I was also touched when Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour called to propose an article and photo shoot for the December issue of the magazine. It was gutsy of her to offer and counterintuitive for me to accept. For a day, I escaped into a world of makeup artists and haute couture. The Annie Leibovitz photographs were great, giving me the chance to look good when I had been feeling so low.

September 21, the day Bill addressed the opening session of the United Nations in New York, played out like an absurdist farce. When the Starr report didn't force Bill to resign, the Republican leadership upped the ante and released the President's videotaped grand jury testimony. As Bill entered the enormous General Assembly Hall of the United States, he was made by an enthusiastic and unusual standing ovation, at the same time, all of the major television networks were simultaneously broadcasting a tape of his August interrogation by Starr's deputies. As the hours of agonizing testimony droned on over the airwaves, Bill gave a forceful speech to the U.N. about the growing threat of international terrorism and the urgent need for a united response from all civilized people. I'm sure few Americans heard Bill's warning.

By the time we returned to the White House the next day, it looked as if the Republicans' publicity stunt had failed. The spectacle of the President keeping his composure while being barraged with prurient questions that no one would want to answer seemed to create more sympathy among the American people for Bill's predicament.