Bill Clinton

 

Broadcast: Feb 6, 2003
By Jerilyn Watson

VOICE ONE:

This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States. Today we continue telling about America's forty-second president, Bill Clinton. He became only the second American president to be charged and tried for wrongdoing by Congress.

VOICE ONE:

For years, critics of Bill Clinton had accused him of financial wrongdoing before he became president. Some critics also accused his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Clintons denied any dishonest actions. However, unconfirmed reports repeatedly said that they were involved in illegal business activities in Arkansas during the nineteen-eighties.

In January of nineteen-ninety-four, the president asked Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint an independent lawyer to lead an investigation¹. Mizz Reno named a Republican lawyer. However, some people said this man was too friendly to the Clinton administration. He was replaced by Kenneth Starr, also a Republican.

VOICE TWO:

Congress also investigated the president during his two terms in office. For example, the Senate Judiciary Committee began an investigation in nineteen-ninety-five. The majority of Judiciary Committee members reported that the evidence did not show Mister Clinton responsible for a crime. But the majority belonged to his political party, the Democrats². Suspicion1 of the president continued.

The main cause of the suspicion developed from a financial investment made years earlier. Bill and Hillary Clinton had bought land in Arkansas in nineteen-seventy-eight. The Clintons formed the Whitewater Development Corporation with Susan and James McDougal. The goal was to sell holiday homes on a river. However, the company did poorly.

VOICE ONE:

James McDougal also owned a loan company. Hillary Clinton, a lawyer, did legal work for this company. The company failed during the nineteen-eighties. James McDougal and Susan McDougal were found guilty of wrongdoing in connection with the loan company.

Bill and Hillary Clinton's business connection to the McDougals in the Whitewater Company helped make the Clintons targets of suspicion.

VOICE TWO:

A former judge also became linked to legal questions about the Whitewater Corporation. David Hale owned a savings⁴ and loan company that received public money. In nineteen-ninety-six, Mister Hale said Bill Clinton had pressured him to loan money to Susan McDougal about eleven years earlier. The Whitewater Development Corporation received some of that money. Mister Clinton was governor of Arkansas at the time. So such an action would have been illegal. Bill Clinton denied the accusation2.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Investigators⁶ asked Missus Clinton several times for records of her legal work for James McDougal during the nineteen-eighties. Officials wanted to know how much time she had spent on legal advice for his loan company. She said she could not find the records. Then, in January of nineteen-ninety-six, the records appeared in the White House. Missus Clinton could not explain their presence.

Bill and Hillary Clinton continued to deny wrongdoing. Some Americans did not believe them. Others, however, said Kenneth Starr was wasting millions of dollars on his investigation. They said Mister Starr was acting⁷ against the president for political reasons.

Media reports said Mister Starr had offered shorter prison sentences to David Hale and others involved with Whitewater if they cooperated with his investigation. Defenders⁸ of the president said this meant these people had good reason to lie.

Investigators said such offers are common. Other media reports said David Hale had received large amounts of money from a conservative organization that had strongly criticized Mister Clinton.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The president was threatened with removal from office after a sexual relationship with a young woman became public.

It started when a former Arkansas state employee named Paula Corbin Jones took legal action against President Clinton in nineteen-ninety-four. She charged that he had asked her for sex while he was governor of Arkansas. A federal judge dismissed her case for lack of evidence. But Missus Jones appealed3 the case.

Her lawyers wanted to prove that Mister Clinton had had sex with several female workers. They suspected these included a young woman, Monica Lewinsky, who had worked as a White House assistant. They believed Mizz Lewinsky had sexual relations with President Clinton between nineteen-ninety-five and nineteen-ninety-seven.

VOICE ONE :

Kenneth Starr was still investigating the Whitewater case early in nineteen-ninety-eight. He received permission to include Mizz Lewinsky in his investigation.

A former friend of Mizz Lewinsky had given Mister Starr tape recordings⁹ of her telephone calls with the young woman. On the recordings, Monica Lewinsky talked about her relationship with the president.

Earlier, Mizz Lewinsky and Mister Clinton had separately answered questions from lawyers representing Paula Jones. Both Mister Clinton and Mizz Lewinsky denied having a sexual relationship. In January of nineteen-ninety-eight, Mister Clinton also denied publicly that he had a sexual relationship with Mizz Lewinsky.

VOICE TWO:

Six months later, Mister Clinton agreed to answer questions before a federal investigating jury. He told the grand jury about his relationship with Mizz Lewinsky. This meant he had lied during earlier official questioning. That night, the president admitted on national television that he had had a relationship with Monica Lewinsky that was wrong. He told the nation his actions were a personal failure. But he denied trying to get her to lie about the relationship.

Kenneth Starr sent his final report to the House of Representatives. The report suggested that Mister Clinton may have committed impeachable¹⁰ crimes in trying to hide his relationship with the young woman.

VOICE ONE:

In December, the House of Representatives impeached¹¹ President William Jefferson Clinton. This meant the Senate would hold a trial and decide if he was guilty. If found guilty, Mister Clinton would be removed from office, as required by the Constitution.

Only one other president had ever been impeached4. In eighteen-sixty-eight, the House of Representatives had brought charges against President Andrew Johnson. The Senate had failed by one vote to remove him from office.

VOICE TWO:

The House of Representatives approved two charges against President Clinton to send to the Senate. One charge accused him of lying during the official investigation of his relationship with Mizz Lewinsky. The other accused him of trying to hide evidence.

Mister Clinton still had two years left to serve as president. Opinion studies showed the American public wanted him to finish his term. Two-thirds of the people asked said they opposed removing him from office.

VOICE ONE:

The Senate decided¹² Mister Clinton's future in February of nineteen-ninety-nine. The one-hundred senators held a trial to consider the charges and decide if Mister Clinton should be removed from office. The trial required sixty-seven votes for a judgment¹³ of guilt³ on each charge.

The Senators voted Mister Clinton not guilty on one charge. They evenly divided their votes on the other charge.

Bill Clinton remained president of the United States. But the forty-second president had hoped to be remembered for his leadership and the progress made during his administration. Instead, many people said he will be remembered for the charges against him.

In October, nineteen-ninety-nine, Kenneth Starr resigned as the independent investigator⁵. An assistant, Robert Ray, completed a final report on the Whitewater investigation. He issued his report in September, two-thousand. No charges were brought against the Clintons. The report said there was not enough evidence to prove any wrongdoing by President or Missus Clinton.

       Political experts disagree about what place in history William Jefferson Clinton will occupy. But the experts agree that Mister Clinton's influence on the United States will be debated for many years to come.

VOICE TWO:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by George Grow. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

1. suspicion [s[s5pIF[n] n. 猜疑，怀疑
2. accusation [Akju(:)5zeIF[n] n. 谴责，指控
3. appeal [[5pi:l] vt. 控诉
4. impeach [Im5pi:tF] vt. 控告，弹劾

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

4 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

5 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

10 impeachable   

adj.可控告的，可弹劾的

参考例句：

• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• The government officer committed an impeachable offence. 那位政府官员犯了可能招致弹劾的罪行。 来自辞典例句

11 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。