Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American woman who was thrust into the public limelight after having a sexual affair with U.S. President Bill Clinton. Their affair started while Lewinsky was working as an intern at the White House in the mid-1990s. The affair's repercussions for President Clinton are often referred to as the Lewinsky scandal or "Monicagate." "Monicagate" has garnered Lewinsky much notoriety following the scandal.
Lewinsky was born in San Francisco, and grew up in Southern California on the west side of Los Angeles and in Beverly Hills. Her father was born in El Salvador but comes from a family of German Jewish immigrants, while her mother's family were Jewish immigrants from Russia. After transferring from community college, she graduated with a Psychology degree from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon in 1995. Afterwards Lewinsky moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked at the White House during Clinton's first term.
While working as a paid staffer at the Pentagon, the former White House intern had a short-term sexual relationship with the President. Clinton and Lewinsky both agreed that the relationship involved oral sex but not sexual intercourse. The news of this affair, and the resulting investigation, and impeachment, became known as the Lewinsky scandal. Confidante Linda Tripp was secretly recording her telephone conversations with Lewinsky regarding the affair with Clinton. Later, Tripp would give the tapes to Kenneth Starr (Independent Counsel), and these would add to his ongoing investigation that previously concentrated on the Whitewater scandal. Ironically, it had been Tripp who also tipped off the press to keep an eye on federal employee Jennifer Fitzgerald, who was said to have allegedly had an indiscreet affair with then-President George H. W. Bush. Tripp, after speaking with Lewinsky, would report her findings to her friend, right-wing literary agent Lucianne Goldberg.
Lewinsky admitted that her relationship with Clinton involved oral sex in the Oval Office. This was documented in the Starr report, which eventually led to President Clinton's impeachment trial on the allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice regarding the affair. Clinton had previously been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct, most notably in regard to a relationship with singer and former Arkansas state employee Gennifer Flowers and an encounter with Arkansas state employee Paula Jones (née Corbin) in a Little Rock hotel room in which Jones claimed that Clinton had exposed himself to her. These affairs occurred during Clinton's term as Arkansas governor. Lewinsky's name actually surfaced during legal proceedings connected to the latter matter, when Jones' lawyers sought corroborating evidence of Clinton's conduct to substantiate Jones' allegations.
Clinton denied having sexual intercourse with Lewinsky while under oath in an unrelated trial. In a nationally televised clip from a White House news conference, Clinton later claimed "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." The line later became a punchline for its technical verity but deceptive nature, based on one's definition of "sexual relations." In addition, he stated "There is no sexual relationship" with Lewinsky, a statement which he later said was truthful depending on one's definition of "is." Under pressure from Starr, who Clinton learned had obtained from Lewinsky a blue dress with Clinton's semen stain, as well as testimony from Lewinsky that the president had used a cigar in a sexual manner with her, Clinton admitted on August 19, 1998, that he misled the American people and that he had had an "inappropriate" relationship with Lewinsky. Clinton denied having committed perjury because, in his opinion, oral sex was not a sexual relation. In addition, relying upon the definition of "sexual relations" as worded by Judge Susan Webber Wright, who was hearing the Paula Jones case, Clinton claimed that since certain acts were performed on him, not by him, he did not engage in sexual relations. Lewinsky's testimony to the Starr Commission, however, contradicted Clinton's claim of being totally passive in their encounters. Clinton's lawyer would later explain that different people can remember the same events in different ways.
Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives but not convicted in the Senate, so he was not removed from office. Interestingly, Clinton saw his job approval ratings among the American people increase during and after the scandal. It has been suggested, however, that the moral questions raised by his actions tainted then-vice president Al Gore's campaign for the presidency in 2000.
The affair, and its sordid details, led to a period of cultural celebrity for Lewinsky; as an unlikely sex symbol, and as a younger-generation nexus of a political storm that was both lighthearted, and extremely serious at the same time. Some mild use of the name "Lewinsky" still exists as a term for oral sex, though Lewinsky references and jokes have long cooled in the public interest. Many feminists considered the extensive attention to Lewinsky to be indication of widespread sexism. For her actions Lewinsky was extraordinarily famous during the last two years of the 1990s.
By her own account, Lewinsky survived the intense media attention by knitting. She now runs her own business, selling her own brand of handbags. She was also the host of the short-lived reality television dating program called Mr. Personality (2003). Lewinsky currently studies an MSc in Social Psychology at the London School of Economics.
Lewinsky criticized Clinton's autobiography, My Life, saying, "He could have made it right with the book, but he hasn't. He is a revisionist of history. He has lied."
Lewinsky is currently studying social psychology at the London School of Economics.
On March 4, 1999, Monica's Story, an authorized biography detailing her affair with Bill Clinton, went on sale in the United States.
In early 2000, Lewinsky served as spokeswoman for the Jenny Craig Weight Loss Plan.
