On the eve of the first-ever criminal grand jury testimony by a U.S. president, many Dartmouth students said they do not care about President Clinton's disclosure regarding his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Nearly all of the students interviewed, despite a wide range of political viewpoints, said they think Clinton will survive the scandal and will complete his term in office.
"Bill Clinton is pretty unsinkable and he's going to get out of this pretty unscathed," Student Assembly Vice President Case Dorkey '99 said.
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and several other prosecutors are scheduled to begin questioning Clinton this afternoon at the White House regarding his relationship with Lewinsky and whether he encouraged her to lie about it under oath.
According to the Associated Press, the President's advisers have acknowledged that Clinton is prepared to admit to having had some form of "inappropriate" relationship with Lewinsky.
Government Professor Constantine Spiliotes, who specializes in American politics and teaches a course on the American presidency, said Clinton should disclose what he will say during the questioning before his grand jury testimony is leaked to the media.
"Clarifying his relationship with Lewinsky shortly before his testimony will give him a jump on what the American public hears about it," Spiliotes said.
Many students said they think Clinton will admit to having some sort of sexual relationship with Lewinsky, but regardless of how Clinton testifies, it will not change their opinion of the president.
"He's running the country fine, so why does his personal life matter that much?" Matthew Larkin '00 said.
Some said they think Clinton's testimony will only make a difference if he reveals he urged Lewinsky to lie under oath, but added that even if he admits to committing perjury, he will probably not be impeached.
"They used to call [President] Reagan the 'teflon president' because scandals just slid off of him," Spiliotes said. "Fortunately for Clinton, he's even better at surviving scandals than Reagan was and impeachment probably won't happen."
Spiliotes explained that with the economy still on track and with midterm elections coming up, Congress is unlikely to carry out an impeachment against Clinton.
Some students said they were more concerned with how Clinton's testimony will affect the rest of his presidency than with the testimony itself.
"The real challenge will be his last two years in office," Student Assembly President Josh Green '00 said. "It will be interesting to see how he will come up with a lasting legacy that won't depend on Monica Lewinsky."
