was the monica lewinsky affair, impeached by the house of representatives for lying under oath.linton got to stay in office when the senate acquitted him. and for ronald reagan, it was iran contra. >> a few months ago, i told the american people, i did not trade arms for hostages. my heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. >> reporter: the scandal led to investigations, indictments, and a weakened white house for reagan's final two years in office. if somehow president obama avoids all that, there's still a chance of an unforeseen crisis. >> you have to expect the unexpected in the second term. >> reporter: the soviet union shot down an american u-2 spy plane during dwight eisenhower's last year as president. and george w. bush's second term was bookended by emergencies, hurricane katrina's destruction of the gulf coast early on, the financial meltdown at the end. and after eight years, those moments of crisis could determine a president's legacy. >> when you're in the second term, you have no -- nothing left to r

. >> she was criticized for not dumping bill during the monica lewinsky affairs.ill one of the most admired woman in the world and leaves the secretary's position with very high numbers and those numbers are fickle. they can go away, yes? >> well, absolutely. and she, look, "60 minutes" is doing an exit interview with president obama and michelle and hillary clinton together. she needs to work on a memoir and give speeches and at that point in 18 months or two years, they have a big decisions to make. the clintons. whether she will run for re-election or be an elder statesperson of global stature and promote issues like women's rights and human rights. >> the way presidential elections work around here, she may need to decide in the next six weeks or so if she's running. that's the big question. will she run for president? what's your take on it? >> if you study, there is an industry of books about her. this is somebody who does not lack ambition. i think the ability to break the glass ceiling and be the first female president has to be overwhelming. she is the de

clinton's sec term dominated basically ended after a year because the lewinsky scandal began. impeachment then followed that completely derailed any agenda he hoped to push in that second four years. >> i have to go back to work on my state of the union speech, and i worked on it until pretty late last night, but i want to say one thing to the american people. i want you to listen to me. i'm going to say this again. i did not have sexual relations with that woman, ms. lewinsky. >> though ronald reagan pushed through a tax overhaul in his second term, he also became embroiled in the iran-contra affair. >> a few months ago i told the american people i did not trade arms for hostages. my heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. >> there is a bright side. if lincoln hadn't had a second term, he wouldn't have won the civil war. reagan's place in history was smepted by the beginnings of the end of the cold war, and without a second term f.d.r. would be remembered as the president who didn't end the great depression. st

porque en ese momento lo querÍan derrotar, es un tema de que antes que aparezca el tema de mÓnica lewinskio el gran lema era sufragio efectivo no reelecciÓn, hoy vemos que eso... >>> no queriamos otro dictador. >>> y hoy en latinoamÉrica vemos populismos porque los presidentes se quieren quedar demasiado tiempo. >>> y ex presidentes que no entienden su funciÓn despuÉs. >>> asÍ es. >>> y mire la funciÓn de un presidente como clinton, que se dedicÓ a obras humanitarias. >>> a clinton se le vio animado porque el termino es, es un animal polÍtico, lleva la polÍtica en la sangre, y cuando se pensaba que la candidatura de obama podÍa estar trastabillando, en la figura de clinton logrÓ un nauvo entusiasmo. por eso le decÍa si se puede esperar un papel mÁs activo del presidente clinton, o si se puede esperar es una hillary candidata. >>> quiÉn sabe, ella jugÓ un papel importante, acordÉmonos que fue reelegida como senadora, no es quien llegue a la presidencia porque fue esposa del presidente, esto es nocivo tambiÉn, eso destruye la democracia, ahora, el por quÉ se jugÓ tanto por el presidente obam

bill clinton had monica lewinski. george bush, katrina.hey seem to get unsettled and unraveled by a big event, often beyond their control. barack obama, we don't know what it may be. may be nothing but what he does have, he has at least a green chute to a better economy. he didn't have that four years ago. inherited one of the worst financial messes you could imagine. is that a significant help to him? >> think of second term dwight eisenhower. dealt with the little rock kri sis. nasa. a treaty with 12 countries to demilitarize antarctica. all second term. bill clinton, what he have been without a second term? not a big budget surplus and ronald reagan, i think iran-contra is overblown and historic gorbachev diplomacy and margaret thatcher said reagan ended the cold war without a single shot and the spth feeling good about the second term. he doesn't have the curse mentality. >> what are the priorities, what would you like to see the president focus on? they say in the second term you get a maximum of about 18 months to really shove throug

lewinsky. >> reporter: for bill clinton it was the monica lewinsky affair impeached by the house of representativeson got to stay in office when the senate acquitted him. and for ronald reagan, it was iran-contra. >> a few months ago i told the american people i did not trade arms for hostages. my heart and my best intentions still tell me that is trow, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not. >> reporter: the scandal led to investigations, indictments and a weakened white house for reagan's final two years in office. if somehow president obama avoids all that, there is still a chance of an unforeseen crisis. >> you have to expect the unexpected in the second term. >> reporter: the soviet union shot down an american spy plane during twidwight eisenhower's second term as president. hurricane katrina's destruction of the gulf coast early on. the financial meltdown at the end. and after eight years, those moments of crisis could determine a president's legacy. >> when you're in the second term, you have nothing left to run for, except the place in history. >> reporter: a number of presidents in t

i did not have sexual relations with that woman, miss lewinsky.dy to lie, nota single time, ever. these allegations are false, and i need to go back to work for the american people. thank you. >> you almost forgot the conviction with which he said it. the next night clinton went to capitol hill to deliver that state of the union address with no mention whatsoever of the sex scandal that was consuming his presidency. it would take until december of that year for the u.s. house to impeach president clinton for further false statements involving the affair. all of that was just 15 years ago. a blink of an eye in historical terms, but it seems most of us have forgotten the scandal surrounding the man dubbed the comeback kid. the recent "new york times," cbs news poll finds two-thirds of americans have a favorable rating of the former president. just over a quarter of americans say they still look down on bill clinton. is the honeymoon over for hillary clinton? this time republicans taking direct aim after this year's ben ghazi hearing after kid gloves

monica lewinsky, unanticipated event. for the clinton administration.hat on top of what he's got to do, it becomes difficult. >> but i think the real lesson is even with, as john will remember, we had a fund-raising issue in 1997 and lewinsky investigation. what drove things, we had a strong economy and that gave the president remained popular because people felt that their lives were getting better every day and every year. i think if the economy turns around the way some people think it will, that will be a bigger force than any unanticipated things and that's why a president remains relevant, as long as he remains popular. his ability and the most interesting thing, i think, you'll see tomorrow and you saw already, a president's change is he is going to spend less time here talking to members and more times out in the country saying i want you to talk to your members and i think he learned that very important lesson. >> to that point, had the economy turned around and had been good going into the elections this year, this wouldn't have been a close e

back to making movies and bill clinton for misleading the people admitting encounters with monica lewinsky. propping up the democratic party making appearances and making millions. so what about lance armstrong? is it rosie for him now? >> he moved he was a sociopath and i looked up cheating in the dictionary and i wasn't. hats off to oprah, that was a good tough interview, boom, boom boom, yes or no. exactly armstrong clearly wasn't ready. >> i think lance armstrong has exceeded by date. it was so obvious what he had done and jodie foster acknowledging she is lesbian, oh waited, that is what happened. >> oprah. >> jon: all right. >> gore vidal we're the united states of amnesia, americans are forgiving type. are we going to forgive and forget. >> i feel the problem with lance armstrong is vehement denials and accusations against other people and it crosses the line a little bit with lot of people. >> lots of lawsuits. he has hundred million dollars, that is a deep pocket for somebody. >> the interview was just weird. when he said, all the critics like, i called her a liar but i didn't cal

the family enraged egyptians ho's shoes both tools and tomatoes a bullet proof call on all monica lewinsky that. she was met with things through asia. africa i m flag burning in europe the us mainstream paints her as globally adored real service show the opposite new york journalism professor jeff cohen how does that happen fox has a right wing outlet and the other mart liberal well it's they all maintain this fiction about how well regarded the united states is throughout the world so tense a point out that you know in many parts of the world were feared and hated and were feared and hated not necessarily because we have freedom of speech within the us we're feared and hated because we propped up dictators how the systematically being a lawyer to damage america our internal society is falling apart you know we have state after state in our fifty states to earn and debt and cities are going bankrupt and our country spends one half of the national governments discretionary budget is spent time in the military we don't have a real debate in this country about where all the money is going you

back to making movies and bill clinton for misleading the people admitting encounters with monica lewinsky. propping ocratic party making appearances and making millions. so what about lance armstrong? is it rosie for him now? >> he moved he was a sociopath and i looked up cheating in the dictionary and i wasn't. hats off to oprah, that was a good tough interview, boom, boom boom, yes or no. exactly armstrong clearly wasn't ready. >> i think lance armstrong has exceeded by date. it was so obvious what he had done and

host: let me add this iconic photograph of president bill clinton, hugging monica lewinsky. face impeachment. guest: we have been told by people who should know that president clinton was willing to capital he had. he won a significant, decisive victory over bob dole in 1996. he was prepared to move on entitlements, the so-called third rail of american politics, which would have required him spending a lot of political capital. then when the whole scandal broke, that was no longer a viable option. host: let me share with you this story from "the washington post." there is one sentence from this article i want you to react to. mcdonough is seen as an obama an eye on burnishing his legacy. guest: i think the press maybe has a tendency to exaggerate a little bit, the tendency to say about legacy. that is another factor that contributes to the so-called second term curse. the very moment you are celebrating whatever mandate you have for reelection, you realize you're also a lame-duck. in this town, that means with every passing day you have that much less power and influence. pr

we e 15 years ago niva gh e co monica the breaking lewinsky scandal. that's at pbs.org/washingtonweek. keep up with daily -- they're like we don't want to go back there. keepepp with daily developments on the pbs newshour. see you next week here on "washington week." >> "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875, we have been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years from insurance to investment management, from real estatto retirement solutions, we developed new ideas for the financial lech ahead. this rock has never stood still. and that's one thing that will never change. prudential. >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. ank you. its auto insurance customers for over 70 years. more information on auto insurance at geico.com or 1-800

has weapons of mass destruction and so i just al-qaeda i didn't have sex with that woman monica lewinsky i'm the crook and you go down the line i made it so why would anybody believe what the government leaders say let's start off with that and then you know i don't know whether or not they cooked the books but i do look at the data and the data shows that they front loaded a lot of spending into the third quarter and they really juice the economy the through government spending so then when the fourth quarter came about of course the numbers are reported you know after the election government spending decreased for example in defense by some twenty two percent so you know that's just the government juice was enough to keep it looking a lot more steady than the declining it really is and much of the discrepancy in growth can be attributed to this military spending it seems that there was splurging in the third quarter and then kind of a plunge in defense spending later on in the fourth quarter so do you think that that was done on purpose oh i again i don't know you know i don't know wha

healing for all americans president clinton's would come just before the scandal involving monica lewinsky at a time when the u.s. economy was healthy and strong once again our economy is the strongest on earth once again we are building stronger families thriving communities better educational opportunities a cleaner environment. problems that once seemed destined to deepen now then to our efforts president george w. bush's second inaugural was delivered to a nation still trying to heal from the attacks of september eleventh and as a justification for the wars he started in response to those attacks we are led by events and common sense to one conclusion. the survival of liberty in our land. increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world while they may shed a bit of light on the times overall inaugural speeches are more inspirational postcard and policy outline a superior language with inferior content we must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit

constituents both their contributors and their voters so it is possible usually you run into a problem the lewinsky problem some sort of crisis comes along that derails you so it really is going to be a sort of world wind and the next few months because that is when you get the momentum. you look back in history we have reagan who builtdealt with the iranian conflict how you keep from being derailed? you have to get the boats quickly while you still have the momentum the president is two or three times as popular as congress at the moment so she can use all of that but it's still very difficult to push ahead, you build a coalition and sometimes things do come later president kennedy who had only part of one term laid out an agenda he didn't accomplish most of it it took lyndon johnson to actually make that into law later. it is a tough road but is a good positive strong start this second inaugural address is never as important as a looks. it's still a good step and a solid step i think you'll see a solid presidency second term personal exhaustion. i think at the moment coming off of the election co

through more than any human being in the public eye, going back to the impeachment trial, monica lewinsky, failed attempt at the presidency in 2008, but this is something that really strikes her at her heart. she felt responsibility for chris stevens who was a close friend, clearly somebody she thought was amazing at his job. and it was really, really difficult for her to get through this. the same kind of reaction we're seeing from john mccain because he also is close with chris stevens but he's handling it in a very different kind of way because he's -- he wants -- he's the question asker and hillary clinton is the person who just, you know, again, bears that responsibility. it is clearly weighing very heavily on her. >> secretary of state hillary clinton has taken her seat before the house foreign affairs committee. but we do now have bob bear, the former middle east field officer with us. i wanted to ask you, when do you make of the fact that it has been almost four months, actually over four months and we still don't have anybody in custody responsible for the attack in benghazi. is

and then monica lewinsky thing just absolutely hobbled bill clinton. >> took over. >> he couldn't dohing the last two years. he was totally focused on protecting himself and defending himself. so i'm not saying that obama will get himself into something like that, but you just don't know what's going to happen. you don't know -- and you don't know how you're going to react. >> james? >> the randomness of political reality is important to keep in mind. two other things to focus on. i think this administration has more political capital than it has accessed because this coalition of voters that put him back in office is really a broad constituency. they've got to speak to those folks to the left of them. very important. the folk on the right, intractable folk in the congress, i don't think -- there is no honeymoon for those guys. they're back at it. he has more political capital to him on the left and needs to access that and meet the needs of the constituencies that put him in office and understand those folk on the right haven't moved off that opposition nal dime. they're going to po

self-righteously angry since she made up stuff about her husband having sexual relations with monica lewinski and there were people attacking her with stuff that was totally true. she gave a good performance, but it was like one of the mike tyson chump fights. getting out of prison and he fights like peter mcneilly. >> he was a great boxer and a ton of records. mcneilly was a ripe contender. 90 seconds, i don't care. i will not sit next to this man if he is flinging mud. >> and dan soder has a fan site too. >> peter mcneilly and dan soder should have been friends. >> it is the unofficial site. >> the sadness is that he is a lone blogger on it. >> he is a contributor. >> maybe he can use a pseudonym. >> he did a nice right hook though. >> imogen, here is what i don't get. hillary does this thing where she says what difference does it make? it is our job to manage out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from happening again. it is your job to figure out what happened, but what difference does it make why it happened? >> it is the way she says it. it is the performance that coun

and monitor lewinsky likewise. newsweek had it but would not run it. >> that's right.. the story leaked, but that was enough to break loose and get out there. they could not to the gate keeping any more. >> i look at these comparisons. getting huge numbers of viewers. and here, you're successful. 90 million, and the 25 million. garrett's 6 million. town hall which carries all of these columnists, iluding my column just its 4 million. how do you get six? >> i have no idea. i think i am a boring guy. >> it's amazing when you think that not very long ago if you wanted to challenge the integrity of the traditional press the only way you could do was to write a letter to the editor. >> which we ignored. >> or submit an op-ed. hope that your letter might be run. i don't think so much power has ever been transferred from so few people to so many ordinary people almost all the world almost overnight. john: all part of "freedom 2.0". thank you. and coming up, want to buy something the government does not want you to buy? and new on-line currency makes that easier. is that a pro

and monitor lewinsky likewise. newsweek had it but would not run it. >> that's right.was spiked. the story leaked, but that was enough to break loose and get out there. they could not to the gate keeping any more. >> i look at these comparisons. getting huge numbers of viewers. and here, you're successful. 90 million, and the 25 million. garrett's 6 million. town hall which carries all of these columnists, including my column just its 4 million. how do you get six? >> i have no idea. i think i am a boring guy. >> it's amazin when you think that not very long ago if you wanted to challenge the integrity of the traditional press the only way you could do was to write a letter to the editor. >> which we ignored. >> or submit an op-ed. hope that your letter might be run. i don't think so much power has ever been transferred from so feweople to so many ordinary people almost all the world almost overnight. john: all part of "freedom 2.0". thank you. and coming up, want to buy something the government does not want you to buy? and new on-line currency makes that easier. is t

bill clinton was wrapped up very much with the monica lewinsky scandal, so he had extend extenuatingtances, and they're fighting some fights that they hope they can win. the chuck hagel nomination is a fight that they hope they can win. winning can beget winning. they'll have a big fight over the debt ceiling and these are fights that could blow up. the president will be more combative with republicans than thethe conciliatory let's all find a solution we can agree on. >> john: so we won't be compromising on his compromised compromises. you wrote, the best way to get what he wants his staff says, is to create pressure from the outside through campaign-style events like the one he staged in during the fiscal cliff negotiations. have we ever seen a president campaign with tons of cheering middle class folks behind him in iowa, have we ever tried that to get things moved across the aisle in the second term? >> i think not the way we're going to see from president obama. george bush, again he went on his social security tour in 2005 trying to revamp social security which was blocked by i

probably 200, 300 -- melissa: to a half to ask how monica lewinsky figures into all that? >> let's leave it out there. an interesting choice. melissa: father of the year? do you think her father would agree? >> the mom was just in the hospital. the daughter. look, it's a way to make money. they need a headline. melissa: well, the show is called "money." all right. we have to go. that's all the "money" we have for you today. the c becker tomorrow. "the willis report" is coming up next. ♪ gerri: tonight, the white house planning to use executive power to limit gun owner rights in this country. and the number one goal of american millionaires. the surprising answer to a new survey. welcome to "the willis report." ♪ hello, everybody. i'm gerri willis. the consumer financial protection bureau rolling out new mortgage rules today, and as we do whenever the government issues new regulations, we take a look at the true impact on you , not the promises. here are the basics on today's new rules. they prohibit a borrower's total loan payments from exceeding 43% of income. no more of

so you know when you read about any of the scandals, and we have doj simpson, the monica lewinski scandal and the al capone trial or the death of john dillinger. beautiful columns by steve and peggy noonan and michael daley but then jack london talking about the 1906 earthquake in san francisco and it has a sense of a perspective that we've visited a lot of this stuff before and great storytelling creates a perspective on our own problems. >> the destruction that is almost never talk about outside of texas puts to shame what's happened in new york with the hurricane. hundreds of thousands of people affected, destroyed and to read about it and see that there were people on the ground who knew about it and cared about it and were wondering at a time will anybody remember this and when the years have gone by it's really important for people to get the perspective. >> when we balance the scandals and the tragedies as well it's amazing when you read the perfect game the column where he calls him the cinderella man that is later made into a movie has never been before. we found it in the new yo

in part, maybe in whole, to the public backlash against republicans who seem too focused on the lewinsky scandal rather than governing. president bush saw the opposite. had a great first midterm. not so great second one. two republican midterms there. gaining ground in both chambers under bush in 2002. a 9/11 halo effect, if you will, before losing big in 2006. what's behind the truth of the theory of the six-year itch? it seems logical that the political pendulum would swing from one party to the other over the course of six years. there are extenuating circumstances that make it hard to draw any sweeping conclusions. by the time his second midterm rolled around harry truman was into intervention in korea. a controversial effort that republicans used against his party. eisenhower was saddled with the midterms of 1958. u.s. unemployment had spiked to nearly 7%. that was double what it had been when he was first elected six years earlier. during the 2006 midterm the u.s. was three years into the iraq war and facing heavy sectarian violence. a combination that put -- what are the lessons f

remember the famous picture of chelsea clinton after the monica lewinsky affair walking between her parentso the helicopter? or hold on, let me just finish. and this time before the dnc when the white house released a picture of the president with his two daughters snuggling on the couch, there it, watching michelle obama. look, they use their children for political purposes hen they want. to. >> first of all, walking with chelsea to the helicopter, they were going on vacation. so what are they supposed to do, take her to another helicopter or through the back door somewhere? >> it was the hand-holding and connecting them, rollland. >> okay, so what? if there was a photo and there were no hand-holding then, it's okay? seriously. that is not the same as putting an ad out where you are mentioning the president's daughters. it makes no sense. and again, if you're the nra, you don't have to actually do that. you don't have to go that far. if you want to do that, why don't you say okay, why don't you go to chicago and say how many armed guards are there in chicago's schools where the president i