Bill Clinton, Big Dog, Goes to Kennel

All our presidents have been men; many of our presidents have also been dogs. Of the 45 occupants of the White House, 14 have been known or suspected, according to one estimate, to have engaged in amorous activity that wouldn’t pass muster on Sunday morning, at least until fairly recently. Chester A. Arthur was already a widower by the time he was said to be conducting a romantic affair in the White House. “Why, this is worse than assassination!” he complained. John F. Kennedy may have disagreed. His own dalliances, however, are at least as famous as his accomplishments. If the latter seem conspicuously thin, the time he lavished on Fiddle and Faddle may serve as an explanation. The pool parties, as I understand them, weren’t exactly legislative strategy sessions, either.

Then there’s “The Big Dog,” as Bill Clinton was sometimes known. If the innuendo in that nickname isn’t apparent enough, he was also sometimes called “Slick Willy.” Clinton was deemed “our first black President,” by the novelist Toni Morrison. She , amid the investigation into Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which would culminate in