PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON
January 21, 1998

In an exclusive NewsHour interview, President Clinton denies he interfered with an investigation into a reported affair, discusses his foreign policy objectives and expounds upon his domestic policy initiatives. Part 1-- The Lewinsky Scandal Part 2 -- Foreign Affairs

 

Jan. 21, 1998: President Clinton discusses foreign affairs and domestic issues. Jan. 16, 1998: Mark Shields and Paul Gigot discuss the impact of the Paula Jones case. May 27, 1997: A discussion on the ramifications of the Paula Jones case on the office of the Presidency. Jan. 13, 1997: Paula Jones's case goes before the Supreme Court.   The White House	JIM LEHRER: On a domestic issue, one that you've also been talking about a lot -- recently, in particular, but you've always talked about it -- and that's the racial divisions in this country. Where would you put that in terms of your own concerns and the concerns that you think the average American should have about their country right now as we sit here?
	Domestic concerns
	PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, I think the average American should be concerned about it particularly as it relates to the racial disparities and the results we get in living and working and educating in America. I mean, if you look at the number of minorities who are in poor inner city schools where the performance is lower than it should be, if you look at the number of people who either don't have jobs or are still underemployed, no matter how strong the economy is, if you look at the patterns of opportunity wherever there are differences, I think we should be concerned about that. And we don't have to -- you know, we don't have to have a fight over affirmative action every time. We can actually say, you know, how are we going to make it possible for more people to live together, learn together, and serve together, work together, at the same level of excellence? I think everybody should be concerned about it. I think everybody ought to be concerned about discrimination where it still exists; and it still does. And finally, you know, the vice president gave a brilliant speech on Martin Luther King's Day, Monday, down in Atlanta, talking about how profoundly embedded in the human heart and culture and history the feelings of racial prejudice are. And I think it's really worth -- if we're going to be an interdependent country leading an interdependent world, then all this interdependence has got to work. And with all of our diversity, we've got to keep working on our hardest. It's not just a question of Education. You got to really work at it all the time. JIM LEHRER: Why are you having trouble getting some blunt talk started on this? PRESIDENT CLINTON: I don't know. We finally got some blunt talk going on affirmative action. And there were some pretty compelling stories told in Phoenix the other day. But I would like to see some blunt talk, you know, we -- JIM LEHRER: On affirmative action? PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, we had some blunt talk on affirmative action. I don't think the whole debate ought to be about affirmative action. I mean, you know, look at what we've done, for example, with something that's supposed to have a civil rights impact that's largely economic -- the Community Reinvestment Act. Passed in 1977, over 20 years ago. Now, the Community Reinvestment Act was set up to say to the bank regulators: Look, you guys go in and look at these banks and tell them, you got to take some of your money and invest it in inner cities and neighborhoods, and with people who otherwise would not get it so they have a chance to build homes, to build businesses, to create jobs, to build neighborhoods. In the 20-year history of the Community Investment Act, 85 percent-plus the money loaned out under it to poor inner city neighborhoods has been loaned in the five years since I've been President. So I think there are things we can do to improve education, to improve job growth, to -- not just having jobs, but also income and ownership among minorities, to create opportunities for service that will bring people together that will also mean fewer racial discrimination claims that have to be dealt with by government, and also, I think will help to tame the savage heart that still lurks within so many of us.
	Presidential popularity
	JIM LEHRER: What should the American people think about their president right now? You're going into your -- the last three years of your administration, you've got all this controversy today, you've got all kinds of things in the air -- PRESIDENT CLINTON: I think they ought to first of all think that -- I came to office in -- after the '92 election with a real theory of what I wanted to do to build America's bridge to the 21st Century; that I wanted to strengthen our union, and I wanted to broaden our set of opportunities, I wanted to deepen our freedom, and I wanted to prepare for this modern world. I had an idea about changing the philosophy of government, which I talked about earlier. I had an idea that all of our policies ought to be rooted in my three little words: opportunity, responsibility and community. We had a plan for changing the economic policy of the country, the welfare policy of the country, the crime policy of the country, the policy helping people balance work and family; integrating economic and other kinds of foreign policy -- we had all these plans. And I think you'd have to say, on balance, it's working pretty good. So the first thing I would hope they say is, the President might be right about his philosophy of government and the values and the principles that we ought to be looking to, and about this whole interdependence business. Because we do have the lowest unemployment rate, the lowest inflation rate in a generation, the lowest crime rate in a generation, the biggest drop in welfare ever, dropping rates of juvenile Crime, teen pregnancy, drug use. And we -- we're moving ahead in the world. The second thing I'd like for them to say is, we've still got some significant challenges out there before we are completely prepared for this new era. We've got the entitlement challenge -- how are our parents going to be on Social Security and how are the baby boomers going to be on Social Security without bankrupting their kids? We've got the work and family challenge still there. How -- how can you do the most important work of society, raising children, and still be good at work? We've got the environment and economy challenge out there. How do you deal with climate change and clean air, clean water, safe food, diseases spreading, all this sort of stuff, preserving the environment, growing the economy? Those are just three of the big changes out there. Look at the world. We all -- you know, in America we talk about diversity, and it's a real positive thing. We say we're going to get all these people together. In a world where the Internet can also give you information about how to make a terrorist bomb, and there's more and more diversity among religious and racial and ethnic hatreds, how can you make sure the world is about community, not conflict? These are huge questions. And I don't think any serious person believes we've resolved all these questions. So when I look at '98, yes, I want to balance the budget. Yes, I've got this great child-care initiative, which deals with work and family. I've got a Medicare initiative and the Medicare commission, which deals with our -- honoring our obligations to our parents. But we've still got a bunch of work to do. So the second thing I want them to say is, "Yes, he was right at the first five years, and we're way ahead of where we were five years ago. But we've got a huge amount to do yet, a huge amount before we're really ready for the year 2000 and the 21st Century."
	A revolving door of charges
	JIM LEHRER: But on a more personal level, Mr. President, you're beginning -- you're a week from your State of the Union address, and here you've got -- you've been -- you're under investigation for a very, very serious crime and -- allegation of a serious crime. I mean, what does that do to your ability to do all of these things that we've been talking about, whether it's the Middle East or whether it's child-care reform or what? PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, I've got to do my best. You know, I'd be -- I'd be less than candid if I said it was, you know, just hunky- dory. You know, these -- but I've been living with this sort of thing for a long time. And my experience has been, unfortunately, sometimes, you know, when one charge dies, another one just lifts up to take its place. But I can tell you, whatever I feel about it, I owe it to the American people to put it in a little box and keep working for them. This job is not like other jobs, in that sense. You can't -- it's not -- you don't get to take a vacation from your obligations to the whole country. You just have to, you know, remember why you ran, understand what's happening and why, and, you know, go back and hit it tomorrow. That's all you can do. JIM LEHRER: But going back to what we said at the beginning when we were talking about it, isn't this one different than all the others? This one isn't about a land deal in Arkansas, or it's not even about sex, it's about other things, about a serious matter. Do you -- I mean -- PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, but all the others, a lot of them were about serious matters -- JIM LEHRER: Sure. I don't mean -- PRESIDENT CLINTON: -- they just faded away. JIM LEHRER: I'm not suggesting that they weren't serious. But I mean -- PRESIDENT CLINTON: I don't mean -- I just -- all I can tell you is, I'll do my best to help them get to the bottom of it. I did not ask anybody to lie under oath. I did not do that. That's the allegation. I didn't do it. And we'll just get to the bottom of it, we'll go on. And meanwhile, I've got to keep working at this. I can't just -- you know, ignore the fact that every day that passes is one more day that I don't have to do what I came here to do. And I think the results that America has enjoyed indicates it's a pretty good argument for doing what I came here to do. JIM LEHRER: That whatever the personal things may be, the polls show that the people approve of your job as president, even though they may not have that high regard -- that high regard of you as a person. PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, hardly anyone has ever been subject to the level of attack I have. You know, it made a lot of people mad when I got elected president. And the better the country does, it seems like the madder some of them get. But that's -- you know, that's not important. What's important here is what happens to the American people. I mean, there are sacrifices to being president, and in some periods of history, the price is higher than others. I'm just doing the best I can for my country. JIM LEHRER: We're sitting here in the Roosevelt Room in the White House. It's 4:15 Eastern Time. All of the cable news organizations have been full of this story all day. The newspapers are probably going to be full of it tomorrow. And the news may -- this story is going to be there and be there and be there. The Paula Jones trial coming up in May. And you're going to be -- PRESIDENT CLINTON: I'm looking forward to that. JIM LEHRER: Why? PRESIDENT CLINTON: Because I believe that the evidence will show what I have been saying; that I did not do what I was accused of doing. It's very difficult -- you know, one of the things that people learn is you can charge people with all kinds of things; it's almost impossible to prove your innocence. That's almost impossible to do. I think I'll be able to do that. We're working hard at it. JIM LEHRER: What about the additional element here? You're the President of the United States. Certainly you've got personal things that you want to prove or disprove, et cetera. But when does it, just the process, become demeaning to the presidency? I mean, somebody said -- in fact, just said it on our program, that this trial in May will be tabloid nirvana and -- PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, I tried to spare the country that. That's the only reason that we asked the Supreme Court to affirm that, absent some terrible emergency, the president shouldn't be subject to suits so that he wouldn't become a political target. They made a different decision. And they made a decision that this was good for the country. And so I'm taking it and dealing with it the best I can. JIM LEHRER: And the new thing? They're going to be -- you know, pour it on, nothing's going to change? PRESIDENT CLINTON: I have got to go to work every day. You know, whatever people say about me, whatever happens to me, I can't say that people didn't tell me they were going to go after me because they thought I represented a new direction in American politics and they thought we could make things better. And I can't say that they haven't been as good as their word every day, you know. Just a whole bunch of them are trying to make sure that gets done. But I just have to keep working at it. You know, I didn't come here for money or power or anything else. I came here to spend my time, to do my job, and go back to my life. That's all I want to do -- and that's what I'm trying to do -- for the best interests of America. And so far the results have been good, and I just hope the people keep that in mind. JIM LEHRER: Mr. President, thank you very much. PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thank you.