The Dark Side of Presidential Genius

It's been a while since my last update (precisely one month, to be exact). The past month has been quite eventful, involving a transatlantic journey, my first American Thanksgiving (reminiscent of Christmas in the UK), and the celebration of several milestones, including B.Tap's 6th anniversary.

Amidst these experiences, I found myself delving into that most exotic foreign land—the past. DLV and I are avid fans of the American Crime Story series, with its captivating seasons on the OJ trial and the tragic Gianni Versace murder. The third season, however, delves into a slightly more recent historical event—the first impeachment of the 20th century. This impeachment involved President Bill Clinton and his lying under oath during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.

Though only 25 years have passed since these events (interestingly coinciding with the timeline of Princess Diana's tragic & untimely in the ongoing sixth season of The Crown), many conventions from that era now seem dated and lost. The treatment and mockery Monica Lewinsky endured back then would be unimaginable in today's context. As she says in her remarkable Ted Talk; both of Monica’s parents literally feared that she would be humiliated to death literally.

I also pondered the fact that among the last six Democratic Presidents since 1960—Biden, Obama, Clinton, Carter, Johnson, and Kennedy—three of them (Clinton, Johnson, and Kennedy) fell somewhere between being lotharios and outright philanderers. Interestingly, these figures were also seminal politicians who collectively achieved significant foreign policy victories and domestic civil rights acts (Moon Landing, Civil Rights, Cuban Crisis, Good Friday Agreement, and NAFTA are some that immediately come to mind).

In that same timeframe, we've also witnessed six Republican Presidents (Nixon, Ford, Reagan, two Bushes, and Trump), and their primary controversies appear to revolve around the military-industrial complex (Dubya was defined by Iraq, and Nixon, of course, resigned because of Watergate). As an aside it’s fascinating to see just how balanced the two-party system evens out in the long-run (even in British politics, the two parties evened out during QE2’s long reign).

Is Donald Trump sui generis (also, will it be the septegeneurian Trump or octogenerian Biden who will secure that second & surely final term) or has he established a new template for an ultra-brash Republican politician who is simply blasé about everything?

The United States occupies a unique space in the world of politics, driven by two key factors. Firstly, it maintains a significant lead as the most powerful nation on the planet, far exceeding any other contender. Secondly, the U.S. President holds a position akin to an elected monarch, wielding substantial and largely unchecked power, secured by a constitution over two centuries old.

Bill Clinton is somewhat akin to Prince Charles; he retained his position as Dear Leader, but his legacy remains forever tainted and twisted by the most memorable political sex scandal of the last millennium, an era that marked the beginning of the internet.

Some of the most amusing aspects in "The Crown" and the "American Crime Story" series are the nascent technologies of the time, with common use of dial-ups and news primarily mediated through television and print. We now inhabit a world of instant information, one that's not as prurient as before. Nevertheless, human nature persists, and I'm reminded of my favorite French saying, "plus c'est change plus c'est la même chose" — the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I'll conclude here as I've realized I posed more questions than I've answered. It appears to me that the primary victims of the Lewinsky-Clinton scandal were Monica Lewinsky (instant humiliation), Linda Tripp (vilified), and Hillary Clinton (faced an impossible choice whether to stay or leave and never achieved the presidency). As bell hooks presciently said, culture, religion, and virtually every other variable of human society can evolve almost instantly. However, what will remain constant is the twinning of power and patriarchy in whatever iteration.