WILL CLINTON SEEK OR NEED REDEMPTION IN ANNALS OF HISTORY?

Abstract

Friday, January 15, 1999

WRITER: Kathy R. Pharr, 706/542-5172, pharr@jd.lawsch.uga.edu

CONTACT: Ed Larson, 706/542-2660

WILL CLINTON SEEK OR NEED REDEMPTION IN ANNALS OF HISTORY?

ATHENS, Ga. - When historians analyze the presidency of Bill Clinton, will impeachment mar his legacy? While admitting he's no prophet, University of Georgia law and history professor Ed Larson, winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for history, shares ideas.

"Andrew Johnson tried hard to redeem himself," Larson says. "He eventually went back to the Senate from Tennessee and viewed that as a tremendous vindication. The question is how much does Clinton think he needs to be redeemed? He can look to the public opinion polls, which still show him as popular. He may not feel the need to be redeemed in history because he may not think it's that bad a blot."

And historians may not either. While Larson acknowledges that impeachment will be of historical importance, he believes historians will paint Clinton's presidency with broad strokes and consider other factors: the breakdown of discourse among party lines, the influence of politicians such as Newt Gingrich, the scandal-driven media, and a loss of historical perspective. Historians do not look favorably upon Johnson, the only other U.S. president ever impeached, but Larson says that's as much a denouncement of his politics as it is the legacy of impeachment. A more apt parallel for Clinton, Larson believes, is Grover Cleveland, a very popular Democrat who survived sex scandals and served two presidential terms.

"It's been joked that Grover was the best Republican in the period of the 1890s, because even though he was a Democrat, he had Republican policies," Larson says. "We could say the same of Bill Clinton - he's the best Republican president of the late 1900s. And Cleveland is not one of our more remembered presidents. He tends to be a forgotten president, despite serving in office for a long time."

And because many Americans wish the impeachment affair could be forgotten, Larson says the Senate trial will not measure up to previous courtroom dramas as another "trial of the century."

"I don't think people will be glued to their sets as they were for the O.J. Simpson trial or glued to their radios and newspapers as in the Scopes trial," says Larson. "I think the media think they should cover it and they think it's the best story they've got, but it's not a story that will capture the interest of the people. I think they'll be more interested in the Super Bowl and other activities that are happening."

Larson joined UGA's law and history faculties in 1987. He received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for his book, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. He may be reached at 706/542-2660.

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