The Clinton Impeachment | 6. God Mode

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Slow Burn – The Clinton Impeachment | Ep. 6: God Mode

Host: Slate Podcasts
Episode Release Date: September 19, 2018

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Overview:

This episode, “God Mode,” explores a pivotal moment in the Clinton impeachment saga: the public exposure of President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and the immediate, culture-shaking aftermath. It examines how the story emerged from the fringes of the media, the reactions from the White House, conservative and faith-based critics, and Clinton’s supporters, all under the microscope of relentless press coverage and shifting public opinion.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Breaking of the Lewinsky Story

• Main Event: News of Clinton’s alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky bursts into the public sphere, disrupting planned political narratives and media coverage.

  • Mara Liasson (NPR): Describes receiving a scoop about Clinton’s State of the Union (Social Security reforms), only to have plans derailed by the Lewinsky news
    Notable Quote:

    “How quaint.” — Mara Liasson (00:40)

  • The Drudge Report and Matt Drudge break the initial story after learning Newsweek was sitting on it
  • Lucianne Goldberg, Linda Tripp’s literary agent, provides key tip-off to Drudge

• Mainstream Media Reaction:

  • The story takes three days to move from web rumor to a front-page Washington Post story.
  • Quote:

    "We wake up and read the Post and we see the story about Monica Lewinsky and we looked at each other and we went, ew, yuck. I guess we have to ask him about this." — Mara Liasson (00:56)

2. The White House in Shock

• Staffers Respond:

  • White House and government staff, including those long-accustomed to scandals, feel uncertain and destabilized.
  • Eli Addy (Vice President Gore’s office, later The West Wing writer): “The building, you know, was very functional, but with this kind of overlay of unreality.”
  • Rumors swirl, with some prematurely speculating Al Gore could soon be president (03:59)

• Clinton’s Demeanor:

  • Liasson describes Clinton visibly tense during their NPR interview, his “jaw muscle pulsing.” (02:59)
  • Clinton offers controlled denials:

    "Mara, I'm going to do my best to cooperate with the investigation..." — Bill Clinton (02:41)

3. Clinton’s Famous Public Denial

• Setting:

  • At an otherwise mundane education grant announcement, Clinton surprises staff and press with an unplanned public statement.
  • Memorable Moment (05:08):

    “I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I’m going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time. Never. These allegations are false…” — Bill Clinton

• Impact:

  • Clinton’s emphatic denial momentarily reassures his key public supporters, including Madeleine Albright.

4. The Rise of Moral Outcry and the Religious Right

• Conservative Response:

  • Influential voices from the Religious Right, rising in political power since Reagan, see the scandal as a defining moral crisis.
  • Senator John Ashcroft (MO) is highlighted for stressing the indivisibility of private and public morality (06:24):

    “Morality is not divisible. It is not divisible by any man. It is not divisible by any president.”

  • Republican critics rally around the message that Clinton has brought “shame upon a great institution” (06:04)

• Liberal Defense:

  • Clinton allies and much of the Democratic base insist either that he did nothing wrong, or that even if he had, “it wasn’t as grave or dangerous as a campaign to chase him out of office.” (07:23)

5. Media, Public Opinion, and Political Warfare

• The story is fought over in every medium: newspapers, burgeoning websites, and especially in the relentless churn of televised news.
• Public opinion polls provide a continuous barometer of America’s views, showing societal division and fluctuating support.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mara Liasson on seeing the Post story:

  "Ew, yuck. I guess we have to ask him about this." — Mara Liasson (00:56)

• Clinton’s classic denial:

  “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time. Never. These allegations are false...” — Bill Clinton (05:08)

• Eli Addy's depiction of White House uncertainty:

  “The building… was very functional, but with this kind of overlay of unreality… nobody really knew what it meant.” — Eli Addy (03:40, 03:53)

• John Ashcroft on morality:

  "Morality is not divisible. It is not divisible by any man. It is not divisible by any president." — Sen. John Ashcroft (06:24)

• Narrator’s summary of the period:

  "Most Americans were pretty sure that wasn't true [about the official stance]. And so, during the spring and summer of 1998, conservatives who thought Clinton's alleged behavior was immoral and unforgivable went to war against his defenders…" (07:08)

• Clinton’s confession, foreshadowed:

  “I don’t think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned.” — Bill Clinton (08:21)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:32 – Mara Liasson prepares for her Clinton interview
• 01:10 – The Drudge Report breaks the Lewinsky story; background on its spread
• 02:41 – Clinton’s initial on-the-record denial to NPR
• 03:40 – Eli Addy on the White House’s stunned mood
• 05:08 – Clinton’s famous televised denial
• 06:04-06:24 – Conservative and religious right condemnation
• 07:00–08:00 – The battle for public opinion and cultural stakes
• 08:21 – Clinton’s later admission alluded to: “I have sinned.”

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Episode Tone

The episode blends investigative storytelling, first-person recollections, and archival media with a sense of tension and disbelief. The tone is both reflective and direct, matching the chaos and significance of the unfolding events.

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For history buffs, political junkies, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of media, morality, and power, “God Mode” delivers a compelling account of a presidency—and a nation—under siege.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

1998, NPR's Mara Liasson was scheduled to interview Bill Clinton about his upcoming State of the Union address.

[Mara Liasson]

The biggest news for us was what he was going to say. I even had a little scoop on that. He was going to say something about Social Security and I knew what it was, so I was going to ask him about that. How quaint.

[Narrator]

Liasson and her colleague Robert Siegel had planned out the whole interview.

[Mara Liasson]

And then the day of, we wake up and read the Post and we see the story about Monica Lewinsky and we looked at each other and we went, ew, yuck. I guess we have to ask him about this.

[Narrator]

The notion that Clinton had been romantically involved with a former White House intern first appeared on a fledgling website called the Drudge Report. The site's proprietor, Matt Drudge, had received the tip that editors at Newsweek were sitting on a story about Clinton's affair. Drudge published the allegation in the middle of the night on Sunday, January 18, about 24 hours after Monica Lewinsky walked out on Ken Starr's prosecutors at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Drudge had received the tip from Lucienne Goldberg, the literary agent who was working with Linda Tripp. Drudge's Post didn't make it into the mainstream media for three full days. When it finally did, by way of a front page story in the Washington Post, it was a lot for people to take in the unexpected reports of a new sex scandal involving President Clinton bombshell allegations that he had a sexual affair with a former White House intern. Not only was the president being accused of having an affair with a woman half his age, he was also under criminal investigation by independent counsel Ken Starr for trying to cover it up. There's a growing sense here that this.

[Mara Liasson]

Scandal could unravel the administration.

[Narrator]

When Mara Liasson and Robert Siegel sat down across from Clinton in the Oval Office the day the Post story came out, they opened their interview with a series of direct but charitably phrased questions about the allegations.

[Mara Liasson]

I was very decorous, And I said, Mr. President, where do you think this comes from? Did you have any kind of relationship with her that could have been misconstrued? Then he said, well, mara, I don't know anything more about this than you do.

[Bill Clinton]

Mara, I'm going to do my best to cooperate with the investigation. I want to know what they want to know from me. I think it's more important for me to tell the American people that it wasn't in proper relations. I didn't ask anybody to lie, and I intend to cooperate. And I think that's all I should say right now so I can get back to the work of the country.

[Mara Liasson]

But you're not able to say whether you had any. And what I do remember very distinctly from the interview was that Bill Clinton, who has a large jaw, his jaw muscle was, like, pulsing, and as he was speaking, and you could see this ba, ba, ba ba ba bump, this kind of jaw muscle pulsing. So he was tense.

[Narrator]

The lewinsky story sent a chill through the white house as Clinton staffers, who had grown accustomed to scandal, wondered amongst themselves if this one was for real.

[Eli Addy]

They just read about it in the paper like everybody else.

[Narrator]

This is eli Addy. In 1998, he was working for vice president al Gore. Later on, he would become a writer for the television show the west wing.

[Eli Addy]

The building, you know, was very functional, but with this kind of overlay of unreality, I think, because, you know, when the lewinsky story started to break, nobody really knew what it meant. Nobody knew where it was heading.

[Narrator]

One night, Adi was talking on the phone with a friend from time magazine whose outlook on the situation left Adi.

[Eli Addy]

Jolted, you know, and I was wondering, you know, what Clinton might do, what he might say. And this guy said to me, like, don't you get it? Gore is going to be president by Friday. There's no way Clinton survives this week.

[Narrator]

A few days later, addy was organizing a routine press conference in which the vice president and the first lady would be announcing a new grant for after school programs. The morning of the event, Addy was informed that the president would also be making an appearance.

[Eli Addy]

I remember it as if it were yesterday because, you know, Gore spoke about after school care, and it was fine.

[Narrator]

This morning's announcement should be seen in the context of how we prepare the children in this country to succeed in the 21st century.

[Eli Addy]

And the first lady spoke. And same thing this morning.

[Narrator]

We come together to hear about the president's plans to strengthen education.

[Eli Addy]

And then president clinton got up and he gave another fairly, you know, mundane speech about after school care and education. And you could have just slept through the whole thing. And then at the very end of the president's remarks, he said, now I.

[Bill Clinton]

Have to go back to work on my state of the union speech, but I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time. Never. These allegations are false, and I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you.

[Eli Addy]

And he just walked right out the door.

[Narrator]

Clinton's denials were enough to assuage most of his prominent allies, including secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who vouched for him publicly and without equivocation.

[Mara Liasson]

I believe that the allegations are completely untrue.

[Narrator]

But Clinton's critics on the right were not satisfied.

[Bill Clinton]

He has scandal after scandal that should disqualify him from being the occupant of the Oval Office.

[Narrator]

Mr. President, you are responsible for bringing shame upon a great institution, and we, the people of the United States of America, will hold you accountable. In the weeks and months that followed, some of the most withering criticism that Clinton took came from a coalition of conservative activists whose political views were bound up with their faith. The influence of the Christian right within the Republican party had been growing steadily since the Reagan years. When the Lewinsky story broke, some of the movement's leaders pounced on it with righteous vigor. Here's John Ashcroft, a Christian conservative who in 1998 was a senator from Missouri. Leaders who suggest that they can separate their private lives and their public actions are wrong. Morality is not divisible. It is not divisible by any man. It is not divisible by any president. Clinton and his allies, meanwhile, continued to insist that he had done nothing inappropriate, Even as increasingly vivid details about his relationship with Lewinsky began to trickle out of Starr's grand jury today, even more graphic and salacious allegations came to light. The official position of the White House was that none of it had happened. Most Americans were pretty sure that wasn't true. And so, during the spring and summer of 1998, conservatives who thought Clinton's alleged behavior was immoral and unforgivable went to war against his defenders, many of whom believed that even if Clinton had done something wrong, it wasn't as grave or dangerous as a campaign to chase him out of office. It was a struggle that played out in the media. It was in newspapers on the World Wide Web and most importantly, on television. Meanwhile, a steady stream of public opinion polls provided a running score. How did the right, and the religious right in particular, fan the flames of outrage during the Clinton Lewinsky scandal? How did the President's supporters fight back? And how did the American people decide whose side to take? This is Slow Burn. I'm your host, Leon Neyfa. The criminal investigation of the President is proceeding tonight at a breakneck pace. Will the President feel the need to tell the nation what he knows? He is no longer someone we can look to with moral authority in the White House.

[Bill Clinton]

I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned.

[Narrator]

Episode 6 God mode.

[Susan]

Hi again, Susan here. I hope you're finding this story as compelling as we did. I've worked at Slate for nine years, and I now serve as executive editor of the magazine. I also hosted season seven of Slow Burn on the history of Roe v. Wade, which was the most thorough and thoughtful journalism I've ever done. For every season, we track down the people who lived through these historic events and find archival material that helps us see these stories in new ways. That work isn't easy or cheap, which is why we depend on Slate plus members to make it happen. Your membership helps us keep making Slow Burn and supports all of Slate's journalism. If you want to hear the rest of this season and support what we do, now's the perfect time to join Slate Plus. You can join directly within Apple, Podcasts and Spotify, or visit slate.com slowburn to get access wherever you listen. Thanks so much for listening and for considering becoming a member.