Today In History: Clintons Testify On 'Whitewater' Scandal; Obama Forms Women's Council

March 10, 2017, is the 68th day of the year, with 296 days remaining. The moon is in a waxing gibbous phase, with illumination at 95 percent, becoming more illuminated each day until Sunday, March 12.

Testifying Begins Following Whitewater Controversy

The controversy known as "Whitewater" has a definitive starting point. Allegations began to unravel surrounding then-Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, who joined James and Susan McDougal in borrowing $203,000 to purchase 220 acres of land in Arkansas' Ozark Mountains. This union formed the Whitewater Development Corp., which intended to build vacation homes. The timeline is extensive.

A March 1992 article, published by The New York Times, reported that the Clintons had invested and subsequently lost money in the Whitewater Development Corp., which garnered the interest of L. Jean Lewis, a Resolution Trust Corp. investigator who was looking into the failure of Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, owned by the McDougals. Seeking connections between the savings and loan company and the Clintons, Lewis submitted a criminal referral to the FBI and named the Clintons as witnesses in the case.

The Clintons were never prosecuted, following three separate inquiries that culminated in insufficient evidence.

White House Announcement: Obama To Create Women's Council

One Tuesday in 2009, White House officials announced that Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, would head the White House Women's Council. Tina Tchen was declared the council's executive director. The president planned to sign an executive order on March 11 to solidify the act.

A senior administration official stated that Obama wanted the office to have "a presence at the White House to address the issues facing women and girl," which included equal pay and the "balancing act" that working mothers face. It was at the signing that Obama underscored the purpose of the council, which was to ensure that the needs of women and girls were taken into account within the drafted policies and programs created as well as in the legislation that officials supported.

"When women make less than me for the same work, it hurts families who find themselves with less income and have to work harder just to get by," the president said. "When a job doesn't offer family leave, that also hurts men who want to help care for a new baby or an ailing parent. When there's no affordable child care, that hurts children, who wind up in second-rate care or spending afternoons alone in front of the television set."

Stay on top of all breaking White House news by signing up for the free Patch morning newsletter.

Photo credit: Executive Office of the President of the United States (1997)

Video credit: The Obama White House via YouTube