Clinton Beating Rape Rap Paved Way for Others

With Barack Obama dogged by multiple scandals – from Benghazi to NSA surveillance to rampant IRS abuses – many Americans are asking whether he can make it through his second term.

Likewise, with sex scandals in the news – from ex-congressman Anthony Weiner to former New York governor Eliot Spitzer to San Diego Mayor Bob Filner – many are asking how such disgraced leaders can possibly believe they can re-assume positions of power and public trust.

The approaching anniversary of one of the most extraordinary presidential scandals in history may well hold the answer to both questions.

Fifteen years ago, perhaps the most serious allegation ever levied against a sitting U.S. president – a nationally televised accusation of forcible rape, widely regarded by the public as credible – came to light. Yet Bill Clinton not only survived the allegation, he also survived an impeachment that included other sexually lurid charges and went on to become the beloved elder statesman of the Democratic Party.

It was Juanita Broaddrick who in 1998 first went public with the story of alleged rape two decades earlier, reportedly on April 25, 1978. In February 1999, she told her story to a national TV audience on “Dateline NBC” to Emmy-winning reporter Lisa Myers.

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