But the ultimate legacy is perhaps the warning it offered: that the personal is now inextricably political. It taught us that in the age of the internet, secrets are harder to keep, and that the court of public opinion often moves faster—and judges more harshly—than any court of law.
In the summer of 1995, a young, ambitious college graduate named Monica Lewinsky was hired as an unpaid intern at the White House. Shortly after, she began a personal and sexual relationship with President Bill Clinton, who was 49 at the time. The encounters, which took place in or near the Oval Office, continued intermittently over 18 months. monicagate
It established that impeachment was not just a constitutional remedy for "high crimes and misdemeanors," but a political tool to be used when the opposition party controlled the House—a tactic we have seen repeated in recent years with the impeachments of Donald Trump. But the ultimate legacy is perhaps the warning
Following the Watergate precedent, the suffix "-gate" was applied to signify a high-level political scandal. Shortly after, she began a personal and sexual
Today, Lewinsky has reclaimed her narrative. She is an anti-bullying advocate and a producer, and her 2021 involvement in the TV series Impeachment: American Crime Story forced a generation to look at the scandal through a modern, more empathetic lens.