I Had to Ask Myself Whether I Would Stay Married

Books can't cover everything, so on Saturday, Senator Clinton sat down with TIME's Nancy Gibbs to talk not only about her memoir, but also about forgiveness, President Bush and whether she would like to return to the White House someday.

TIME: In the book you discuss how you sought marriage counseling during your most difficult moments in the White House. Can you talk a little about the role that played?

CLINTON: We spent a lot of time in counseling, and I found it very helpful. It began after August 1998. I'm not going to go into details. I think it's important that the process itself remain among us, because it's the kind of thing that doesn't work if you start unraveling it. I thought it was important when I wrote the book, though, to include the fact that we sought out counseling.

TIME: You describe the revelation about Monica Lewinsky as a great betrayal and shock. But earlier in the book you deal with Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones. Were the President's revelations in 1998 the only time this was real for you?

CLINTON: It was certainly a terrible moment for me, to be told that what he had said to me was not true.

TIME: Was the lie the worst part?

CLINTON: You can't separate it out. It was all part of a very difficult time, and one that was excruciating, made worse by it being public. So I had to deal with what was there, and that's what I tried to do, and to do it according to my own beliefs and values, on my own terms. I don't try to make any judgments about any other people's marriage, because it's a mystery--why two people are attracted to each other, why they love each other, why they marry, why they stay married. And in August 1998 I had to ask myself whether I would continue to stay married or not--whether I could under those circumstances. And that was a very hard decision.

TIME: If Ken Starr had been told he was not allowed to depose a sitting President, would you rather have not known about Monica?

CLINTON: I can't speculate. What happened happened. And what was private and should have remained private was made public, and there's nothing that I can do to turn the clock back on that.

TIME: In the book you have a lot to say about forgiveness. Have you forgiven Ken Starr?

CLINTON: I can certainly forgive him as a person, but I don't think any of us should forget the misuse of the legal system and the subversion of the Constitution that he was part of, because those are lessons we need to learn so we don't let something like that happen again.

TIME: Do you sympathize with Martha Stewart?

CLINTON: I do. Martha is a friend of mine, and I am very sorry for what she's going through now. I have no information about what she's charged with, but I think there's more at work than meets the eye.

TIME: Speaking of public figures, do you think President Bush inspires on the left the same kind of reaction that you and Bill inspired on the right?