I would never defend Clinton's affair as "noble behavior." Of course it wasn't. And if I had a dollar for every pillar of society who abused his position of power to dally with a younger woman I'd be as rich as the Queen of England. During the heyday of conservative outrage over Clinton's liaison I was amused that some of the loudest critics were themselves guilty of the same sins, both among people I was acquainted with personally and on the national stage, e.g. Republican Congressmen Henry Hyde, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich (whose third wife Callista is now US ambassador to the Vatican). Of course, American presidents have long had adulterous affairs, but Bill Clinton was the first to be subjected to public exposure and censure due to a well-financed campaign of character assassination. None of this excuses Clinton, and yes, it's more complex than it at first seems, not least as a story of political intrigue.