Photos show how the affair between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky came to light, fracturing a nation's trust and both of their reputations

Katie BalevicFeb 18, 2023, 18:55 IST

Monica Lewinsky and former President Bill Clinton.Fiona Hanson - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images. Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images.

The affair between President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky imploded both of their lives.
They have separately moved on to varying degrees of success, though the past still haunts them.

Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky said she fell for the president's "lethal charm."

President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky at a White House function.Getty Images

Their secret gifts to each other during the affair would later come back to haunt them.

Among the evidence gathered in the Clinton investigation was a semen-stained dress belonging to Lewinsky.Hulton Archive/Getty

Both Clinton and Lewinsky repeatedly denied the affair.

In this Jan. 26, 1998 file photo, President Clinton emphatically denies having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky during a White House event.Greg Gibson/AP

Lewinsky was thrust into a national spotlight that wasn't budging.

Monica Lewinsky and her stepmother, Barbara Lewinsky, push through a large crowd of media as they leave at a Santa Monica, California, restaurant on February 5, 1998.Nick Ut/AP

Clinton was publicly caught in a lie and apologized.

Clinton in the Map Room of the White House in Washington, DC, just before delivering his televised address to the American people regarding his testimony to a federal grand jury. Clinton admitted that he engaged in conduct that was "not appropriate" with Lewinsky.LUKE FRAZZA/AFP via Getty Images

After Clinton admitted to the affair, his daughter held his family together.

President Bill Clinton, first lady Hillary Clinton, and their daughter Chelsea walk with the family dog, Buddy, August 18, 1998, from the White House toward a helicopter as they depart for a vacation to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.Roberto Borea/AP

Despite the scandal, Clinton still held on to support for his presidency.

The actor Jack Nicholson speaks at an anti-impeachment rally at the Federal Building in Westwood, Los Angeles, on December 16, 1998. Nearly 1,000 people attended the star-studded rally supporting President Clinton.Nick Ut/AP

An impeached President Clinton vowed to stay in office until "the last day of my term."

In this December 1998 file photo, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton watches President Clinton as he thanks those Democratic members of the House of Representatives who voted against impeachment at the White House in Washington.Susan Walsh/AP

Lewinsky apologized, too, but still bore the brunt of the ridicule.

On "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Leno held up fake children's books mocking Lewinsky.Margaret Norton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

But for Clinton, the scandal was a shadow he could mostly recover from.

This April 2006 file photo shows former President Bill Clinton, left, looking up at his portrait after Lawrence Small, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, right, helped him remove the drape at the Smithsonian Castle Building in Washington. A Philadelphia artist said that his museum portrait of former President Clinton contains a shadow reference to Monica Lewinsky's infamous blue dress.Haraz N. Ghanbari, File / AP Images

Unlike Clinton, it would take years for the public to see Lewinsky in a redeemable light.

At times, she said she felt "stuck in the cocoon of 1998."

Monica Lewinsky embraces President Bill Clinton at a Democratic fundraiser in October 1996.Dirck Halstead/Getty Images

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