PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. "BILL" CLINTON - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/29/1993 - HFSID 273266
Price: $8,000.00
BILL CLINTON
This rare and significant letter touches on two of the many scandals of the 42nd U.S.
President administration. He handwrote, signed and dated this one-sentence letter in
1993 to Kathleen Willey, who accused him of sexual assault five years later. The letter
itself mentions "Vince" - probably Vince Foster, Jr., a colleague of the First Lady.
Foster had reportedly committed suicide less than two weeks before this letter was
signed
Autograph Letter Signed: "Bill". One page. 6½x8½. Written on official White House stationery
letterhead. Place: Washington, D. C., Date: July 29, 1993. Addressed to: "Dear Kathleen",
his friend (and later accuser), Kathleen Willey. In full: "Thanks for your note about
Vince and for your friendship. Best". BILL CLINTON, born William Jefferson Blythe III in
Hope, Arkansas in 1946, was Governor of Arkansas (1979-1981, 1983-1992) and the first
Democrat reelected President since FDR. The only elected U.S. President to be
impeached (Andrew Johnson was impeached, but he had not been elected to the office), on
February 12, 1999, President Clinton was acquitted on both articles of impeachment brought
against him: charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton's popularity stood at 67% at
the end of his trial, however. Obviously, many Americans were willing to overlook his
personal failings in an era of peace and prosperity. His accomplishments in office included
a waiting period for gun purchases (the Brady Law), the Family and Medical Leave Act, the
North American Free Trade Agreement, welfare reform and balancing of the federal budget.
Clinton had previously co-written (with Al Gore) Putting People First (1992), and he would
publish his successful autobiography, My Life, in 2004. As of 2015, William "Bill" Clinton
has appeared 52 times in the cover of TIME Magazine since 1992, sharing the cover with
former U.S. President George W. Bush in the July 23rd edition. VINCE W. FOSTER, JR.
(1945-1993) was a deputy White House counsel who had been found dead in a
Washington park on July 20, 1993, just nine days before this letter. Foster's death by a
single gunshot to the mouth was ruled a suicide in multiple investigations conducted by the
United States Park Police, the U.S. Congress and Independent Counsels Robert B. Fiske and
Kenneth Starr, although conspiracy theorists questioned the absence of any bullet fragments
and very little blood at the scene, suggesting that Foster had been killed at another location and
his body dumped in the park. Foster, who had been born in Hope, Arkansas and was a
boyfriend friend of Bill Clinton, had worked with Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Rose
Law Firm in Arkansas before becoming a White House staffer after Clinton's election. During
his term as deputy counsel, Foster had been subjected to vicious editorials by the "Wall
Street Journal", leading to treatment for clinical depression. He had a draft of his resignation
letter (torn into 27 pieces) in his briefcase at the time of his death. KATHLEEN WILLEY, a
Virginia housewife and White House Aide, would appear on the CBS news program, 60
Minutes, on March 15, 1998, claiming that President Clinton had sexually assaulted
her in his private study off the Oval Office. During Kenneth Starr's investigation, her
account was challenged by Linda Tripp, who claimed that it was Willey who made sexual
advances toward the President. Starr chose not to follow up on the accusations by Willey,
whose husband committed suicide on the same day as the 60 Minutes interview. Starr
did not take the same course in 1998, when he received tapes from Tripp of her
conversations with another White House Aide, Monica Lewinsky, who had an affair with
Clinton from November 15, 1995-April 7, 1996 and two encounters with the President in
1997. Tripp, who was working as a White House Assistant at the time of the letter, had
transferred to the Pentagon in 1996, the same year Lewinsky began working there. The
resulting scandal, known as "Monicagate", led to Clinton's impeachment. Ironically, in 1998,
both Clinton and Starr shared "Time" magazine's "Man of the Year" honors.
Autograph letters signed by Clinton are scarce. This letter, with its remarkable
association, is rare and desirable. Accompanied by unsigned, printed photograph of Clinton
and Willey. Fine condition. Framed by unknown individual: 12x14. Not reviewed by us for
conservation integrity. "As is" framing purchase.
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