The President fought back, ignoring the Monica madness and delivering an unexpectedly strong State of the Union Address. Meanwhile, the First Lady took to the airwaves to denounce a "vast right-wing conspiracy." Confounding the pundits, the President's approval rating remained above 60 percent while the independent prosecutor's popularity plummeted.
TIME chooses Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr as the Men of the Year while Mark McGwire takes on the Hero of the Year title