Back in October of 1998, at the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal (the one that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton), I wrote a tongue-in-cheek article that was published in the Gazette. In the article, I jokingly predicted where some of the key players in the scandal would be in ten years. It is definitely worth a re-read now, as you’ll discover when you get to the end of it.
First, though, here is a brief summary of where the principals noted in the article are as of today (Thanksgiving, 2016):
Monica Lewinsky – She was a minor celebrity for years after the scandal and then dropped from public view for a decade before re-emerging in 2014 as a social activist. She focuses (in TED talks and elsewhere) on cyberbullying.
Linda Tripp – She was fired from her federal job at the end of the Clinton administration, has since married a German architect, and was last reported to be living in obscurity in Middleburg, Virginia.
Paula Jones – She had fought a Penthouse magazine nude photo spread in 1994, but in 2000 she did pose for photos for an article in the magazine entitled, “The Perils of Paula Jones.” She endorsed Donald Trump this year and later appeared at a press conference attacking the Clintons.
Kenneth Starr – He served as the Dean of the Pepperdine Law School and President of Baylor University. He resigned from the latter position after a sex scandal regarding the school’s football team was uncovered. He has also defended defendants in two separate sex assault cases (both resulting in convictions).
Bill Clinton – He lost his license to practice law after the scandal, but grew very wealthy from speaking fees and the sales of his memoir. He campaigned vigorously for his wife in two losing presidential campaigns (’08 and this year). He also heads a major charitable foundation that bears his name.
Hillary Rodham – She has remained married to Bill and has continued to call herself Hillary Clinton. Now a two-time loser in efforts to be the first female president, she co-heads the Clinton foundation with her husband and daughter. Her political career appears to be finished.
Donald Trump – He married Melania Knauss in 2005 with the Clintons in attendance as honored guests. He will become the nation’s forty-fifth president in January.
And, here is the original article, exactly as it was published in the Sacramento Gazette on October 9, 1998:
A lot can happen to major world figures in the space of ten years, and often much of it is unexpected. With this fact in mind, here are my fearless ten-year forecasts for the major players in today’s Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.
o Monica Lewinsky – Personal Advice Columnist, Hustler Magazine. Shortly after divorcing her first husband in 1999, Ms. Lewinsky accepted a position with Larry Flynt’s publication as a “feature writer.” She began her “advice” column the following year. It includes wondrous tips on such things as the many novel uses for breath mints. Monica is now remarried, this time to a man much closer to her own age. Heavy with child, she claims to have found true happiness for the first time in her life.
o Linda Tripp – Host of a nationally-syndicated radio talk show. After the release of her best seller, “I’m You—Why I Had to Do It,” Ms. Tripp resigned from her government job and began to lecture at conservative gatherings, where she was cheered as the greatest national hero since Oliver North. A few years later, she began her radio career, first by subbing occasionally for the aging G. Gordon Liddy. When Mr. Liddy finally retired in 2003, Ms. Tripp formally replaced him. She now makes a reported $5 million a year and recently supplanted Rush Limbaugh as the number one personality on AM radio.
o Paula Jones – Part-time clerical worker. Within a year of the million dollar settlement of her suit against President Clinton (“Almost all of it went to the attorneys,” she claimed), Ms. Jones, benefitting from a complete physical makeover, received $100,000 for a “tasteful” photo spread in Playboy magazine. Thereafter, she dropped from public view. At last report, she had remarried for a third time and was living in a trailer park.
o Kenneth Starr – Independent Counsel, Whitewater Investigation. Asserting that he needs answers to direct questions in order to file his final report, Mr. Starr is about to undertake his fifth appeal to the Supreme Court, this time to press his argument that the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination is being improperly invoked by ex-President Clinton. In a rare interview (with the venerable Ted Koppel), Mr. Starr claims he has been misunderstood for all these many years (his current approval rating is at three percent and falling). He assures that “once the facts are all out,” the public will be outraged by the misconduct of the ex-President.
o Bill Clinton – U.S. Ambassador, United Nations. Mr. Clinton vehemently has denied the allegation from a junior intern in the Bosnia delegation that he recently concluded an eight-month affair with her. President Gore issued a statement in response to the charges saying that he stands behind Ambassador Clinton, as he always has. “Bill Clinton’s advocacy on behalf of U.S. interests is paramount at this critical time in our history,” said the President. “We’ve seen these kinds of charges in the past. History proves the American people do not care about the private life of this great man.”
o Hillary Rodham – U.S. Senator from Arkansas. Ms. Rodham divorced her husband at the conclusion of his second term in 2001. Thereafter she established herself as a political force in Arkansas by winning the gubernatorial race in 2002. Her election to the Senate in 2004 raised the possibility that she would run for President, but she instead surprised everyone by announcing her betrothal to Donald Trump. They will marry on New Year’s Eve in Atlantic City.
Impossible? Absurd? Preposterous? Perhaps, but truth is often stranger than fiction.
Actually, all things considered, most of my predictions, while not spot on, weren’t all that far-fetched, except for the Rodham-Trump marriage. That one, I have to admit, didn’t quite work out.