An anniversary to forget

A president’s adultery says something about how he will lead | Marvin Olasky

Before choosing its notorious "All the News That's Fit to Print," The New York Times had as its slogan, "It does not soil the breakfast cloth." That's because lots of late 19th-century newspapers soiled away with tales of vice.

Like many of you, I have mixed feelings about George W. Bush's performance in office, but let us now praise what's now being taken for granted: He has not soiled the Oval Office as his predecessor did—and that comes to mind because it's almost 10 years since Bill Clinton's admission on Aug. 17, 1998, that he had an "inappropriate" relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Clinton was the most literal presidential soiler, but not the only one—and that's important because adultery is generally a leading indicator of faithlessness to the nation. Throughout the 20th century small betrayals in marriage generally led to larger betrayals, and leaders who broke a large vow to one person found it easy to break relatively small vows to millions.