Five Years After Monica Lewinsky Scandal

Jan. 18, 2003 -- -- The year 1998 started off unusually calm for the Clinton administration. Earlier scandals seemed under control and the White House was busy building a bridge to the 21st century. That was before the world met Monica.

It's been five years since news broke of the scandalous affair between President Clinton and former intern Monica Lewinsky — a few trysts that nearly ended a presidency.

As the president set out on the morning of Jan. 17, 1998, he didn't know that the day's events would change forever the legacy he was busy planning.

The Big Question

It all started with a surprise question during his testimony in the lawsuit filed by Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state worker who alleged Clinton, while governor, had sexually harassed her in 1991.

When Jones' lawyers asked if he had been having an affair with a former White House intern, Clinton denied there was a sexual relationship.

The real opening act in the Lewinsky scandal came four days later, when the rest of the world learned the young woman's name.

"I slept in for the first time since I'd been at the White House," said former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart. "And at about 9 a.m. I called in and said the dumbest thing in the history of presidential politics, 'Is there anything going on?'"

Networks cut into soap operas in the middle to of the day with special reports.

"I mean the media frenzy that resulted from the first day of reporting I'm not sure we'll ever see again," Lockhart said.

Salacious Details

ABCNEWS producer Chris Vlasto remembers how quickly the story expanded.

"I remember looking at when [independent counsel] Ken Starr came out, there's hundreds of cameras around him — it was exceptional and you become a bit afraid at how large it became and you wanted to make sure you were right," Vlasto said.

Over the next days, weeks and month the world learned all the intimate details of the relationship between Clinton and Lewinsky. Everything from the tie she gave him to her semen-stained blue dress ended up in the infamous Starr report.