December 21, 1998
Web posted at: 2:55 p.m. EST (1955 GMT)

The winners

HILLARY CLINTON
The First Lady became Our Lady of Sorrows. We were angry for her. We felt for her. We liked her more than ever

JESSE ("THE MIND") VENTURA
It wasn't just about celebrity. Honest, blunt talk is what voters crave

ADAM SANDLER
The Waterboy was panned by critics. But admit it--you laughed

BARNEY FRANK
Frank may be Congress's own Oscar Wilde--charming and likable even when his words cut deep

CAMERON DIAZ
The star of the comedy There's Something About Mary has something about her too

FELICITY
Teen TV that's smart and earnest enough to hook viewers over the age of 30

SALLY HEMMINGS
DNA tests prove many U.S. historians aren't too sharp and confirm her legendary affair with Jefferson

MIKE ESPY
Survives $17 million dragnet over free tickets and gifts. Your tax dollars at work

RICK SCHRODER
Former kid actor, now rookie on NYPD Blue, steps into big shoes and kicks butt

BOB DOLE
Op-ed sage, Viagra advocate, all-around good guy. Dole in 2000?

& losers of 1998

BILL CLINTON
Is he a great man wronged by partisans, or is he a fool betrayed by his own urges? Depends on what your definition of is is

CONGRESS
Think we won't remember what you clowns did by the 2000 elections? Wait and see

GODZILLA
Size matters, but so do plot, character development, suspense, directing...

NEWT GINGRICH
He helped win the House and was shown the door. End the revolution without him

JONATHAN DEMME
Hollywood types are saying Beloved is proof that serious black films don't make money. How about blaming the director?

DAVID STERN
The baseball strike nearly ruined baseball. Now NBA commissioner Stern leads his sport into the same sad void

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS INC.
Meet Joe Black? Meet Joe Boring. This studio piled up the flops this year

DESMOND PFEIFFER
The now shelved UPN series cracked jokes about slavery. Painfully unfunny stuff

ABC
Network battles one of its unions and spikes story critical of parent Disney

LINDA TRIPP
The Lewinsky scandal is tearing America apart, but on one issue, people are united: Tripp is the worst friend since Brutus

Verbatim of the year

"While humiliated and in pain, she's not shocked." JESSE JACKSON, after a prayer session with Hillary Clinton the night before the President testified

"He is a serial breaker of promises." TONY BLAIR, British Prime Minister, referring to Saddam Hussein

"To have our will overthrown by a bunch of dirty old white men trying to use sexual issues wrongly...to impeach a President, this is really a disgrace..." BETTY FRIEDAN, feminist and Clinton defender

"Japan has the most mismanaged economy in the world... The sense is they don't know what they are doing." RUDIGER DORNBUSCH, M.I.T. economics professor

"I can't believe I did it... I'm, like, in awe of myself." MARK MCGWIRE, after hitting his 70th home run

"I want you to know that the office of independent counsel can indict my dog, they can indict my cat, but I'm not going to lie about the President." WEBSTER HUBBELL, Hillary Clinton's former law partner, after his tax-evasion indictment

"The current economic performance...is as impressive as any I have witnessed." ALAN GREENSPAN, Federal Reserve Chairman

"This antitrust thing will blow over." BILL GATES, in 1995, according to notes released at the antitrust trial

A Long Way from "Lust in My Heart"

"I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong." BILL CLINTON, August 1998

"The statute of limitations has long since passed on my youthful indiscretions." HOUSE JUDICIARY CHAIRMAN HENRY HYDE, September 1998

"There was a relationship many years ago from which a child was born." REP. DAN BURTON, September 1998

"Fourteen years ago...I was involved in a relationship that I came to regret..." REP. HELEN CHENOWETH, September 1998

"I have on occasion strayed from my marriage, and doing so nearly cost me my marriage and my family." SPEAKER-ELECT BOB LIVINGSTON (before he withdrew), December 1998

Numbers

157 Number of homeless men and women who died in San Francisco this year, through Nov. 30

331 Number of road deaths in New York City this year, through Dec. 10

5,500 Number of AIDS-related funerals every day in Africa

17 Hours between the beginning of air strikes on Iraq and the scheduled start of the impeachment debate in Congress

208 Number of days between the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the start of the Nixon impeachment inquiry

352 Days between Monica Lewinsky's last alleged meeting with Clinton and first public outing with new boyfriend Jonathan Marshall

58 Average world surface temperature in 1998, in degrees Fahrenheit; the warmest on record

0.27 Degree increase in world temperature since 1997

20 Number of consecutive years in which global surface temperatures have been above normal

Sources: Dept. of Public Health, New York Police Dept., United Nations, New York Times, Daily News, World Meteorological Organisation

Cover Date: December 28, 1998

• Men of the year
• The story of the year
• The Clinton in us all
• The better half
• How Starr sees it
• The Starr report
• The outrage that wasn't
• Where the Right went wrong
• Washington burning
• On to the Senate
• The rest of Monica
• The friend from Hell
• The indiscreet charm of Lucianne
• The Speaker who never was
• Notebook

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