PHILADELPHIA — Former President Bill Clinton
Bill ClintonTrump considering Conway's husband to head civil division at Justice: report The man and the machine: How Trump wields Twitter as his greatest political weapon Trump’s EZ answer to minority and Rust Belt communities MORE delivered a lengthy stemwinder at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, fondly recounting the story of his 41-year marriage to Hillary Clinton
Hillary Rodham ClintonClinton: 'I'm ready to come out of the woods' Brazile: Sending Clinton town hall topics ‘mistake I will forever regret’ Fox’s Shep Smith: Fox can’t confirm analyst’s claim that UK helped Obama spy on Trump MORE.
He recalled 1997, when his daughter, Chelsea, went off to college. And he spoke about how his wife worked with Republican leaders in Congress to pass a child healthcare proposal.
But he did not mention his affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky and his subsequent impeachment, which made headlines in 1998 and 1999.
The ex-president’s decision to gloss over those years could have been an effort to place the focus on his wife instead of his own presidency.
After all, dredging up the darkest time of their marriage could have humiliated Hillary Clinton on the same day she became the first woman to become a major party presidential nominee.
But Bill Clinton’s omission caught the attention of reporters and political junkies on Twitter, who noted it took the focus off the scandals that rocked his presidency and his marriage.
Bill Clinton just went from 1997 to 2000. Moving right along...
— Karen Travers (@karentravers) July 27, 2016
We've now covered every year in Hillary Clinton's adult life except, um, 1998 and 2003.
— Nicholas Thompson (@nxthompson) July 27, 2016
Not going to mention Hillary Clinton's vote for the Iraq War. We put that in the "Never speak of 1998" file.
— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) July 27, 2016
Hillary Clinton was deeply hurt by her husband's affair with Lewinsky, whom she called a "loony toon" to her longtime friend Diane Blair, according to papers released in 2014.
She also told Blair why she decided to forgive her husband.
“It was a lapse, but she says to his credit, he tried to break it off, tried to pull away, tried to manage someone who was clearly a 'narcissistic loony toon' but it was beyond control," Blair wrote in her notes about a September 1998 conversation with Hillary Clinton.
