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Clinton: Impeachment not 'great badge of shame'
April 1, 1999 WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 1) -- In one of his first one-on-one interviews since he was acquitted of impeachable offenses by the Senate, President Bill Clinton told CBS's Dan Rather Wednesday, he does not see his impeachment as "some great badge of shame" and hopes everyone involved can just "let it go." The president, in his most extensive comments to date on the historic impeachment proceedings, said the American people viewed the ordeal as an attempt by Republicans to undermine his presidency and he was "honored" to defend the Constitution against an effort he believes was not "warranted." "Those that did not agree with what I had done and were furious that it had worked and that the country was doing well, and attempted to use what should have been a constitutional and legal process for political ends, did not prevail," Clinton said. "That's the way I saw it.... "But I do not regard this impeachment vote as some great badge of shame. I do not," Clinton said. "I do not believe it was warranted and I don't think it was right." On the issue of resigning, Clinton said it "never crossed my mind." And the president urged everyone involved to "put it behind us." "I just think that it's past us and we need to put it behind us, and we need to go on," Clinton said. "We owe that to the American people, to let it go. ... All the great players here, they need to let it go." He also said he does not harbor any ill will toward those who doggedly pursued his removal from office. "I don't wake up every day mad at those people," Clinton said. "Any moment I spend full of anger and bitterness is a moment I am robbing from my wife or from my daughter or from my country or from my friends." When asked by Rather how his family is doing in the wake of the impeachment scandal and the revelation that Clinton had a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, the president responded "reasonably well." "Given what we've been through, we're doing reasonably well," he said. "We're not a large family. We do love each other very much, and we work hard to support one another." While the interview focused largely on the crisis in Kosovo, the president did touch on another topic of much public speculation. Clinton said he had no idea whether first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton would decide to run for the U.S. from New York, admitting that having a first lady run for office was "a highly unusual thing" but adding "if she could win an election like that, she would be magnificent." The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Thursday, April 1, 1999
• Clinton: Impeachment not 'great badge of shame' • Reporter's notebook: First lady's trip as a portrait of a strong woman • Poll: Americans continue to support NATO strikes, but skepticism over success growing • Former first lady Barbara Bush undergoes back surgery • McDougal attorneys given day off to prep for Steele testimony • Independent probes of Clinton Administration cost nearly $80 million • A decade later, recycling on Capitol Hill still meets resistance • Parties work together in Congress | ||||||||||||||||||||||
