In June 1995, a young woman named Monica Lewinsky took a position as an unpaid intern in the Clinton White House. Later that same year in November, Clinton began an affair with Lewinsky, who was then 22 years old.
Lewinsky would later describe their early interactions as "intense flirting." The two soon began working in close quarters, especially after a federal government shutdown that had happened due to an impasse over the budget. Before long, Clinton was inviting Lewinsky to his private study.
"We talked briefly and sort of acknowledged that there had been a chemistry that was there before and that we were both attracted to each other and then he asked me if he could kiss me," Lewinsky later testified. Their affair began on November 15, 1995, and lasted over the course of about 18 months.
Though the pair attempted to keep their trysts discreet, other White House staffers noticed Lewinsky's visits to Clinton's office. By April 1996, a deputy chief of staff had transferred Lewinsky to a different job at the Pentagon.
It proved to be a fateful transfer. At the Pentagon, Lewinsky struck up a friendship with a coworker named Linda Tripp. Lewinsky grew to trust Tripp and eventually told her what had happened with Clinton.
But Tripp had her own agenda. After Lewinsky confessed her secrets, Tripp reached out to Ken Starr. Lewinsky's life would never be the same again.