President Claims Moral Authority to Stay in Office

Rejecting resignation, President Clinton on Wednesday argued that he still has the moral authority and popular support necessary to lead the nation.

In his first news conference since independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr sent his case for the president’s impeachment to Congress, Clinton declared that he and the American people want to put the sordid business of his relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky behind them.

“I’m determined to lead this country and to focus on the issues that are before us,” Clinton said.

The president’s remarks were part of a determined effort by the White House to change the subject and came as Congress prepared to release Clinton’s videotaped testimony and large parts of the grand jury transcripts sent to the House by Starr’s office for its impeachment inquiry.

The transcripts explain in even more graphic detail than the Starr report released last week the sexual relationship between the president and the former White House intern. House leaders split angrily Wednesday over whether to release the videotape.

The heated atmosphere on Capitol Hill contrasted sharply with Clinton’s joint news conference with Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel. The event at the State Department was emblematic of a White House strategy that has emerged in the last few days: By talking about issues, showing a calm demeanor and generally refusing to be drawn into a battle with Congress over his punishment, Clinton is trying to show himself as the nation’s working chief executive.

“Last week you saw an enormous display of contrition. This week you’re seeing his best effort to return to the public policy arena,” one senior White House official said.

The president started the week with a carefully choreographed appearance at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York. There and at an appearance with military commanders Tuesday, the White House limited coverage to a small pool of reporters.

The Wednesday news conference--like most of his public appearances in recent weeks--was stage-managed to put the president in the best possible light. Rather than using the usual White House venues, the administration chose a large auditorium at the State Department with employees filling the back of the auditorium, applauding both Clinton’s references to foreign policy achievements and expressions of “chagrin about what [he] did wrong and determination to put it right.”

Clinton refused to be baited by reporters Wednesday about such painful topics as the potentially damaging release of the videotape of his testimony. Instead, he chose to talk about how much the American public and other world leaders want him to continue to be engaged as president on issues ranging from global economics to race relations in America.

Replying to a reporter’s question, Clinton said he did not think the Lewinsky matter had “affected” his race initiative “at all.”

And, he declared, he plans to stay put. “I expect [race relations] to be a central part of the work I do in the next two years,” he said. A presidential commission appointed last year on race relations in the country is to release its report Friday.

Speaking in controlled tones, Clinton spent most of his time citing the economic and foreign policy case for him to finish his term in office.

“I have never stopped leading this country in foreign affairs in this entire year and I never will,” Clinton said. “The issues are too important and they affect the way Americans live at home.”

He twice touted the effectiveness of the speech he made Monday on the global economy, which diverted some attention from his personal crisis in the nation’s press. Clinton and his advisors argued that it sent a powerful message to markets in the United States and abroad. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen almost 300 points, or 3.8%, since the close of business Friday, a fact heralded by the White House.

Clinton intended that speech to demonstrate to stock market investors that, despite the controversy over his extramarital relationship, he is still engaged on the economy.

“I gave a speech Monday which I think is about the most important subject now facing the world community: how to limit this financial crisis and keep it from spreading, how to develop long-term institutions that will help to promote growth and opportunity for ordinary people around the world in a way that permits America’s economic recovery to go on,” Clinton said Wednesday.

Later he added: “There was an enormous positive reaction here in America and around the world to the steps that I outlined on Monday. It was very, very heartening to me.”

Clinton stressed that other world leaders have urged him to remain engaged in world affairs, then gave the microphone to Havel.

Havel said he did not understand the “phase” America is going through over the Lewinsky matter. But he expressed gratitude to Clinton for including former Soviet-bloc nations in an expanded North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“I am extremely grateful or thankful to Mr. President and his leadership because it was in his time when we received the chance to build a new Europe and to build a new Europe means to build a new world, [a] peaceful world.”

Clinton used most of his answers in the short news conference to talk about foreign and domestic issues, even though most of the questions--including those from Czech journalists--were about the Lewinsky scandal.

When he did address that topic, he implied that he was through apologizing to the nation but that he is doing “still quite painful work” with his family.

“I believe the right thing for the country, and what I believe the people of the country want, is now that they know what happened, they want to put it behind them. And they want to go on and they want me to go on and do my job. And that’s what I intend to do,” Clinton said.

Video of President Clinton’s Wednesday press conference can be seen on The Times’ Web site at https://www.latimes.com/scandal