Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel whose investigation of Bill Clinton in the 1990s led to his impeachment, now heaps praise on the former president, according to The New York Times.
{mosads}“His genuine empathy for human beings is absolutely clear,” Starr said of Clinton during a panel discussion at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
“It is powerful, it is palpable and the folks of Arkansas really understood that about him — that he genuinely cared. The ‘I feel your pain’ is absolutely genuine.”
“President Clinton was and perhaps still is the most gifted politician of the baby boomer generation. He just has remarkable gifts.”
Starr, who is now president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, said that since Clinton’s administration ended, the former president has worked hard to overcome the personal scandals that plagued him during his time in office.
“There are certain tragic dimensions which we all lament,” he said. “That having been said, the idea of this redemptive process afterwards, we have certainly seen that powerfully” since Clinton left office.
“President [Jimmy] Carter set a very high standard, which President Clinton clearly continues to follow,” he added.
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has recently been attacking the Clintons over the scandals of the 1990s, including the Monica Lewinsky affair, Whitewater and the suicide of Vince Foster.
“It’s sad that the chapter is so rooted in the unpleasantness, as I used to call it, the recent unpleasantness,” Starr said.