DATE: FEBRUARY 11, 1999

TO: MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE

Given the existence of William Jefferson Clinton’s historical relationship with Monica Lewinsky, what honorable actions should America have expected of its President, in response to public allegations about that relationship?

Clinton had three sets of obligations. He was a President to his Office and People. He was a Father and a Husband to his family. He was a Man to his friends, himself and God. His response to the public allegations had different consequences for each of these groups.

Why didn’t Clinton engage in full and immediate disclosure? This would have minimized damage to relationships in each of the three groups. Why would an astute politician choose an evasive strategy while in the floodlights of national media? He did not enlist the support of his legendary PR staff or fiercely loyal family and friends. Why would the quintessential team player walk this road alone?

No President before Clinton has faced the loss of the privacy of a friend’s counsel for a personal problem. The counsel of a trusted friend can move one to face their bad deeds. Unburdening the soul distributes some of the load to the listener. But in today’s political climate, any Presidential counselor can be called to testify in public court.

This President was to have no counselor. If the Man Clinton chose a person to be his private counsel, he would be raising the question of whether he spoke to that person as President Clinton or Man Clinton. There was no structural means of reconciling the power of the President with the need for counsel of the human holding that office.

Faced with the choice of putting friends at the risk of future subpoena, risking accusations of abuse of the Presidential Office, or being his own counsel, William Jefferson Clinton chose to be his own counsel. He entered a tornado of public allegations with his self-understanding informed by no one but himself. He was to be denied personal counsel until all information became public.

Clinton could have sought the counsel of friends and White House staff. This would have eased his personal burden and shared the load of preparing a public response. This would have also made his personal life a problem of the Presidential Office, exposing countless people to possible subpoenas. Instead he protected the Office of the President, friends and family, taking the public road alone.

When the facts inevitably became public, he was finally free to obtain personal counsel and face the personal consequences of his personal actions. The long-delayed healing process for him and his family could begin. He had been forced to wait until public knowledge of the relationship had removed all conflict of interest from the act of seeking personal counsel for himself and his family. By this time, however, the public relations value of full disclosure had long vanished.

There were now public consequences of his personal actions. He now had to ask forgiveness for not engaging in full disclosure with his family, friends, the Presidential Office and the American People. Fortunately, no one could find abuse of the Presidential Office, or identify conversations with friends where he had sought counsel. The remaining question was, why NOT disclosure?

The President, being a human being, needed external human support to fully disclose the details of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. It was impossible for him to obtain this external support without compromising the Office of the President or exposing his personal relationships to judicial inquiry.

William Jefferson Clinton protected everyone’s honor except his own.

Was he an honorable man?

Yours truly,

__________________

Rich Persaud (rpersaud@interlog.com)

Citizen of Canada