Abstract:
Political scandal has long been a rich area for examination among historians, political scientist and cultural analysts, including for scholars focused on Bill Clinton. A political scandal is an act of misconduct that the media frames as an urgent problem for the voting public that must be investigated and remedied. Brendan Nyhan defines scandal as a socially constructed event that occurs when a public figure’s actions are widely interpreted as contravening established ethical, moral, political, or procedural norms. In the case of Clinton, scandals revealed acts of misconduct that raised questions of his fitness for the presidency and became major sites of political contestation in the 1990s, an era of growing political partisanship in the USA due the end of the Cold War and an increased focus on domestic issues. Scholars have consistently focused on the Clinton Affair when discussing the scandals of the Clinton presidency. By focusing on one scandal scholars have ignored the previous six years that created the atmosphere of intense press and political coverage during the Affair scandal. This thesis seeks to realign the focus of scholars of the Clinton era. This thesis examines three scandals: Travelgate, Whitewater and the Lincoln Bedroom scandal. By examining the effect that these three scandals had on the President, the First Lady, the White House and their legitimacy scholars can better understand the Clinton administration. Furthermore, by understanding how the press and Clinton’s political opponents framed these scandals scholars can further understand the intense partisan period of the 1990s.
