On August 17, 1998, President Bill Clinton (above) become the first sitting
president to testify before the Office of Independent Council as the subject
of a grand-jury investigation.
The testimony came after a four-year investigation into Clinton and his wife
Hillary’s alleged involvement in several scandals, including accusations of
sexual harassment, potentially illegal real-estate deals and suspected
“cronyism” involved in the firing of White House travel-agency personnel.
The independent prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, then uncovered an affair
between Clinton and a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky,
when questioned about the affair, Clinton denied it, which led Starr to
charge the president with perjury and obstruction of justice, which in
turn prompted his testimony on August 17.
President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, 1997.