Impeachment at the Clinton Presidential Library: “A wholly excessive use of raw political power.”

From a New York Times story, “Views on Impeachment, Past and Present, at 3 Presidential Sites”:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The big banner adorning the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum advertises an innocuous pop-culture exhibit—“THE ’90s ARE BACK!”—though it seemed to do double-duty, in recent days, as a commentary on the familiar drama unfolding in Washington.

The 1998 impeachment of Mr. Clinton, and his subsequent acquittal by the Senate, is addressed in the second-floor permanent exhibit dedicated to Mr. Clinton’s eight years in office, though the story is told from a decidedly pro-Clinton perspective.

Most of the discussion of impeachment is confined to one of about a dozen information-stuffed alcoves that line a grand hall on the second floor of the long, light-filled contemporary building on the banks of the Arkansas River. Impeachment is dissected in the alcove titled, “The Fight for Power.”

In the 1990s, it informs visitors, “it became common right-wing practice not just to attack Democrats’ ideas, but also their motives, morals, and patriotism. The civility that once prevailed on Capitol Hill gave way to character assassination.”

Some of the mechanics of impeachment and the trial are recounted, and there is a brief mention of Monica Lewinsky—the White House intern with whom Mr. Clinton had an affair. . . .

Mr. Clinton, on an audio track, can be heard apologizing “for what I said and did to trigger these events.” Another voice calls the impeachment “a wholly excessive use of just raw political power.”