Bill and Hillary Clinton's marriage may seem weirder and weirder with time, but their intriguing
approach to their relationship has certainly made them a force with which to be reckoned.
Here are some strange things you probably didn't know about this political power couple.
While Bill and Hillary Clinton have been at the forefront of American politics for decades,
their marriage had a very humble beginning.
After reportedly refusing Bill's proposal three times, Hillary eventually said yes,
and the two wed in the living room of their small Fayetteville, Arkansas house in front
of 14 friends.
According to The Guardian:
"[Bill] wore pinstripes and a wide 1970s tie.
[Hillary] wore a $53 department store dress picked out by her mother.
There was no engagement ring, no gift registry, no official photographer or party planner."
Six months after the wedding, Bill decided to make a run for state attorney general,
and the ambitious newlyweds reportedly got to work planning an election strategy at the
dinner table, which they reportedly referred to as "the war room."
House of Cards, the popular series about the deviously ambitious Underwoods, is adapted
from a British TV series that aired two years before Bill Clinton even became president,
but there's no denying that Netflix's current incarnation seems heavily influenced by the
Clintons.
The creator of the British version, Lord Dobbs, said as much to BuzzFeed, claiming Hillary
Clinton is the real-life individual who most resembles actress Robin Wright's Claire Underwood.
"Now tell me, am I really the sort of enemy you want to make?"
Dobbs compared Hillary to House of Card's leading lady, saying:
"[She] is a political figure in her own right, behind the scenes, but now increasingly in
front of the scenes.
That is much more of a Claire character."
The Clintons were skilled politicians when it came time for Bill to run for president.
They even worked together to develop a strategy to shift the focus away from accusations that
Bill had an affair with lounge singer Gennifer Flowers.
In a 1992 60 Minutes interview, Hillary fiercely came to her husband's defense, saying:
"You know, I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.
I'm sitting here because I love him and I respect him..."
Some critics think Hillary's performance during this particular interview is what kept her
husband's political career afloat.
As Politico reported:
"What [Hillary] did on 60 Minutes saved his candidacy and his political career.
Most agree he would not have become president without it."
However, some analysts argue that Hillary's image took a hit that stuck to her image like
a wad of gum on the bottom of her shoe.
According to Politico:
"In 10 minutes of television, she projected a set of complicated, even conflicting images...triggering
the mix of skeptical, antagonistic feelings that have defined her with a share of the
American public ever since."
Perhaps The Guardian put it best with this analogy:
"Bill Clinton was the duck.
Hillary Clinton was the decoy."
In the aftermath of the aforementioned 60 Minutes interview, Politico reported that
Tammy Wynette's fifth husband told USA Today that Wynette was, quote, "madder than hell"
about Hillary Clinton's comments.
The country crooner went even further by reportedly writing an open letter challenging Hillary
to a face-to-face meeting.
According to the Associated Press, Wynette's letter read:
"With all that is in me I resent your caustic remark...I believe you have offended every
person who has made it on their own with no one to take them to the White House."
Inviting Hillary to appear alongside her in a public forum, Wynette continued:
"I can assure you, in spite of your education, you will find me to be just as bright."
According to the AP, Hillary, quote, "rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead when told
of Wynette's reaction" during a meeting with journalists.
Still, she offered a half-hearted apology to the singer.
"I apologize to Tammy Wynette if what I said offended her."
Even though she did stand by her man, Hillary Clinton may not have gone to bat for Bill
Clinton entirely out of the goodness of her heart.
According to Duke University history professor William Chafe, the first lady earned a significant
amount of pull in the White House for her efforts.
Chafe told U.S. News:
"Bill owed her because she had saved him.
So in response to that, he talks about her being co-president and he ensures that she
will have an office in the West Wing of the White House alongside Al Gore's office and
his office."
According to Vanity Fair, Bill often referred to his wife as a co-president of sorts, even
quipping, "Buy one, get one free!" at campaign fundraisers.
Chafe said President Clinton even gave his wife "command of the healthcare task force,"
even though he and his advisers allegedly disagreed with the way she was handling the
initiative.
Essentially, he and other political analysts suggested that Hillary had become the most
powerful woman in America by enduring the scandals and strange twists of her marriage
to Bill.
"I am very committed to doing what he's asked me to do, which is to work on healthcare.
Things happen.
You know?
People make mistakes."
In 1998, Bill Clinton found himself embroiled in a massive political scandal when reports
surfaced that the then-president had an affair with a young White House intern named Monica
Lewinsky.
"I want you to listen to me, I'm gonna say this again.
I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
It was an embarrassing moment for the Clintons that nearly led to Bill being forced out of
office and cast a lasting shadow over their entire careers, as well as Lewinsky's life.
"Not a day does by that I'm not reminded of my mistake.
And I regret that mistake deeply."
During the course of the president's impeachment proceedings, it was made clear that an affair
between Lewinsky and the president had, indeed, occurred.
Bill also admitted to being unfaithful with Gennifer Flowers, the woman whose reputation
he brutally assaulted in the past.
"It was only when money came out, when the tabloids went down there offering people money
to say that they had been involved with me, that she changed her story."
One of the big questions connected to the controversy: Why did Hillary Clinton stay
with her husband?
According to The Guardian, detailed notes, some 16 boxes worth, recorded by Hillary's
longtime friend, the late Diane Blair, reveal that divorce was not something the first lady
seriously contemplated.
Blair wrote:
"He has been her best friend for 25 years, her husband for 23 years, they're connected
in every way imaginable, she feels strongly about him and family and Chelsea and marriage
and she's just got to try to work it through."
Even after enduring the drama surrounding the Monica Lewinsky scandal, rumor has it
that Bill Clinton went on and engaged in yet another affair.
The sketchy details about this particular affair stem from former Secret Service Agent
Ronald Kessler, author of The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden
Lives of Presidents.
In his book, Kessler claims that a woman named Julie McMahon was granted a lot of access
to Mr. Clinton in the early aughts, particularly when Mrs. Clinton wasn't around.
McMahon lived next to the Clintons in Chappaqua, New York, and according to a source for the
New York Post:
"Wherever he went, she went.
If he went to the Palm, she went to the Palm.
If he went out to the Hamptons, she went to the Hamptons."
For the record, the affair with McMahon was not confirmed.
A spokesperson for Hillary wryly responded to the accusations with two words: "Another
book?"
Before Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the intensely polarizing 2016 U.S. presidential
election, the Clintons and the Trumps were reportedly close friends.
Their daughters, Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton, practically grew up together.
The story of this friendship gets even more bizarre when you consider the fact that Bill
Clinton reportedly encouraged Trump to run for office.
"Yeah, I get credit for doing a lot of things I didn't do, like that."
According to The Washington Post, multiple sources say that Clinton encouraged Trump's
efforts to play a larger role in the Republican Party, allegedly just weeks before Trump joined
the race to become the Republican party's presidential candidate.
In the blink of an eye, Trump became a wall between the Clintons and the White House,
even nicknaming Bill's wife "Crooked Hillary."
Suffice to say, these families are probably not so close anymore.
However, the Clintons did demonstrate how thick their hides have grown by attending
Trump's inauguration, even as their plans for another potential co-presidency went up
in flames.
Premiering in 2016 and set in a hotel room, Hillary and Clinton is a Broadway play that
reimagines the days leading up to the 2008 New Hampshire primary.
According to The New York Times, the opening monologue lets the audience know that this
takes place in an alternate universe on a different planet Earth that is, quote, "light
years away from our planet Earth."
Starring Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow in the titular roles, the play garnered rave
reviews.
Lithgow told The Washington Post:
"Laurie and I play these two characters who have two parallel, contradictory, cautionary
tales in their lives.
Bill's tale is: Careful what you wish for, you may get it.
And hers is: Careful what you wish for, you may never get it."
Lithgow also stated that he signed on after reading the script but felt "anxiety" about
what the political power couple might think.
"You know, you can't help wondering what Bill and Hillary are gonna think of this.
If they come, it certainly to be an extraordinary experience."
Unfortunately for Lithgow, that extraordinary experience never came to pass.
The actor revealed to the Post that the Clintons were offered a look at the script but ultimately
declined an invitation to see the play.
Two decades after her affair with Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky wrote a powerful essay for
Vanity Fair contextualizing the scandal through the lens of the burgeoning Me Too and Time's
Up movements.
The former White House intern openly admitted her role and expressed her regret, but said
she understands that what transpired between her and the president constituted what she
calls a "gross abuse of power."
In her words:
"He was my boss.
He was the most powerful man on the planet.
He was 27 years my senior, with enough life experience to know better."
In an interview with A&E, Lewinsky broke down as she recounted the aftermath of her relationship
with the president.
"I was mortified and afraid of what this was gonna do to my family."
The new spotlight on Bill's extramarital affair and numerous sexual misconduct allegations
prompted many to rethink their positions on the former president, including Democratic
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who said:
"Bill Clinton should have resigned the presidency during the Monica Lewinsky scandal."
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, doubled down on her defense of her husband.
When Sunday Morning correspondent Tony Dokoupil asked if her husband should have resigned,
Hillary responded: "Absolutely not."
She went on to claim that Lewinsky was old enough to hold responsibility for the affair,
before quickly changing the subject to Trump.
"She was an adult.
But let me ask you this, where is the investigation of the current incumbent, against whom numerous
allegations have been made?"
Hillary's answer didn't sit well with critics.
Vox called her comments:
"...another example of the way powerful people too often protect their own, rather than survivors."
Bill and Hillary embarked on a speaking tour in 2019 that was supposed to give lucky audience
members a chance to hear them reminisce about their long careers in public service.
Unfortunately, opening night proved to be an omen.
As Newsweek reported:
"It began last fall at a sports arena in Toronto, a vast venue more appropriate for a Beyoncé
concert than a political trip down memory lane.
There were huge numbers of empty seats and large sections of the arena cordoned off by
a curtain.
Ticket sales were slow, and the promoters had to cut prices in half.
The entire evening was a debacle, and the tour took a hiatus."
While Fox News got a giggle out of the whole debacle, one thing's for sure: Bill and Hillary
Clinton's impact on politics and pop culture, both negative and positive, will not soon
be forgotten.
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