LITTLE ROCK — Here are a few of the scores of quotations from the American Experience documentary Clinton.
“It was a persecution, not a prosecution.”
— Journalist Max Brantley on Kenneth Starr’s investigation of Clinton
“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” — Bill Clinton in grand jury testimony, Aug. 17, 1998
“Yes, I felt betrayed. He lied to me.”
— Aide Betsey Wright on the Clinton-Lewinsky affair
“He always gets up and tries to make it better. What else can you ask from a sinner?”
— Former press secretary Dee Dee Myers
“The rumors of him messing around were out there. Not only did she appear, but she was a lounge singer!”
— Journalist Joe Klein, on the Gennifer Flowers affair
“I’m not sittin’ here some little woman standin’ by my man like Tammy Wynette. I’m sittin’ here because I love him.”
— Hillary Clinton in 1992 60 Minutes interview
“In this small state, politics is art and it’s entertainment and he was the best we had seen.”
— Journalist John Brummett on Clinton’s years as governor
“Her friends thought she was absolutely mad.”
— Author Gail Sheehy on Hillary Rodham’s decision to follow Clinton to Arkansas
“There was just something about her that put people off.”
— Brantley on Arkansas’ first reaction to Hillary
“They are literally mesmerized. He needed that kind of adoration.”
— Campaign aide Marla Crider on Clinton’s appeal to women
“Lord, Lord, it was bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.”
— Paul Fray, Clinton’s 1974 campaign manager, on fending off Clinton groupies
“They were young and full of themselves. They thought they could change the world.”
— Brantley on Bill and Hillary after Clinton was elected governor
“He took it incredibly hard. He wanted to talk about one thing: ‘What’d I do wrong?’”
— Brummett on Clinton’s gubernatorial loss to Republican Frank White
“By the time it was over, I think she was one of the most popular people in the state.”
— Brantley on Hillary’s Arkansas pro-education campaign
“I’m thinking, ‘This is it. I’m gonna die and I’m going to be the last paragraph in the obituary.’”
— Brummett on flying with Clinton in a small campaign plane trying to land in fog
“I need some family time.”
— Clinton declining to run for president in 1987
“It almost killed his career before it got started.”
— Longtime friend Harry Thomason on Clinton’s lengthy 1988 nomination speech for Michael Dukakis
“It was probably the most shattering moment in her life. ”
— Sheehy on when Clinton finally confessed Lewinsky affair to Hillary
“They just despised the man and could not stand that he was going to get away with this.”
— Journalist Jonathan Alter on House Republicans’ drive to impeach Clinton
“When you hear someone say, ‘It’s not about sex,’ it’s about sex.”
— Sen. Dale Bumpers (DArk.) during Clinton’s impeachment trial
“It’s one of those things I never quite figured out.”
— Former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) on how Clinton rebounded after the Lewinsky affair
“Whatever you think of the man, he wanted to do the right thing for the people.”
— Thomason on the Clinton legacy
“It was a lot of fun to watch.”
— Klein on Clinton’s two terms in the White House
Style, Pages 50 on 02/19/2012