Monica Lewinsky

Intern / Political Scandal Figure

Monica Lewinsky was a recent college graduate when she took a position as an intern in the White House in 1995. In January of 1998 the news broke that Linda Tripp, a former co-worker, had Lewinsky on tape talking about an illicit affair between Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton. Eventually Lewinsky was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for detailed testimony of her liaisons with Clinton, who, in public and under oath, had denied any sexual relationship. When Clinton was forced to admit an "inappropriate relationship," the House of Representatives impeached him. Clinton was eventually acquitted after a trial by the U.S. Senate, but the scandal marred the last three years of his administration. Lewinsky told her side in the 1999 book Monica's Story (written by Andrew Morton). She later appeared as a spokesperson for the Jenny Craig weight loss program, hosted the TV reality show Mr. Personality for one season in 2003, and dabbled in a new career as a handbag designer.

Extra credit: Lewinsky graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon in 1995... She received a Masters degree from the London School of Economics in 2006. A news release from Lewinsky's publicist said that the LSE degree was in Social Psychology and that her thesis was titled "In Search of the Impartial Juror: An exploration of the third person effect and pre-trial publicity"... Lewinsky's case is sometimes compared to the sadder tale of another Washington intern, the late Chandra Levy.

Lewinsky appears with Sally Hemings in our loop on Presidential Sex Scandals.