Betty Currie
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Betty Currie (born November 10, 1939) (nee Betty Grace Williams) was the personal secretary for Bill Clinton during his tenure as President. She became well-known as a figure in the Lewinsky scandal for her alleged handling of gifts given to Monica Lewinsky by President Clinton.
[edit] Life
Currie was born in Edwards, Mississippi and moved to Waukegan, Illinois as a child. She worked in the clerical field at the Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois. She later moved to Washington, DC and worked at the Navy Department, the Postal Service, US Agency for International Development, the Peace Corps, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
After retiring from government service, she ran offices for the Mondale and Dukakis Presidential campaigns and later joined the Clinton campaign where she worked with James Carville in the famous "War Room" in Little Rock, Arkansas. After Clinton's election, she became his personal secretary, handling his calls, correspondence, and schedule.
[edit] Lewinsky scandal
Currie testified in front of the grand jury responsible for the perjury investigation in relation to Clinton's statement in the Paula Jones case. Lewinsky had testified that Currie had arranged a meeting at Lewinsky's apartment to pick up gifts given to her by Clinton, showed up at her Watergate apartment and said, "I believe you have something for me." Currie denied this charge and claimed that Lewinsky had arranged the meeting. Whoever instigated the meeting, Currie took the gifts in questions home and stored them under her bed. She testified on January 27, May 6, May 7, May 14, and July 22. Currie revealed that Clinton had recently called her in to work on a Sunday and pointedly said to her, regarding Lewinsky and himself, "We were never alone, right?" among other leading questions. This, added to similar incidents involving other potential witnesses, led to Clinton's subsequent impeachment charge of obstruction of justice. Currie was not one of the four witnesses who gave video depositions during the Senate trial.
She also had asked Clinton's friend Vernon Jordan to help Lewinsky find a job on December 8, 1997. On January 18, 1998, she spoke with Clinton and they compared their memories about the Lewinsky situation.
When the Clintons decided to move to New York after the end of Bill Clinton's presidency, Socks the cat was left in Currie's care.
During the scandal, it was also reported by the Washington Post that Currie was receiving counseling from Jesse Jackson.
