What were the major sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Bill Clinton by name and date?
Executive summary
A handful of high‑profile women have publicly accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct spanning decades; the most prominent allegations name Juanita Broaddrick (rape in 1978), Paula Jones (sexual harassment in 1991; suit filed 1994), Monica Lewinsky (sexual relationship 1995–1997 that became a 1998 scandal), Kathleen Willey (alleged groping in the Oval Office in the 1990s) and Leslie Millwee (alleged assaults in 1980), with other, less‑central claims reported in retrospective timelines and compilations [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]. These allegations produced civil litigation and a presidential impeachment centered on perjury about the Lewinsky matter, but criminal prosecutions of Clinton himself did not result from these accusations [7] [8].
1. Juanita Broaddrick — alleged rape in 1978
Juanita Broaddrick has said that Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 when he was Arkansas attorney general; she first went public decades later and has recounted telling intimates at the time who advised silence, while Clinton’s representatives denied the allegation [9] [10] [1]. Reporting notes Broaddrick’s testimony has no independent eyewitness corroboration in the public record and that her account resurfaced as a political flashpoint during the 2016 campaign [9] [10].
2. Paula Jones — alleged harassment in 1991; civil suit filed May 6, 1994
Paula Jones alleged that then‑Governor Clinton made unwelcome sexual advances toward her in 1991 and filed a federal sexual‑harassment lawsuit on May 6, 1994 seeking damages; that litigation triggered investigative pathways that ultimately exposed the Clinton–Lewinsky disclosures and fed into independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s work [2] [8] [7]. The Jones case itself was legally complicated: parts of it were dismissed or stayed during Clinton’s presidency, but discovery around Jones’s claims precipitated testimony that became central to impeachment proceedings [8] [7].
3. Monica Lewinsky — sexual relationship 1995–1997; scandal erupts 1998
Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, had a sexual relationship with President Clinton beginning in 1995 when she was in her early 20s; the relationship lasted into 1997 and exploded into public controversy in 1998 when evidence and testimony contradicted Clinton’s denials, prompting Starr’s report and the impeachment for perjury and obstruction tied to his testimony [3] [11] [7]. Lewinsky has described the relationship as consensual at the time, though commentators in later years have characterized aspects of it as predatory or improper given the power imbalance [9] [3].
4. Kathleen Willey — alleged Oval Office groping in the 1990s
Kathleen Willey, a White House volunteer, alleged that Clinton made a sexual advance in the Oval Office in which he touched her breasts and pushed her hand into his groin; her account became public amid the broader Lewinsky inquiries and has been both supported by some observers and questioned by feminist figures such as Gloria Steinem, reflecting divergent views of motive and interpretation [4] [5].
5. Leslie Millwee and other regional allegations (circa 1980 and earlier)
Leslie Millwee (then Leslie Derrick) publicly accused Clinton of three assaults in 1980 at a Little Rock TV station, saying he groped and exposed himself during station visits; her allegations were among several from the Arkansas period that drew renewed attention during later partisan contests [1] [5] [6]. Other claims reported in retrospective lists include an allegation by an English student, Eileen Wellstone, who said an assault occurred in 1969 while Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar; these are documented in compiled timelines and secondary sources but did not lead to public prosecutions [6].
6. Legal outcomes, public debate and shifting perspectives
Legally, the central civil suit (Paula Jones) and the Starr investigation produced concrete consequences: Clinton’s impeachment on charges related to his testimony about Lewinsky, suspension of his Arkansas law license, and a lasting political scandal — but no criminal convictions of Clinton on the sexual‑misconduct claims themselves [7] [8]. Public and media reassessments since the #MeToo era have prompted some Democrats and commentators to say Clinton should have faced stronger accountability, while others note contested memories, variances in evidence, and partisan dynamics that shaped which allegations were pursued or amplified [9] [4].
7. Limits of the public record and competing narratives
Contemporary reporting and compiled timelines document multiple named accusers and dates, but not every allegation has corroborating evidence in the public domain and reporting reflects differing judgments about credibility, motive and legal merit; sources used here include mainstream news reporting, retrospective lists and Wikipedia compilations that summarize public accusations and legal filings without producing new forensic findings [1] [5] [9] [6].