Option B
Resign Now
This is a delicate point Mr. President, but if you know of further revelations -- and there are rumors of "another intern," and of a possible affair with the daughter of a former high Democratic official -- you should resign before they become public. Resignation would spare your family more hurt and you more embarrassment. It also might immunize you against later criminal prosecution over either the Lewinsky matter or Whitewater. Removing you from office, not pursuing you into retirement, is Starr's objective -- or so we must assume until we probe his ultimate intentions.
Secondly, resigning now would help your party in the upcoming elections and Mr. Gore in 2000. Voters are unlikely to punish Democrats to punish you, but the scandal will drown out your party's message and demoralize the Democratic base. Turnout will fall. More Republicans will be elected. The 1994 GOP takeover of Congress remains a blot on your tenure; no Democratic President has suffered a worse political defeat in this century. Here is a chance to reverse it. Party morale would soar if you lifted the shadow of scandal now shrouding the elections. If you were to resign, a Democratic takeover of the House would still take luck, but not, as now, a miracle.
Those urging you to stay put cite polls showing that a strong majority of the public wants you to do so. But that majority melts away when the public is asked about perjury; if you perjured yourself, a majority of people want you to resign or face impeachment. Your lawyers contend that you did not commit perjury in the Paula Jones deposition because, while Ms. Lewinsky had sex with you, you did not have sex with her under the definition given by Ms. Jones' lawyers. But the Democratic leadership on the Hill is urging you to drop this hair-splitting defense and admit to perjury.
Finally, consider the verdict of history. During the twenty years between his resignation and death, Richard Nixon rehabilitated his reputation among the country's opinion leaders. Would an impeached President have been able to do so? One can't know. But bearing the stigma of being impeached may have been too heavy a burden for Nixon's reputation to overcome.
Some people are arguing that you should wait and see whether you will be forced to resign. But waiting for the last minute contains its own dangers. For one, the public might come to see you as holding out only to save your own skin, rather than thinking of the greater good of the country. For another, your authority with Congress and in the world might begin a palpable erosion, emboldening America's enemies abroad and forcing you to compromise your political values by striking deals with your ideological opponents. That will tarnish your reputation, your place in history. Better, Mr. President, to leave office now in the name of saving the Clinton legacy, which would be safe with a Democratic Congress and Al Gore as President. There is honor in that. There is no honor in provoking or prolonging a constitutional crisis just to stay in office.
Copyright © 1998 by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |