American History: President Clinton’s Legal Problems

08 March 2012

President Clinton thanks Democrats in the House of Representatives who opposed his impeachment, as first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton watches, on December 19, 1998

STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I’m Steve Ember.

This week in our series, we continue the story of America's forty-second president, Bill Clinton. He was a popular and successful president who was re-elected in nineteen ninety-six. But he also became only the second president in American history ever to be put on trial in Congress.

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Clinton's past in Arkansas became the source of accusations and questions about his character as he was running for president. These included questions about financial dealings with a land development company called Whitewater.

In January of nineteen ninety-four, President Clinton asked Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint an independent lawyer to lead an investigation. She named a Republican, but some critics said her choice was too friendly to the Clinton administration. He was replaced by another Republican, Kenneth Starr.

In nineteen ninety-five the Senate Judiciary Committee began its own investigation of the president. The committee later reported that it had not found evidence of any crimes. However, because the committee was led by Democrats, there was continuing suspicion of the president among Republicans.