyond or forget” what has happened but that the nation must. In his critique of the Starr investigation, Clinton repeatedly argued that the prosecutor had stepped beyond appropriate boundaries, invading into private matters. Here, his separation of his own long-term healing process from the nation's need to move on quickly reinforces the idea that the Lewinsky matter was a private one that unfortunately became public. However, Clinton also states that “good can come of this for our country as well as for me and my family,” now linking the personal with the public. He holds himself up as a lesson in the potential for redemption, as a message of forgiveness through repentance. If the health of the president is symbolic of the health of the body politic, then Clinton's embodiment of positive change becomes an object lesson in second chances.

The Lewinsky scandal is for many the most memorable event of Clinton's two terms in office. His speech at the annual prayer breakfast provides insight into both Clinton the man and Clinton the politician. In the address he portrays himself on the one hand as a contrite sinner before a religious audience, on the other as a statesman forced to publicly acknowledge his own private, personal shortcomings before other dignitaries.