Bill Clinton scandal underscores political sexual affairs

A commentary observes that in Norwegian politics personal sexual relationships are treated as private matters until they intersect with public office, citing former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s denial of a sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky, the subsequent revelation, impeachment proceedings and eventual acquittal.

The piece places this episode alongside earlier scandals involving other leaders – U.S. presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, former British Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe, and French presidents François Mitterrand and François Hollande – to illustrate how sexual affairs have repeatedly become matters of political consequence across several democracies.