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Papa Bill, Mama Linda, Baby Monica

The dysfunctional family at the heart of the scandal

By Walter Kirn

TIME magazine

(TIME, October 5) -- When Monica Lewinsky went to Washington, her first thrilling foray into independence and adult responsibility, she did what so many young people do when they leave the nest: she assembled a surrogate family for herself. She chose her father figure, Bill Clinton, even before she got to town, it seems, and won him over in a panty-flash. But finding a stand-in mother took a while. For a time Betty Currie, the President's secretary, seemed to fill the role, but when Lewinsky was transferred from the White House to the Pentagon, she apparently found a new mama: Linda Tripp. Lewinsky's dysfunctional household was complete, with the result that, ever since, the country has been bogged down in family court.

Whatever else the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal may ultimately be viewed as--grounds for impeachment, epic tabloid sideshow or the latest outbreak of puritan hysteria in the culture that gave us The Scarlet Letter--it already provides a cautionary tale about the dangers of instant intimacy. In the socially transient, lonely world of Washington, where betrayal is only a subpoena away, even between the closest confidants, and a flurry of quickies in a private bathroom can turn a couple, in Monica's words, into "sexual soul mates," fast friendship may be the ultimate danger.

What's often been said of Clinton--that the man has a gift for inspiring affection with a word of greeting and a handshake--may be even truer of Lewinsky. By the end of her grand jury testimony, according to the transcripts, the courtroom resembled an Oprah studio taping. The woman who'd used broad smiles and cute pet names to soften up the Commander in Chief had turned the grand jurors to pudding. "We've all fallen short," one assured her. "We sin every day."

If Lewinsky fell short in her dalliance with power, it might be because she was aiming so high. Furious about her expulsion to the Pentagon, the young woman who'd joked about "presidential kneepads" even before she hit town hinted that she'd expose their affair if Clinton didn't rehire her at the White House. Later, when it came time to leave the city, she stipulated that bigwig Vernon Jordan be the one to help her in her job search and presented a rather intimidating list of desired positions. "Assistant producer at any of the networks," her not-so-modest proposal began, ending with "anything at George magazine." (The George job never materialized, of course, and its editor, John Kennedy Jr., may have dodged a legal bill or two.)

Lewinsky was a small fish in a big pond, but not just any small fish: a puffer fish. Whether she was demanding entry at the Northwest Gate or presuming to advise the President on political issues, she knew how to blow herself up to several times her natural size. In one blast of unsolicited advice giving, she counseled Clinton to settle with Paula Jones by using the First Lady's bruised feelings as an excuse. Lewinsky even laid out a media strategy: "Mrs. Clinton should do something publicly, maybe on a TV show or something, and talk about how difficult the case had been for her and on [sic] her daughter..." Dick Morris and Mike McCurry, move over.

Unfortunately for Lewinsky, her talent for winning people's trust was matched by a weakness for bestowing it. Worse, the person she chose to trust the most had a singular gift for eliciting confessions--and filing them away for later use. Playing the experienced mother superior to Lewinsky's bubbly flying nun, Linda Tripp was the ideal repository for the younger woman's schemes and dreams. Once, in the wee hours of the morning, when Tripp was sleeping over at Lewinsky's apartment, Lewinsky was called by the President, she testified, for what may have been a round of phone sex. On hanging up, the first thing Lewinsky did was try to wake Tripp to tell her about the interlude. Had the dozing mother figure not slept on, the Starr report might have been several pages longer.

Inevitably, as happens with kids and parents, Lewinsky rebelled against both Clinton and Tripp and tried to take back at least some of the authority she'd so precipitously granted them. In Clinton's case she threw jealous fits and pouted about having been a "good girl" by keeping their fling quiet. In Tripp's case she started lying and sneaking around. Convinced that Tripp was jealous of her association with two Big Daddies, Jordan and Clinton, Lewinsky fudged certain details of her job search and her affidavit in the Jones case. "I didn't want her to think that I had gone ahead and done anything without her," Lewinsky told Starr.

Lewinsky, a typical child of divorce--skilled, as many such children are, in secrecy, guilt tripping and seduction--found herself a new family in Washington. She was happy with them for a while, and they with her. And everyone's needs were met, as the therapists say. Papa Bill, Mama Linda and Baby Monica got what they wanted from one another, each in his own way. There was only one problem: they hardly knew each other. Let alone themselves.


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Cover Date: October 5, 1998

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