Hillary Rodham Clinton saw nothing unusual about first ladies holding press conferences. Eleanor Roosevelt, she noted, conducted 340 of them. But none ever held one like Mrs. Clinton's. For over an hour last week, she offered a lawyer's calm defense of her involvement in the Whitewater affair. Eschewing opportunities to bash the press or the GOP, she termed Whitewater "a learning experience -- sometimes a difficult one" and vowed to do better. But she also assured the public that nothing about the land deal was unsavory. "It keeps getting beat like the deadest horse it is, over and over again." And she vigorously defended her lucrative commodities trading, insisting she received no favorable treatment.
Still, numerous questions linger, such as whether any money from a failed Arkansas savings and loan was diverted to the Clintons' land deal or to then Gov. Bill Clinton's re-election efforts. Mrs. Clinton also declined to comment in detail about the White House's handling of documents in the possession of Vincent Foster on the night of his death. She said she was not aware that Foster had any papers relating to the Whitewater affair until after he had died.
Her poise and command of facts impressed reporters. But the question remains whether she swayed a skeptical nation. A U.S. News poll taken earlier showed Whitewater had damaged attitudes about the Clintons. Some 64 percent of voters think the couple made matters worse for themselves by not being more forthcoming about their finances. The news conference clearly was designed to correct that impression. Yet the poll also found that 71 percent of the electorate believes politicians spend too much time probing Clinton's past finances, 70 percent think the media focus too much on Whitewater and 56 percent believe Republicans are trying to bring Clinton down with Whitewater innuendoes.
Mrs. Clinton's news conference may cause news organizations to back off until special counsel Robert Fiske issues his Whitewater report later this year. The press conference also marks a turning point for the first couple and their attempt to find what Mrs. Clinton dubbed a "zone of privacy." In the days leading up to her decision to hold the conference, the president deliberately refrained from pushing her to go before the cameras -- even though he gently told her earlier that she should come forward. Says one aide: "It's taken her longer than it took him to understand what you have to do in Washington to survive."
Her fading fortunes
Americans still feel positive about Hillary Rodham Clinton, buy they are souring on her contribution to her husband's presidency.
Has Hillary Rodham Do the Clinton's
Clinton helped or set a good example
hurt Bill Clinton as role models for
as president? the country?
Helped Hurt Good Not good
April 1993 72 pct. 16 pct. 72 pct. 22 pct.
January 1994 64 pct. 22 pct. 61 pct. 34 pct.
April 1994 51 pct. 35 pct. 55 pct. 40 pct.
Note: U.S. News poll of 882 registered voters conducted by Celinda Lake of Mellman-Lazarus-Lake and Ed Goeas of the Tarrance Group, April 16-18, 1994. Margin of error: plus or minus 3.3 percent. Percentages may not add up to 100 because some respondents answered "Don't know."
