Bill Clinton: I Misled People

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By Tuesday morning, the First Lady's office, which never breathes a word without permission, officially notified reporters that "this is a time that she relies on her strong religious faith. She's committed to her marriage and loves her husband and daughter very much and believes in the President, and her love for him is compassionate and steadfast. She clearly is uncomfortable with her personal life being made so public but is looking forward to going on vacation with her family and having some family time together." With that, the Clintons were walking hand in hand in hand to their helicopter, heading off to Martha's Vineyard on a vacation that insiders said over and over was likely to be awful.

On the plane, Clinton worked on the New York Times crossword puzzle. At one point he sat back and smiled, bemused at 46 down, a four-letter word for "meal for the humble?" "Well," he said, "here's one that's appropriate for today." (Answer: crow.) When the plane touched down, the crowds were waiting, eager and therapeutic, waving handmade signs that called WELCOME BACK and MV LOVES BILL. At the bottom of the steps to greet him with a bear hug when Air Force One touched down in Edgartown, Mass., was Vernon Jordan.

As they came into the crowds, Chelsea was, perhaps for the first time since her public life began six years ago, on center stage. She smiled with grace. She worked the rope line. She knelt and talked to the children, a bright-eyed American echo of other countries' princesses. No matter what designs lay behind those pictures, what sympathy they were designed to generate, there were some undeniable realities. The night before, she had had to watch her father admit to something hideously painful. It may not have been a surprise to her, but that makes it no less of a tragedy. Her ability to come back and fight for him, to walk with him and smile for him and throw herself before the cameras aimed at him, was an act of generosity and love that speaks better for Bill and Hillary Clinton than anything they could say or do in whatever public life remains to them. The whole family lingered, but the President had to pull Chelsea away when it was time to go. All that role playing had taught her well.

--Reported by Margaret Carlson, J.F.O. McAllister, Karen Tumulty, Michael Weisskopf/Washington, Julie Grace/Chicago and Jay Branegan/Martha's Vineyard