Few popularly elected Presidents and Prime Ministers confronted by an increasingly hostile electorate, can resist the temptation to find some comfort, however temporary, in some "foreign crisis" or threat abroad.
An "oil man" from the West before he took to big-time politics, George Bush found the perfect "screen villain" in Saddam Hussein of oil-rich Iraq.
He had quite a record too-a land-and - oil grab, a staunchly pro-West Kuwait. Alas "Desert Storm" swept Sheriff George Bush away. No second term, no more politics.
All the applause did not help him defeat young Bill Clinton, the new John F. Kennedy. And young Bill Clinton led the Democrats to another victory - the maximum 8 years. The triumph was not wholly complete. The Republicans had a majority in the powerful senate. Thus the conventional wars between the White House and the Congress.
Nobody however thought that he may face impeachment. Is this a new "Wate-rgate"? Though it is treated by a hostile media as a sex scandal, and introduced as the Whitewater Affair, President Clinton’s reputation is on the line.... and of course the verdict of the historians. It is not often that a President as young as Mr. Clinton has won a second term in the White House. John F. Kennedy, with whom he is often compared, was denied that very special claim to a place in American history. It is not the similarities but the differences which are highlighted by the historians, the political scientists anchor-men of the TV programmes and of course the Washington-based foreign correspondents.
"Even when the weight of evidence of high crimes and misdemeanours against President Nixon grew heavy, the system moved with all deliberate speed, involving as it did special prosecutors, Congressional healings, Supreme Court rulings and ultimately the careful drafting of the articles of impeachment...."
Drama and Media
Haynes Johnson, editor of the Washington Post, described it as "a slowly unfolding drama, more of a detective story". This writer did not have the privilege of meeting the famous Haynes Johnson but he did attend editorial Monday "conferences" chaired by Ben Bradlee, and thus an introduction to Bob Woodward, the reporter who was co-author with colleague Bernstein of the All the President’s Men.
Of this, one can be certain, the American press, certainly the Washington and New York-based, some major TV stations and newspapers in Clinton country, will provide a worldwide audience, directly or indirectly, the "evidence" on which those who call for the impeachment of President Clinton justify their history-making campaign.
Andrew Jackson was impeached in the 1860’s. The Senate decided to acquit him. Some Presidents are exceptionally lucky. Students of American politics and international affairs have reason to return once more to Irangate or the Iran-Contra controversy.
Was the ever-popular Ronald Reagan just lucky? It took two sympathetic Senators to save Reagan and the fact that one was an (opposition) Democrat strengthened the demand to have the inquiries by a Special Prosecutor stopped "short of the Oval office". Pals of Ron Reagan, cowboy and nice guy? Not quite. The Senators held the view, though it was not publicly declared, that "the nation did not need another trauma so soon after Watergate".
Luckily for the White House Monicagate has come far too close to the State of the Union Address for anti-Clinton snipers to target the young President right now. Besides, he seems to have friends in strange places. Clinton is having difficulties and we’re not happy about it.
On the contrary we hope he can get over them.
In this particular context, we should not speak of "strange bedfellows" but the student of US foreign policy may bear in mind that the companero Castro has a seconder to the motion that Clinton has been targeted by "the American rightwing".
How large will be the bill that President Bill Clinton will be called to pay.
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