Former President Bill Clinton waves as he walks to the ceremony stage for the commencement address to Rochester Institute of Technology graduates on May 25. (AP photo/Don Heupel)

In the May 28th edition of Newsweek, Jonathan Darman’s analysis of Bill Clinton’s impact on Hillary’s campaign is shocking mostly for what is omitted: Darman never mentions that Bill Clinton is a former president who was impeached and a former lawyer who was disbarred. In 1998, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. In a 21-day trial in the Senate, Clinton escaped conviction. Nonetheless, Bill Clinton was the only elected president ever impeached in U.S. history (Andrew Johnson, also impeached, was not elected but succeeded to office after Lincoln’s assassination in 1865). Bill Clinton was also disbarred from practicing law in Arkansas for five years and, facing the same action by the Supreme Court, he resigned from the Supreme Court bar. These two glaring facts, impeachment and disbarment, are a matter of public record: Bill Clinton’s peers deemed him unfit to perform his duties in the major public capacities for which he had previously earned the people’s trust. As both politician and lawyer, he was sanctioned for unethical and illegal conduct.

As Hillary campaigns in her bid to win the Democratic nomination, she must address an obvious question: If she becomes president of the United States will she uphold the democratic voice of the people and the laws of the land? Evidently, she will argue, she will be vigilant in these matters. Yet, where does she stand on the two judgments against her husband: Does she believe they were both unjust? If so, why have there been no subsequent attempts to set the record straight and restore his reputation (as anyone who was wrongfully censured would do)? If not, then does it mean she agrees with the verdicts?

These are not merely rhetorical questions: they lie at the very heart of her leadership skills. If she is willing to ignore these judgments against her husband and she parades him as an exemplary figure in her campaign, we must ponder by what yardstick she will appoint individuals to cabinet positions or to the Supreme Court. Are individuals who have been either impeached or disbarred eligible or ineligible to stand for office or to serve in her administration? If the answer is that they are ineligible, then why is she campaigning with an individual who has this on his record? Also, if such individuals are ineligible, what role will her husband have in her administration? Will he be allowed to sit in on cabinet meetings and national security briefings? What kind of power will he have as “global ambassador” to represent the U.S. with our allies?

It will be wise for Hillary to declare as soon as possible that her husband will not be given any role beyond that of First Gentleman. Yet, this too presents a whole other set of problems for her campaign. The president’s spouse, the First Lady, has traditionally been a symbol of integrity and morality. Moreover, the First Lady has stood alongside the president in public functions as a representative of family unity and harmony. What symbol will First Gentleman Clinton be? As every child will be told, in 1998, when the Monica Lewinsky scandal erupted, Bill pointed his finger at the American people and blatantly deceived them: “But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false.” Even after he left office, despite all the scandal and disgrace, when he was given the opportunity to explain his actions and perhaps win some kind of sympathy, the best he could muster as to why he had an affair with an intern in the White House was: “Because I could.”

Thus, we must ask Hillary Clinton what families all across America will have to tell their children about her husband’s past behavior? The best she can do is to insist he was terribly wrong and is now reborn in some way. Yet, if that is the case, the clearest evidence of rebirth is to take responsibility for one’s past and to stop perpetuating more harm. If Bill was truly repentant, he would have the good sense to know when there has been enough damage done to the nation; he and his wife would not once again run for the highest office in the land.

Yet, not only is Hillary not ashamed of her husband, she considers him “the most fascinating man she has ever known.” Thus, her judgment is obviously deeply flawed. In her selection of Bill as her primary campaign partner, we can see clearly that she does not care if an individual has been disbarred and impeached, nor if one cheats and lies: all these vices can be easily brushed aside—for he is so “fascinating.”

If Hillary wins the Democratic primary and begins the campaign against a Republican opponent, all the names and issues we thought were forgotten will resurface again. Monica Lewinsky is only one of many who will be discussed. There was also Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones (who accused Clinton of sexual harassment and whom he paid $850,000 in a settlement) and Juanita Broderick (who accused Bill of rape and accused Hillary of intimidating her in an attempt to keep her silent). In these instances, if Hillary defends her husband, she will appear as sanctioning the actions of a sexual predator. If she admits he was at fault, she too will have to take responsibility for this disgrace, acknowledge that he cannot be First Gentleman and therefore let another candidate with a better record take the helm of the Democratic Party.

Essentially, Hillary’s plight is now very much like that of the character Dorian Grey in Oscar Wilde’s classic novel, The Picture of Dorian Grey. The handsome Dorian makes a pact with a stunning portrait of himself: he wants eternal youth and to lead a life of revelry; in exchange only the picture will age and bear the mark of his sins. After decades of debauchery, when gazing upon the grotesque figure in the painting, the anguished Dorian stabs the portrait with a knife—and thereby destroys the painting and kills himself. In a similar manner, Hillary is locked in a pact with Bill: she has hitched her star to his. As his reputation plummets, she needs to disentangle herself from him, to take a stab at his record and set herself free. Yet, if she does so, her own fortunes will come tumbling down. This is one man she should never have climbed into bed with in the first place.

- Washington Watch is a weekly column published in Insight (www.insightmag.com).